RelatioNet DE RA 37 ZA PO

RelatioNet DE RA 37 ZA PO

DEBORAH RAIMAN 

mail:
lior.alkooser@gmail.com
shachar.pridor@gmail.com
relationet2014@gmail.com

First Name: Deborah
Last Name: Shraiber
Previous Name: Raiman

City of birth: Zamosc

Country: Poland

Zamość

The Jewish Community of Zamosc

The town of Zamosc located in the Lublin province of eastern Poland, was established at the end of the 16th century on the grounds of a former village by Jan Zamoyski.

Jan Zamoyski , who was well known for his tolerant attitude, invited new settlers to his town that included in addition to Poles, people from other nationalities and non-Catholic denominations: Armenians, Greeks, Italians, Hungarians, Scots, and Jews. This policy helped in strengthening the economic and cultural life of Zamosc and creating an island of tolerance in  a period  when other Catholic countries in Europe persecuted the Jews and the Protestants.

The first Jews settled in Zamosc in 1588, eight years after the founding of the town. They were Sephardim (Spanish Jews) coming from the Ottoman Empire and Venice and, consequently established the northernmost Sephardi community in Eastern Europe. They were granted equal rights that included tax exemption for 25 years and the right to establish their own community on condition they accept into their community only Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent.

The Jewish quarter was located around Rynak Solny (The Salt Market), Ulica Zydowska (The Jewish Street) (now Ulica Zamenhofa), and Ulica Pereca, in the northeastern section of the town center.

While the Sephardi Jews were active in the finance, some of the later Jewish inhabitants of Zamosc established small commercial enterprises that dealt in timber, grain, and cattle. Others were artisans; mainly tailors, locksmiths, tinsmiths, and carpenters. In addition, there were Jews who rented out plots of land.

Between the Two World Wars

Since the end of 1918, Zamosc has been part of the Polish Republic. In the period between the two World Wars, and even with a continuing emigration that was strong particularly among the young, there had been a significant increase of the Jewish population from 9,383 in 1921 to about 12,000 at the beginning of WW2, which represented about 45% of the total population.

The population of Zamosc, unique Renaissance town recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was 40 percent Jewish on the eve of World War II. Today, the estimation is that  there is a handful of Jews in the town of 65,000. However nobody really knows for sure, since people here often still hide their Jewish roots, scarred by the trauma of the war and the anti-Semitism of the communist era that followed.

Jews were elected to the Town Council of Zamosc. In 1928 half of its 24 members were Jewish, but in 1929 their number declined to six only (a quarter of the total), and remained unchanged in 1939, when the last elections were held. The general attitude towards the Jews worsened during the 1930’s because of the growing anti-Semitism in Poland. In Zamosc it was expressed by boycotts of the Jewish business as well as by violent attacks against Jews and their property.

In 1941 when the Zamosc Jews had to move into New Town, many houses there were empty. It was from this part of the town that most of the Jews had escaped to the Soviet Union. The deadline for moving was 1 May 1941. The Judenrat conducted a census immediately after the establishment of the ghetto and discovered that it contained 7,000 Jews. The ghetto was not "closed", but exit from it by Jews was only permitted at certain times

On 11 April 1942, deportations from Zamosc began. Around noon of that day, the ghetto was surrounded by police and SS. In command of the deportation was Bruno Meiers, head of the Gestapo in Zamosc, although the actual chief of operations was one of his assistants, an SS-officer named Gotthard Schubert.

The Jews were assembled in the market square, where they were forced to wait without food or water until 9 p.m. Scores of Jews who were discovered hiding in the ghetto, as well as elderly and sick people, were shot in their houses or in the streets. 3,000 Jews were marched to the train station and boarded 30 wagons destined for Belzec. Behind them they left the several hundred bodies of those who had been shot.

The Nazis killed the rest of the Jews left in the Zamosc Ghetto in March 1943. Most of the remaining labour camps around Zamosc were dismantled in May 1943 and the slave labourers, numbering about 1,000 in total, were sent to Majdanek.

After World War II, Zamość started a period of development. In the 1970s and 1980s the population grew rapidly (from 39,100 in 1975 to 68,800 in 2003), as the city started to gain significant profits from the old trade routes linking Germany with Ukraine and the ports on the Black Sea. During the years 1975–1998 Zamość was the capital of Zamość Voivodeship.

