Stephen Shooster 1996, I went to Poland to see if I could get the project moving forward. I was encour- aged to go by Simon Unger and the son of Rabbi Naftali Halberstamm, Rabbi Aaron Halberstam. Rabbi Aaron Halberstam is a descendant of the dynasty that blessed me when I was young and cared for the whole region. He lives in Brooklyn as a practic- ing Hasidic Jew, following the old ways. Before I left on this mission, both Simon and Aaron warned me that I would not like what I would see. The site was completely neglected. The first thing I did when I arrived in Poland was visit my hometown. I drove over the bridge I helped to build and saw a sign pointing toward Tarnow. I felt disgust rising up in my memories, and vowed never to enter that town again for the rest of my life. Upon arrival in Grybow, I went to the location where the mass execution happened -- 360 Jews of Grybow including Max Blauner’s father. And, as I expected, it was not kept up. So, the next thing I did was visit the local monument shop and bought a fit- ting stone to commemorate the location; it cost about $2,000. While I was there, I visited the nearby Mol family, the same family that helped me when I was being chased for stealing coal by the Gestapo. As luck would have it, the same woman came to the door who helped me on that cold night so many years ago. She must have been over 90 at the time, and she still recognized me saying, “Oh, God, we hid this boy,” with her hands raised in praise. We hugged, and I was able to thank
her. I tried to give her some money, but she re- fused to take anything. She said the whole vil- lage knew what happened and felt terrible for me and my family. She was very happy that I had survived. I also went to the local museum and saw some Jewish artifacts -- a few menorahs, some books, and more. Since I felt they did not de- serve these things, I asked to remove them, so I could take them back to America with me. Curtly, I was told, “I am sorry but these few remnants are now part of the Polish history and culture, and they must remain.” When I think back about this, I am glad they are at the museum, so others will know we once lived there. I left Grybow and made my way to Belzec. This was not a joy ride. I was going to a mas-
Mrs. Józef Mol - She was a itness to the mass murders in Biala Nitz at age 12, on Aug. 20, 1942
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