Jack Gun - August 27, 1993
Trip to Poland in 1992
Talk, talk about, I mean, your trip to Poland?
Yes, well not only the trip there, the trip that I made last year to look for, for the people that uh, rescued us.
You didnt say anything about that?
I dont believe so. Uh, last year in July 1992 my brother and his two children, we went back to Rozhishche with another twenty Israeli people. We put up a monument for all of our parents and relatives and all the Jews that were killed in our town, right on the same spot that they were killed. Its still an empty ravine there. And uh, naturally when I came to that spot it wasnt easy. [pause] And my nephew was crying like a baby, I couldnt get over it. And uh, but uh, its something that I wanted to do. And uh, at least we paid homage or honor or, whatever because it was nothing there, nothing but empty field and an empty ravine. So at least we put up the monument and left money with the mayor of the town and promised that they will take care of it. I dont know much you can believe him, but anyway and then our other goal was to try to find. We knew that the, the uh, Yerushkas were not there. And we uh, because they moved back somewheres to Czechoslovakia or, and while it was Communism my brother wrote quite a few times to try to find Primas. Never got any kind a answers. So now we went after we had our dedication of the monument. The mayor of the town made a little get together for all of us with food and drinks. And after that was finished, which was about four oclock in the afternoon, he took us in a, in a police car. And with one of the policeman from town and we went to Osawa and uh, to look, to see if we can find anybody thats left from Primas. So we found out that Primas and his wife passed away. And the children moved to ??? which is quite big city somewheres towards Russia. And we had no way to get any kind of...
Mm-mm.
Connection with 'em. We would have liked to at least to, to do something for the children, but uh, there was no way. We did the best we could. We spent maybe uh, in July I know it was still lighter around eight-thirty we were there from four 'til eight-thirty at night. Going to different houses and asking did you know Primas? Oh yeah I knew him. But they used--they told us go over there to the village, a little bit farther they, they were good friends with him. So we went there, so we all, but the only answer we got is that they died and the children are not--living in a big town and they were daughters. So they...
???
So they probably married, so they have a different name to begin with. So there was no way of finding them. But I think that trip meant an awful lot to me and my brother. At least we tried, because we felt a little bit guilty. But there was no--because we had to get, leave our part of the country, as I told earlier. So we, uh, we had to get away fast and later on when we did arrive from the States we never got any kind of response.
Hm-mm. There were no Jews left there?
There is one girl there, married to a Russian, a Jewish girl that her father was from our town and he married a Russian. So shes half--shes not even half, well her father is Jewish. And the father just recently moved to Israel with the Russian wife. So she is the only one, and she promised that she will keep track, shes still a young girl, I dont know, in her late 30s.
And you were, at one time 11,000 Jews in...
In Rozhishche yes, 11,000 Jews.
And now theres one?
No, theres a half.
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