Historical Background and Interviews
I. Ludvipol: A Modem Shtetl Ludvipol: A Modern Shtetl
the silence of the night would be broken by the tinkling of sleigh bells. On summer nights, the town’s inhabitants packed the streets and walked to the bridges, over the Smorodinka and Habel creeks that linked Ludvipol with Little Selishtch. Asher Gurfinkel noted, “On benches that stood in front of many of these houses, we organized youth unions, we conducted [Zion- ist] meetings, we loved first love.... On many, many summer nights, we sat on the porch, wondering and dreaming about our world and future.” 2 On those same benches, their parents and grandparents sat and read the weekly newspaper or discussed politics, the economy, and the local community. “Since I started to know people, I knew Arieh,” said Pesach Kleinman, whose grandparents lived next door to the Golub fami- ly and shared a garden with them. “I spent a lot of time at Arieh’s house and playing in the garden together, especially after I became an orphan when I was nine. We built houses out of beanpoles, with leaves and twigs for a roof, the same way children everywhere play. We dug up carrots, picked tomatoes, and cracked sunflower seeds. I especially remember the blossoms of the potatoes. When a bud sprouts, you cut the potato into two and plant both pieces, and a few weeks later, there are blossoms,” he said, “and I remember picking cherries, holding the ends of my shirt to catch them, and occasionally swiping apples from other people’s yards, and drink- ing delicious warm milk and sweet cream from my grandmother’s cow, which I watched her milk every day.” Pesach Kleinman also loved spending time at Gittel Golub’s light-filled photography studio. Baruch Golub undertook to train Kleinman’s cousin, a young woman from town, Yona Tuchman (formerly Tibel Kleinman), in photography and she became an as- sistant at the busy studio. Photographs were especially in demand for newlyweds, bar mitzvah boys, babies, and family groups. In addition to maintaining the photography studio, Gittel managed the family and household beautifully. “Gittel was a nice woman, a bal- abusta (Yiddish for a good homemaker),” said Tuchman.
259
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online