Mr. Yitzchok Wargon – Part I

I was born in the city of Radomsk, Poland, in 1922. Radomsk was famous for its Chassidic dynasty and the thousands of chassidim who lived there. The Amshinover Rebbe, Reb Avrumala, also lived in Radomsk. I would venture to say that about 80 percent of the Jewish population was Chassidic.

We were Alexander chassidim. Twice, at the age of 12 and 13, I went together with a whole busload of other Alexander bachurim from Radomsk to the Alexander Rebbe, the Akeidas Yitzchak, for Pesach.

I was the oldest. I had two younger sisters and one younger brother. My brother passed away when he was just two years old. I attended the Radomsk yeshivah in our town. My sisters went to a Bais Yaakov. My father was far from wealthy, but he was rich in Torah; he was a great talmid chacham. He was a bookbinder by trade and he was a real artist at his work. He was well respected by the townspeople. My mother did not work out of the house; she was a real Yiddishe Mama.

My maternal grandfather owned a large house which still stands today. My grandparents had 10 children; my mother was the oldest daughter. We lived in the same house as my grandparents and my mother’s sisters. My mother’s two youngest sisters were not yet married. My grandfather passed away suddenly in 1935, three months after my bar mitzvah.

Did you feel anti-Semitism in your town prior to the onset of the war?

Chassidim had a specific dress code in Poland that made it obvious we were Jewish. When I returned home from yeshivah in the evening, it was dark and the Poles would wait for us to pass. They would pounce on us and beat us up. I was attacked a number of times. To prevent this, I kept a cap in my pocket and I would change my head covering when I left yeshivah. We could not wear our peyos hanging down; instead, we put them up under our caps. Most of the time, however, the Poles recognized us anyway.

There was terrible anti-Semitism before the war, including pogroms. Although Germany was instigating it, Poland already was an anti-Semitic country and still is. They did not take much convincing to make trouble for the Jewish people.

Did you know what was happening in other parts of Europe before the war reached Radomsk?

Hitler came to power in 1933. In that same year, three Torah giants passed away: the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, Harav Meir Shapiro, zt”l, and the Chortkover Rebbe, zt”l. In Poland, they said that these Torah pillars were taken from the world to make it possible for Hitler to come to power.

In the summer of 1939, rumors spread about Hitler’s power very quickly. Trying to run away was not easy since Jewish families in Poland were very tight-knit. In addition, most of the population was poor and had no money to escape with. And since most countries were not willing to allow the Jews to enter, there was nowhere to run.

It was understood in the last few months before the war broke out that Hitler was going to attack Poland. Poland began mobilizing the military. The last year before Poland was attacked, I was learning in Crakow. The yeshivos began sending the bachurim home and the atmosphere was very tense.

The war broke out on Friday morning, September 1, 1939. Although we had heard all the rumors and we knew quite well that it was coming, none the less, we were taken by surprise. At five o’clock in the morning, we began hearing explosions. Then we heard on the radio that the Germans had already crossed the border.

The Germans had spies all over; when they came in, they knew where every wealthy Jew lived. The officers walked around with maps; one officer stopped on our street and demanded to know where the water pump that was shown on the map had gone. It was true — there had been a pump there that had recently been destroyed. They knew the entire business industry. The first day that they arrived in Radomsk, the Nazis broke open the stores and robbed them. Radomsk had a large factory producing farming supplies. Only Poles ever worked there, so we Jews had no idea that in the last two years the factory switched to manufacturing military supplies. Somehow, though, the Germans knew. They bombed the factory and killed many people who were there working the night shift. They then destroyed parts of the city just to terrorize the population.

On Shabbos, we were advised to try to escape, for the Nazis were going to bomb the city. Just as we had been told, at about 12 o’clock midday, they bombed and destroyed the center of the city where all the businesses were located. In the meantime, we began making our escape. We ran out of the city to a small town about 9 miles (15 km) away called Przedborz. We planned to wait there until things quieted down.

The roads were crowded with people carrying packages and children and pushing carriages. The Germans came from the other direction and mowed down innocent people with machine guns.

The Poles, however, did not run. After the Jews left, they stayed and looted what was left of the businesses and the Jewish houses. I had an uncle who was a watchmaker and goldsmith. The Poles took everything from him.

Przedborz had a river running through it. There was a bridge over the river and parked on the bridge was a tank. There were rumors that it was an English tank but really it was a German tank. The Germans would not allow us to cross. They told us to go back.

To Be Continued…