Roswadow - Photos 1997
As we all know the Birnbaums and Gartens came from the town of Rozwadow, Poland. Prior to World War I Rozwadow was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and hence considered part of Austria.
There are many stories of pre-WWII in the Rozwadow Yizkor book. I have a copy and I believe Moishe Avrum has a copy as well. This might help you with your research Leslie. Copies of these books do exist at major research libraries. Leslie if can not locate a copy near where you live, call me next time you're in Toronto and I'll show you my copy.
Below are some photos I took on my trip to Poland back in September 1997. The first photo shows an empty lot. Unfortunately we were about two weeks late as the Birnbaum homestead had just been demolished. This is where the store front and house where my grandfather and I'll assume most if not all of his sibling were born stood. My grandfather Yichaskel purchased the property from Avrum, just before Avrum emigrated to Palestine. My uncle Irving was also born in the same house.
This second photo is of an apartment building on the opposite side of the rynek (town square). And is typical of what most of the buildings around the rynek still look like. Visible in this photo is an upstairs apartment with a balcony. This is where my mother's maternal grandmother (Raizel Stelzer) lived and where my mother Niunia (Anne) was born.
I'll try and find some time over the next couple of weeks to scan some photos from the Yizkor book so we can all see how pre-WWII Rozwadow appeared.
1 comment:
It's a shame the house was demolished just before you got there, Alan. Something I've always wondered about was how religious the family were. I know Rozwadow had a big Jewish population, and although Avrum wore a beard, I got the impression from things my father said they weren't Orthodox. For example, my father said he went to school with gentile children. He suffered some anti semitic bullying at school, too. So I wonder if there wasn't a yeshiva in Rozvadow, or if the family were more liberal in general. I know my dad liked ham when he was a boy. He didn't get it at home, but he got hold of it somehow and enjoyed eating it. I will never go to Poland. It has such a terrible legacy attached to it. I've been to Germany a couple of times and I don't feel comfortable there either. But Poland I have a full blown horror of. So much suffering. I would love to see pictures of how the town looked previous to the war, and if there's a picture of the Birnbaum family home, that would be even better.
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