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132 LUBOML
buildings, with round ledges in front; they were
built in a beautiful style and were painted white.
The stores occupied only one corner of the square.
Brisk Street bordered it on the north and
Chelm Street on the west (Chelm Street was also
called Rimatch Street). This street was long and
densely built. The street began at the marketplace
and was full of stores selling shoes, haberdashery,
dishes, food, etc. There was also a fish
store near Chelm Street.
Where the street ended, outside the town, it
intersected another street that both Gentiles and
Jews called Biselovska. It was at this intersection
that the Jews who lived in the vicinity would wait
to buy from peasants everything they were bringing
to town: from grain and eggs to tobacco. Beyond
that point were some of the smaller gentile
houses, with small gardens and fruit trees. At the
very end of the long streets were the fields that
surrounded the shtetl.
To the right of Brisk Street was another large
row of old-fashioned stores. Each house had a
little store in the front, and a deep, large residence
in back. This neighborhood also had taverns, as
well as state-licensed stores for cigarettes and
tobacco. These small stores lined both sides of the
street till the intersection with Polish Street, occupied
mostly by Poles. Polish Street was about a
mile long.
An orchard stretched over the entire length of
the right side of the street. The gardens belonged to
the town's landowner, Kampyoni, who lived
nearby. He own ed all the stores on that street and
the storekeepers paid him an annual rent. Actually,
the storekeepers had those stores for generations,
having either inherited them or received
them as dowry for their children. They even had
the right to sell the stores, but they had to pay rent
to the rich landowner.
Of all the streets, the one that has been
etched in my memory was Polish Street, for it
had the school I attended as a child. In general, this
street was different from the others; it had fewer
houses, which therefore did not crowd each other
as much as in other streets. In the city park, one
side was occupied by the garden with its delicious
pears and winter-apples. On the other side
was a row of government buildings, spaced far
apart. They housed the offices of the municipality,
the Department of Finance, the Catholic
church and the Greek Orthodox church. Trees
and greenery surrounded the buildings, unlike
the other streets of the town.
On the Sabbath or on leisure days, the townspeople
promenaded on this street; it was their
favorite spot for a stroll. This whole area, with its
fragrant air, enticed young people out of their
dwellings. The older ones, as well, would come out
for a stroll here, after they had eaten their Sabbath
cholent and had a nap. The younger ones were not
too lazy to go beyond the town, to the nearby Boris
Woods.
Oh, if only that little wood could reveal the
secrets of the loving young couples who used to
sneak into the thickets, to lose themselves in their
fantasy of a better future when they were married
and would not have to hide their feelings; and
meanwhile they would steal a kiss or two as a
deposit!
I was born just in the "right" time. World War
I was almost over. It was in fact over, but other
troubles soon beganepidemics. Typhoid fever
was rampant in our area, leaving few Jewish
homes untouched. I was then nine months old.
We lived near the Talmud Torah, in a tiny room,
rented from Yitshak the Wagoner.
As my father told me later, my mother had
just finished kneading dough in a small trough
half the size of a small keg, which had a cover,
when suddenly someone ran into the house, shouting
loudly to my mother that she should go and
help my uncle because he was very ill.
Not thinking of the danger, she quickly ran to
him in order to sponge him down with alcoholthe
only cure known at that time. My mother
caught the disease right then and there, and died
after one day's sickness.
After this terrible tragedy, my father decided
to leave the little Talmud Torah street and even
the shtetl itself, where the epidemic was raging
because of overcrowded conditions. His sister
Sosye lived in the village of Vishnyeve, somewhat
less than two miles away. The village had plenty
fresh air as well as a garden in front of every
house. And his sister was also able to help him to
take care of the little orphaned children.