An incredible journey! Ida Brandspiegel, age five, her parents, and six other children, ranging in age from fifteen years to two weeks old, were expelled by the Nazis from their hometown, Pułrusk, Poland, in late September of 1939. They walked or took trains on their journey to the U.S.S.R. Along the way the family slept in barns with the horses, cows, and chickens and staying temporarily—only steps ahead of the Nazis—in Bialystok, Poland, and Orša, White Russia. Eventually, in October of 1941, aided by the Soviets, they reach Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in Siberia—the end of a two year journey. The family had journeyed over 1650 miles to reach safety.
Escaping the Nazis: 1650 Miles with Seven Children tells the story of this journey, their five years in the U.S.S.R., and another journey, one from Siberia to the U.S. Settling in Philadelphia, despite coping with language, job, and school ordeals, ever resilient, the family prospers.
Ida Belchatowski’s memoir—part comedy, part tragedy—will be appreciated by readers of all ages.
One: Pułtusk, My Hometown.............................................3
Two: My Family...................................................................6
Three: The German Occupation..........................................9
Four: The Soviets................................................................12
Five: Operation Barbarossa...............................................14
Six: Magnitogorsk..............................................................16
Seven: Going Home...........................................................25
Eight: Italian DP Camps....................................................29
Nine: Settling in.................................................................32
Ten: American Education..................................................34
Eleven: Working.................................................................36
Twelve: Dating...................................................................38
Thirteen: Max.....................................................................41
Fourteen: Houses and Children.........................................46
Fifteen: Epilogue................................................................49
Sixteen: A Reflection..........................................................52
Acknowledgments...............................................................53
Works Cited........................................................................54
Endnotes.............................................................................56
Maps...................................................................................74
Documents.........................................................................81
Photographs........................................................................91
One
Pułtusk,
My Hometown
I was born Ita (Ida) Brandspiegel on December 10, 1934,
in Pułtusk, Poland. My parents, Jakob (b.1895 or 1899) and
Rosa (neÅLe Wischnia) (b.1895 or 1899) Brandspiegel, had seven
children. I was their fourth child. My brother Gershon (1924)
was the oldest, followed by my sisters Sarah (1928) and Bela
(1931), then me (1934), two younger brothers Szlomo (Sal)
(1936) and Berys (Bernie) (1938), and finally Ruhael (Rachel),
the baby (1939).
Pułtusk, Poland, where we lived, is on the western bank of
the river Narew and 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Warsaw, the
capital of Poland.1 It is surrounded by mountains on three sides.
According to the article “Pułtusk,” Pułtusk is one of the oldest
and most beautiful cities in Poland, called “Little Polish Venice”
because of the gondolas on the river Narew. Its location on the
river and its proximity to Warsaw gave it strategic importance.
Since the tenth century when the town was established, it changed
hands a number of times. In the eighteenth century Pułtusk was
annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. In the nineteenth century
after the fall of Napoleon, Russia annexed the town. When I was
born, Pułtusk was a part of Poland.
Jews did not settle in Pułtusk until the end of the fifteenth
century; however, by the end of the eighteenth century they
were about 50% of the total population (“Pułtusk”). Rawicki
explains that Pułtusk Jews developed trade in grains and wood.
They also processed agricultural products; there were thirteen
flour mills in the city and the environs (Rawicki). In addition
to the main trades, Jews operated tanneries, lumber mills, and
soda factories (Rawicki).
The rate of development slowed down in Pułtusk with the
development of the various rail lines. According to Rawicki,
the opening of the railroad of Warsaw – Bydgoszcz that was
connected with the railway of Warsaw–Częstochowa – Vienna
affected Pułtusk’s economic development (2).
The new railway that also became known as the Wisla
railway led to the West, to the developed and industrial
Germany that was an excellent market for raw agricultural
produce and materials. With its opening the value of the
waterways depreciated and the nearest railway station was
far from Pułtusk, at a distance of twenty-two kilometers. It is
obvious that the dealers and manufacturers could not compete
with their counterparts whose towns and villages were close to
the train tracks. (Rawicki 5)
The Jewish economy suffered even more after WWI
with the rebirth of Poland. Pogroms and economic boycotts
impoverished the middle class (Rawicki 5). Rawicki contends
that this antisemitism paved the way “for Hitler’s armed thugs
and prepared the hearts of the masses of the Polish people to
be active or passive participants in the murder of millions” (5).
Refael Moshe Sach wrote a tribute to this lost Jewish
community of Pułtusk:
The years have passed, an entire world
was destroyed but Pułtusk, the city of
my youth, still stands before my eyes,
with all of its love of life. I remember
the main thoroughfares, the roads and
little byways. . . .
We lived in a Jewish atmosphere,
but we were still connected to the Polish
landscape, to its ends, spaces, to the
rivers and forests. In this kaleidoscope
of wheat and grain, rich fertile earth,
windmills and factory chimneys, our
town had a particular charm about it. It
was considered to be unique, and one of
the most beautiful places in all of Poland.
(54)
For Jews, those bonds of fellowship and landscapes
of beauty were devastated in 1939 with the invasion of
the Germans.