Deborah's Childhood

Deborah Shraiber was born under the name of Dorka Raiman in 1937, as the daughter of Leizer and Bracha Raiman.

Deborah  was born  in  the  city  of Zamosc that  is  located  in  the  area of Lublin in  Poland.

Deborah has one brother named Zvi and one sister named Nina.

In Zamosc Deborah and  her  family lived  in  their own house  with  her  grandmother  and  her  father’s family  lived  in  another town  not  far  from  them.

Deborah’s father was a carpenter and he had his own carpentry shop.

It's is very difficult for Deborah to remember her childhood in Poland. Her strongest memories are from the German’s shelling.

During the War

When  the war  started,  Deborah’s  family decided  to  leave  their home in  Zamosc and  to  escape  to  Russia. Deborah’s  grandmother  who lived  with  them  in  Zamosc refused  to leave  because  she  wanted  to  stay  and  defend the  family’s  house  and their  property.

When Deborah’s family arrived to Russia  they settled down in  the city  of Kazan. In  this  city  the  citizens  spoke  only  the  Tatarit  language. For  Deborah as  a  young  child,  it  was  very  easy  to learn  both  languages , Tatari  and  Russian.

The  weather  was very  cold in  Kazan,  and  Deborah’s  mother got very  sick. Therefore , Deborah’s  father decided  to leave  the  city  and  move  to  Makhachkala.  In Makhachkala  ,Deborah’s  father  started  to work  in  a  weapon factory.

When  the  Germans  started  to  approach  Russia, Deborah’s  father joined  the Russian  army and  Deborah with  her  mother,  her  sister  and  brother  were  expelled from  the  city  and  had  to  live  in  the  streets.  Due  to  the  tough conditions, Deborah became very sick  and  had  to  go  to  the  hospital. Since  the  only  hospital  in  the  area  was  the  military  hospital,  the  doctors  refused  to  take care  of  Deborah and  Deborah’s  mother  had  to  stay  with  her.  After  a few  days,  the  doctors  told everyone  to  evacuate  the  hospital due  to  the approaching German attack. Deborah  and her  family  had  to  run  away  from  the  hospital  even though  Devora  was  still  very  sick.

Deborah  and  her  family  escaped  from the  hospital  together  with  all  of the  other  refugees.  They  all  ran away to the nearest port. Even  though there were so many other refuges  Deborah’s  father  succeeded to  help Deborah’s  family  to  board  a boat  and  therefore  escape  from  the Germans’   shelling. That  was  the  last  time  that  Deborah  saw  her father.

One  of Deborah’s strongest  memories  was  seeing  all the bodies that had been killed  from  the  German’s  shelling that had hit their boat. They were all thrown overboard  into  the  ocean.

Deborah  doesn’t  remember  exactly  where  they  got off  the boat,  but  she  does  remember  that  they  arrived  to  Kolkhoz in Kazakhstan. Deborah  remembers  the terrible  feeling of  hunger that she  and  her family were  suffering  from .  Deborah s  brother  was  staying  with a   family  in  the Kolkhoz that  had   no  children  and  he was fed and was treated well.  Deborah’s  mother  was  happy  that at least  one  of
 her  children  did  not  suffer  and  had  some  food  to  eat.

Deborah  began to lose her eyesight  because  of the  lack  of  food.
A few  weeks  later,  Deborah and  her  family  moved  to  the  city  of  Shymkent .  where  they  lived in  a  small hut on  a hill. Deborah’s  mother  hid all  their  food  in big  holes  under the   hut.

To  support  her  family,  Deborah’s  sister went  out each  day  to  the market  to  sell  water  to  the  farmers.  She  always  took  Deborah  with  her  to  stand  in  the  line  to receive their  daily   food allocation. Deborah remembers  that  it  was very  difficult  for  her  to  stand in  the  line  because  she  was  so  small  and many people  were  very  brutal to her and  pushed  her out  of  the  line.

One  day  there  was  a  colonel passing  by  the  line  and  saw  little  Deborah crying. He  came  to  her  and  told  the person  giving  the  food  to give  Deborah   first.  From that  day  Deborah got the  food every day  without  being pushed  aside.

