Jankiel and Raizel Hurwitz
1921
Jankiel Horowitz and his Landsmen
cir 1922-5
The photograph, pictured above, is of Jankiel (seated, far left)
and his fellow Czyzewans, and was either taken in Czyzewo,
or more likely in New York.
The Hurwitz
Women
cir 1933-6
Jankiel's mother (wearing scarf), his five sisters,
all
of whom perished in the Shoah,
one of his aunts and one of her daughters. |
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"In Memory of the Destruction of
Czyzewo"
by Raizel Horowitz, mother of Grace H.
Ittleman
Listen,
people, hear, take note
of the village, Czyzewo, our beautiful town
where Jewish people dwelled,
peaceful, remote
where the splendor of Torah was worn like a crown
Near a station lay our town
where there you once could board a train
this all existed, I saw it myself
now it is all gone: you'd search for it in vain
There the Jews lived
for generations they came
such a happy fulfilled life
though not a penny to their name
Where almost everyone's income
derived from a little store
a piece of bread, it was enough
we never needed more
Where in each little house
you'd find a table, a crib, a few beds
children, growing like flowers
blessings rained down on their heads
Growing up, families expanding
years fly by, time seemed so short
betrothals, only from the best
a learned son in law to support
So, this is the way life continued
day by day, and night by night
that is, until the hateful Hitler
shattered our world with his evil might
Chasing his flag of vicious power
he gave our cherished ones no rest
until the unthinkable happened
cutting short the lives of our best
Destruction of everything we valued
all vanished not even a trace
generations of Jews, lives so holy
Now gone, nothing left in its place
Never did Hitler consider
the idea that "One May Not"
six million burned in fire
the work of this evil despot
A shudder of horror shakes me
as my broken heart bemoans
cities full of precious Jewish people
reduced to a pile of bones
My
soul, eternally shattered
beaten down and broken apart
forever I know I will suffer
this grief that tears at my heart
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