Deborah’s  mother  did  not  work  because  she  was afraid  to  get  out  of  their  home.  Deborah’s mother  had  a Jewish appearance unlike  Deborah and  her  sister  & brother .

Towards the  end  of  the  war,  Deborah  asked her  sister  about  her  dreams  when  the  war  would  end.  Nina,  Deborah’s   sister  replied that  she  dream about their  father  coming  back  home.

When  the  war  ended,  Deborah  and  her  family  moved  back  to  Poland.  They  joined  the  rest  of  the  Jews that  want  all  together  to  the  trains  to  Poland.

Deborah’s  mother  decided  to  go  to  Zamosc to  see  if  someone  in her  family  was still   alive.  When  she  arrived  to  their  home  she  discovered  that  there  were non  Jewish people who  lived  there.  The  neighbor that  was  a good  friend  of  hers  advised  her  to  immediately  get out of there. It was still very dangerous to be there.

Immigration to Israel

After  the  war  Deborah and  her family  were  determined to  make  Aliyah  to  Israel. They  were in  Germany in  a special  camp, and  Deborah  started  to  learn  in  the first  grade.  For  the  first  time in  her  life  she  used  a pen  and  notebook. In  this special school  ,she  learnt  Hebrew  and  finally  got  back her  childhood.

Deborah’s  brother  decided  that  he  wanted  to make Aliyah  and  to  come to Israel  to  fight  England who at  that  time in  controlled  of the  land .  He  did  not  tell  anyone  and  took  a  boat  to  France  and  from  there  to  Israel.  When  the  family  received  his  letter  they  were  all  very  proud  of him.

Deborah and  her  family  got  to  Israel  on a  boat  called  “PanYork”.

Deborah in Israel

When Deborah’s family arrived to Israel they settled in an abandoned apartment in Jaffa. Adjusting to  Israel was difficult, Deborah’s sister worked, and Deborah helped her mother in temporary jobs.
Because of Deborah’s help, she could not play with her friends outside.  

During the school vacations, Deborah  worked and thus she helped in the home finances. When Deborah was about  16 years old , she had a full-time job selling in the store,and she studied at night.

When Deborah was 19 and a half years old, she got married in Hod HaSharon.
She was not satisfied to being a housewife, therefore she volunteered at various organizations such as “Akim” ,” WIZO” and “Ha'aguda Lema'an Hachayal”.

Her family moved from Hod HaSharon to Arad and then to Herzliya, were  she studied parent group training , and at the same time she worked at a baby clinic.

When Deborah’s husband became ill, she had to stop working and volunteering, to help her husband. When Deborah’s husband passed away, she decided to move to a Nursing Home.

Deborah has three children: Atalya, Eliezer (Eli) he is named after his grandfather, his Mom's father and Shai.

And  three grandchildren Hadar, Mayan and Matan.

Deborah's father

After Deborah and her family boarded  a raft they didn't see their father again.  Deborah's mother spent a lot of time looking for her husband.Deborah thought a lot about what happened to her father, and when her mother died she started looking for information about him. She searched in various places and organizations.  

After Deborah searched on the internet she was assisted by Zigy-a young German graduate student, that volunteered to teach Deborah how to use  computers.

Deborah received a letter from Yad Vashem in the letter she was told that there is a website in which she can find details about her father. In this website were many names of people and details about them. Deborah's father was registered: "Leizer Raiman Abramovich (Abraham son), fought in Berlin, buried in  Poznań.

Debora and Zigi communicated with people in  Poznań by computer. They connected her to Christian man from the community ajd he was able to locate her father's grave.  

Later ,Deborah flew to Russia, where she walked at the “Museum of the Great Patriotic War”. There she decided  to search archives in the museum  for information about her father. With the help of the workers of the archives, she found documents about her father.

Two weeks later, Deborah flew with her grandchildren  and her son Eli to Poland.There ,they held  a Jewish memorial for Deborah's father, which  was an impressive and honorable ceremony.

Leizer Raiman was killed two days before the end of the war and received  a medal of honor.

A- Zamosc, Poland

B-Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia

C-Makhachkala

D-Kolkhoz, Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast, Russia

E- Special camp, Germany

F- Jaffa, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel