LUTZIN

                                              Dictated by Samuel Holland 1971-1972©

                               Transcribed and Annotated by Elizabeth Karen Reinhart 1996

There are few small towns in Europe which are known to the members of the emigrant Holland family in the United States or their descendants.  There is one which on the lips on almost everyone of the family members, young or old - and this is Lutzin, the place where the emigrant Holland hales.  Lutzin is now located in Soviet Latvia, one of the 15 Soviet republics making up the USSR.  It is located in the Latvian province of Latgalia which is the eastern portion of Latvia and which borders on the east the Soviet Union and Belarussia, and on the south with Lithuania.  Latvia itself is not a large country - it has a population now of about two and one-half million.  And it consists of about 60% Latvians and the rest are Russians, Poles, Germans, and Jews.  It is occupied two-thirds by forests, mostly wooded, and mostly coniferous - although there are plenty of birch, aspen, and oak trees.  And it also contains about three thousands lakes and several large rivers.  The largest being the Dvina River^[1] - both rivers are falling into the Baltic Sea and for centuries have been great means of transportation for lumber and other materials.  This time for foreign trade.  The Baltic Sea of Latvia is the coast of nearly five kilometers and it is open almost all year round for navigation. 

The town of Lutzin is now called by its original Latvian name of Ludza.  The Lutzin at the time I left in 1909 had about a population of 8,000 - more than half being Jews and the rest consisting of non-Jews, mostly Russian Old-Believers, Poles, Latvians, and Germans.  It is surrounded by a number of lakes - two of them coming closely and cutting right into the city.  The lakes being known as the Big Ludza and the Small Ludza Lake.  Latvia itself has been for centuries prior to the 15th Century dominated by German invaders, mostly of the Livonian order.  And the city of Riga and many other communities still retain some old churches and many ruins of German castles which dotted the country.  The Germans were expelled from Latvia by the Poles in the 15th Century and at the end of the 16th Century the country was taken over by the Swedes.  And later on at the beginning of the 18th Century due to the victories of Peter the Great over the Swedes was taken over by Russia.

Lutzin as I have known it was part of Russia, very little of anything has ever reminded us of the city of being other than a Russian city.  It was a part of the White Russian of Vitesbk.  And the official language was Russian.  Latvian, Polish was very seldom heard, although some of the Germans living in the city, including some Russian government officials of German descent were speaking German openly.  It had two very large beautiful churches:  one for the Russian-Greek Catholics and the other for the Roman Catholics that have seldom being open except for Sundays and Christian holidays and one Lutheran church for Latvians.  It had three synagogues for the Mitnagdim or those who were anti-Hasidic and one small synagogue which was known as the Minyan for the Hasidic who were a very small minority.

While the non-Jewish population of Lutzin was speaking Russian, the Jewish population was speaking Yiddish.  And those in business also knew some Latvian and some Russian to communicate with the customers from outside of the city.  Lutzin was a county seat and had the county administrative buildings and the county and circuit courts.  Its county was very large and included a number of substantial settlements like Kraslava and Marienhausen.  Outside of the city in the farming and village areas, the population was mainly Latvian, although there may have been a few Poles.  But the land and the forest belonged primarily to German and Polish nobility who either owned them by inheritance or by gifts by the Tsar in various epochs.  Lutzin was therefore the marketplace and the trade center for a very large hinterland.  And on Sundays and Christian holidays, the city was full of peasants, mostly Latvian, who came to the city to sell their produce, like butter, milk, eggs, chicken, geese - and buy necessities in food, clothing, and hardware.  The storekeepers were practically all Jewish, except possibly for one or two non-Jewish.  Therefore on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, the city was very quiet, very few people on the street - and, of course, all the stores were closed.  Stores were generally closed on Friday before sunset and remain closed until Monday except for some food stores which would open Saturday night.

Saturday morning was devoted to prayer for the Jewish population and very few Jews, young or old, especially male, avoided attending the synagogue for prayer, because the synagogue was also in a way, a social center where people would meet, discuss their business, family affairs, and politics.  On Saturday night, especially in the summer time, it was time for the Jewish residents, especially the younger people, to take slow and deliberate walks through the city streets, especially towards the two small parks.  And many of them would go out of the city towards the wooded areas and the fields of winter rye.  A favorite spot for recreation was a series of hills which were known as the Berg, meaning mountains.  There were located close, along side the Big Ludza Lake and on top were very tall, almost inaccessible ruins of castles and fortifications of the German and Swedish of its history.  We children would dig into the sand interiors of these hills and frequently find some coins and other mementos of this period.  And we were telling each other in the evening hours stories and fairy tales about ghosts and other impure beings who populated the tops of these big, tall ruins on top of the mountain top.  On summer evenings, these hills and the valleys between them were the city's lovers lanes and, of course, many stories were being told in connection with that use of the hills. 

So far as for the Jewish population of the city of Lutzin, it may be said that outside of the business dealings with non-Jews and the fact that there were always many girls from the country working as domestics in Jewish homes - we lived in a Jewish atmosphere dominated by Jewish religious and traditional customs and requirements.  Certainly, before the beginning of the 20th Century when the revolutionary and anti-government movement or movements of Russia penetrated into Lutzin and involved many members of the newer generation.  Because of that, the celebration of Jewish holidays were the high points of the life of the Jewish child and, possibly, many of the adults as well.  Around the feast of Passover, all the Jews were busy in getting ready for the holiday, by buying or renovating new clothes, cleaning house, and, especially preparing Passover foods, in particular, baking matzos.  These baking of matzos was done by a number of special contractors and the customers were generally would be present when their order was being filled to make sure the matzos were properly prepared.  And, of course, we children were the observers of this process and were also participating in that type of supervision at the same time making small matzos ourselves exactly look as the regular matzos did, put them in the big oven, and then, watch them bake for ourselves. It was also springtime.  The schools were closed for about three or four weeks at that period and we enjoyed going out the city into the woods, watching the trees turn green, and new life coming into being.  The lakes around the city were being filled with water.  And we were looking forward to the time for being.  Naturally many of the stores in Lutzin had been closed throughout the eight days of Passover, especially those which dealt in food or other items that could become unkosher.  The holiday of Simcha Torah was not only celebrated inside of the synagogue with prayers and the reading of the Torah, with much singing and dancing - but generally extended to the streets where Jews, frequently old ones, would be singing and dancing to celebrate the Torah. 

There was the Purim holiday which possibly is not as holy as others but had a great significance for us children because that was not only the time when Jews saved from extermination by the King Ahasuerus at the instigation of Haman, but it had many other features during the Megillah or the Book of Esther in the synagogue, we children permitted to make noise and we had special things which were being sold for that purpose, noisemakers used everytime the name of Haman was read in the Book of Esther.  Of course, we considered it great fun and each was trying to outdo the other in noisemaking.  And then there comes the giving and exchanging of presents known Shalach Mones^[2] where people would send to their friends, mostly consisting food and drinks and would receive in return something along the same line.  Of course, I remember keeping busy on that day, from morning until evening.  And the city had been full of children, going back and forth, delivering the gifts of their families to their friends.  The night of Purim was a most memorable occasion where families would gather for a big shindig with plenty of wine and food.  And we were told that according to law and tradition that every Jew must be drunk on that occasion so that he wouldn't know the difference between blessed be Mordechai and cursed be Haman.  Those great parties had also being held in my grandfather's house.  And in addition to the meal, there were on Purim night individuals and groups of amateur Purim actors known as Purimspielers going from house to house, especially to the houses of the people considered charitable or wealthy.  The Purimspielers primarily consisted mostly of the poorer elements of the community, some working men, some day laborers.  Some would just come in and sing a song about Haman, about Mordechai, about Esther - and others would come in and present a whole play for about 15 or 20 minutes.  They were generally dressed in various colored clothes, mostly made of papier mache.  At the end of each presentation, they would be receiving some monetary gift.  In my particular case, at the big table in the dining room of my grandfather's home were piles and piles of coins - silver, copper, nickel - and I would generally be sitting next to my grandfather and he would indicate to me, quietly, how much each of the individuals or groups of these Purimspielers would be entitled to - and it was always my very pleasant duty to step out and deliver the gift.  I always considered my grandfather to be very generous and he knew each of these Purimspielers personally, their financial condition, etc., and he always took that into consideration in giving them whatever he thought they were entitled to.

Of course, there was the eight days of Hannukah, especially the evenings when we would all gather at the house of Grandfather and watch him bless the candles and sing the prayers, and, of course, receive the Hannukah gelt.  There was always special dishes for Hannukah, especially potato pancakes made in goose fat and the main meal was consisting of goose meat.  Geese were in abundance in and around Lutzin.  As a matter of fact, the region of Lutzin had been exporting geese to the big cities and also abroad.  And during the winter months, almost daily there were herds of geese were being driven by peasants through the city streets towards the railway station where they were sent to Riga and other Baltic ports for shipment elsewhere.  At this point, I might say that in addition to geese, the region of Lutzin was also exporting fish, flax, and timber, both in logs and in boards.  On Hannukah, we were not only looking for the Hannukah gelt at Grandfather's home and from the uncles, but we would generally go around to the relatives around us, uncles, cousins, and others who would generally contribute some money to our bags of Hannukah gelt. 

The celebration of this and other holidays was certainly being a religious celebration in the synagogue where special prayers or special prayerbooks were used for that purpose and ceremonies as well - but also in the homes were special dishes were made so that each holiday was also known by the type of dishes or bakery goods that were made and prepared for that holiday - not only matzos for Passover, but also special dairy products and special bakery products for the holiday of Shavuot, kreplach for Purim and Succot, and so forth.  And several members of our family always had one of the holidays designated for the purpose of inviting the whole family at the meal or party at their house.  My mother had designated the evening before Simchas Torah as her assignment and it was called a balt, where the entire family came and participated.  Naturally the children would be interested in assisting Mother in making the holiday, including the meal and the house more interesting and welcome for the visitors who would very frequently stay away for the rest of the year for many business and personal reasons. 

Until about 1899, there was no railway station in Lutzin.  And most of its products which were received by horse and wagon from the city of Rzezyca which is now known as Rezekne about 20 fiortes(?)^[3] from Lutzin.  After the railway was built, Lutzin had grown quite a bit.  And as a matter of fact, a large area of land between the city and the railway station had been subdivided by some development company or the government into lots - and by the time I left....[tape ends]

                                                         LUTZIN INSTITUTIONS

I'd like to finish my recollections about Lutzin by describing some of the local institutions, both Jewish and general, and, possibly, some observations which impressed me during my childhood days.  The Jewish community of Lutzin, like possibly most of the other Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, whether in Russia, in Poland, in Ukraina, or in Austria, and even Germany, were more or less of a self-governing community.  And in their efforts and activities to fulfill the needs of the Jewish people, they built up many institutions and societies which they maintained at their own expense and were operating freely without little interference from local or national authorities. 

In the first place, I want to recall our bath house which was built practically on the Small Ludza Lake or on the edge of it so that a part of it was built in the lake itself.  It was a very large building which many departments.  And it was open on some days, primarily on Fridays for men, and on other days, primarily on Thursday, for the women of the community.  I recall all the details of that bathhouse vividly because in my childhood I hardly missed a Friday where I wasn't in the bathhouse either with my uncle Michol, Itzel, or my grandfather.  We were entering into a very large room where we would undress and leave our clothes there without any lockers.  And in as much as it was a strictly male audience, we never used any bathing suits.  From there we would enter into another large room with the temperature much warmer as it was open to the next room which was the hot room and generally full of steam.  It was a typical Russian or Finnish bath with a big collection of rocks and stones which was continuously kept hot by the pouring of hot, boiling water upon it which was a meeting and distributing steam throughout that room which was really a steam room and even kept the next room warm.  We were using broom-like bundles with leaves with which we would hit ourselves regularly or would have someone else hit us with them for the purpose of getting the steam a chance penetrate deeply into one's body.  It cannot say that I was personally in love with that procedure and I was certainly not in love with what other people were doing, mostly the older people of pounding right on top of the rocks and were getting all they could out of the steam bath.  From there was another large room which ordinarily was used by the women of the community.  That contained a mikvah or a very large tile bath which was not quite as large as swimming pools but almost large enough for children to swim in.  That was kept in a very sanitary condition because it was the ritual bath of the community which was obligatory upon the women to attend in connection with their menstrual periods and childbirth.  There was an opening from the bathhouse into the lake.  As a matter of fact, many of us would come right out from the hot bath rooms and jump or dive right into the lake, sometimes with the water pretty cold.  The lake was rather deep around there, or perhaps it was artificially deepened to give the bathers an opportunity to dive and swim.  Along side the big bathhouse were two bathing pavilions - one for men and one for women - that were used primarily in the summertime.  The pavilions were there only for dress and undress and it was on stilts so you could get right into the water in that pavilion and, if you desired, swim right on out from under the walls of the pavilion into the lake. 

This bathhouse and all its implements were maintained by the general Jewish community like other institutions like for instance within a block of the bathhouse was a Talmud Torah which was a school for the children of the poorer class who could not afford to pay tuition fee to private teachers or rabbis.  There they were taught the Hebrew language, elementary arithmetic, and prayers, also parts of the Bible.  Of course, it must be realized that many of these youngsters were going to work or help their families at a young age and not able to get a complete education - but it was available to them.  It is worth noting that there were no illiterates in Lutzin among the Jews so far as reading Hebrew or the prayers or the Bible were concerned.  And they all practically understood the meaning of the Hebrew prayers and the Hebrew Bible.  I make a special note of that because later on in the United States I met many Jewish immigrants from Ukraina and Poland who were absolutely illiterate in so far as the Hebrew language was concerned.  They could neither read nor write and certainly never understood the meaning of the prayers which they were learning by heart. 

Not far from the Talmud Torah, was the Jewish asylum which we called hekdesh (____). It was primarily built for people with mental disorders who were somewhat disturbed where the Jewish community did not feel they should go to the state insane asylums.  Some of the rooms were also used for homeless transients - Jews - or beggars who would go through the city from time to time and even for some perennial poor of the city who were not married and were homeless. 

All of these institutions were maintained by a tax on meat which was called Korobka.^[4]  The amount of tax was generally agreed upon by a committee elected by the general community and the job of collection was either turned over to one person or the whole business was sold to a person at the price which was considered adequate for the community.  From this amount, a substantial amount, was also used for the city rabbi's salary and also to subsidize the shochet and the mohel.  It is interesting that this tax and this taxing procedure was in accordance with special laws promulgated by the national government and supervised by the local government.  So that in a sense, the Jewish community had the right of taxation of Jews for their own needs. 

There were many other features in the civil government of the community.  There were frequently meetings in the various synagogues, discussing not only the needs of the particular synagogue but also general matters affecting the community.  And frequently there were transient preachers - or as we called them megidim (______) - who would come into the city and preach for a certain fee on matters of religion and even politics.  And as far as I know, no permission required from the authority for the holding of such meetings and no representatives of police were ever present at them.  The synagogues generally were not only the gathering places of the religious people who would come to pray or to study the Torah but around the synagogue would generally gather on Saturdays and on holidays, the young people who were promoting revolutionary movements where they were discussing their activities and goals.  There were frequently posted on the bulletin boards in the synagogues proclamations by the socialist groups, by the Bund, by the Poale Zion.  And around the first of May there were proclamations in red.  I doubt very much whether the police were aware or were interested in that.  The fact of the matter is that all of the synagogues in Lutzin as well the public institutions that they were maintaining were located within a street or two, all populated by Jews where the only non-Jews who would ever come in were those employed as servants, working men, or mechanics. 

There were the three churches in Lutzin:  the Protestant which was the smallest, the Russian-Greek Catholic, and the Roman Catholic.  The Roman Catholic church was used primarily by people outside the city of Lutzin.  It had a large organ and it was standing on a very high hill overlooking the lake.  We Jewish children were admonished to close our ears, not to hear get any of the sounds of the organ.  And were told that the organ was adopted from the Jewish services in the Temple before the Exile and it was a desecration.  We had a sentence from the Bible which quoted an abomination as we were closing our ears.  On Easter, the city was full - on Easter Sunday I should say - the city was full around the churches and both from the Christians in the city and from outside the city.  On that day, Jews would generally avoid leaving their homes.  There was always a fear that on that day as the Christians leave the church where they had been generally preached about in church about the Jews having killed Christ would sweep on Jewish homes and businesses for revenge and destruction.  On the other hand, there was sometimes some cooperation with the Christian community.  I remember several times when the city was visited by a high patriarch of the Catholic church.  It was rumored by the Jews in the community that this dignitary was well-versed in Hebrew.  He was met by a committee of the most prominent Jews with bread and soap as was the custom and they addressed him in Hebrew.  While I was not present, I was told that his answer to the committee was very friendly and also in Hebrew. 

Besides regular market days affecting only the city and the immediate surroundings, we always had one or two fairs during the year which attracted people from more distant places and also attracted businessmen from many parts of the country.  In the wintertime, a part of the fair activities were horse races on the ice as the lakes were well frozen.  And generally, there was a big commerce done in trading of horses.  And so far as we children were concerned, we were fascinated by the tremendous stands of various imported foods and foods from other parts of Russia which were practically unknown to us, consisting of fishes like salmon, sturgeon coming from the Caspian Sea.  Generally serviced by big tall Russians.  Of course, those places were not patronized by Jews because they were considered not Kosher.  We did have, however, one stall in Lutzin which was operated by one of our friends, a Mr. Zeitlyn, which specialized in the importation of foods and drinks of various kinds.  And it always kept a good supply of grapes and peaches, apricots, tomatoes, watermelons, and fruits in season.  We patronized that stall primarily on the eve of Rosh haShannah when we were buying grapes and watermelons for the purpose of a certain prayer which we were to say at our meal on Rosh haShannah^[5].  The foods I mentioned were such which did not grow and which were not in general use in the city of Lutzin, being a rather cold climate and the most of the fruit I mentioned were imported from Ukraina, from Crimea, and from the Caucasian mountains. 

One of the most fascinating things we had in Lutzin so far as we children were concerned, and possibly some of the grownups participating in it, was the volunteer fire brigade.  It was having regular exercises during the year.  And once a year would have their great holiday.  That was a non-sectarian group and many members of our family like Michol and Itzel were active in that.  They had beautiful uniforms, and, of course, that presented an additional attraction - and also a fine orchestra.  They had been continually buying new fire engines, that is, as new improved ones were coming to be known in other places.  And, of course, the city was generally supporting them.  Their feats on their equipment - on going up and down the tall ladders, jumping down from several stories, etc. - were always a matter of great interest and admiration.  And, of course, we were all looking forward to the time when we would join this fire brigade organization too. 

Also we had been, especially in the Jewish community, exposed to considerable disorder - breaking of windows, assaults - once a year when the new recruits for military services were coming into the city of Lutzin from the whole county:  Lutzin being the county seat where they would all come for medical examination and either acceptance or discharge of the army.  Even the liquor stores were generally closed during the period these invasions.  But even somehow they had enough liquor to drink:  from time to time would break into a government liquor store^[6] where they would empty out the shelves and drink to their hearts' content.  Of course, this applies only to the non-Jewish recruits.  So far as the Jewish recruits were concerned, they were generally in their homes and very frequently devising some ways of avoiding or getting out from the service in the military for the benefit of the Tzar.  And, especially, to be subjected to un-Kosher foods and much deprivation and the assignment to a province or region in the country like as the River Amur, Vladivostok, and so forth. When a Jewish recruit can been assigned to such places, his family would be sitting in mourning as it very uncommon for any of those soldiers on leave before the expiration of their term.  It was a question of great distances and possibly many other reasons.

We had a clubhouse in the city, located in one of the finest tree-lined streets near the park.  It was called the Clubhouse of Noblemen.  It was built by the landowners and nobility of the county of Lutzin and it was used by them for their own purposes - but it was also rented out from time to time for other purposes.  For instance, they had now and then a itinerant group of dramatic players or light opera like Bizet or Helen of Troy or a pianist or violinist of lower rank who would come to Lutzin for some small compensation.  I remember one particular violinist who was said to have come from America, not the United States but Cuba.  He was a young man of very dark complexion, possibly Negroid, not entirely black.  That was a novelty in the city and I remember how we have been following him in the street, running after him and just looking at this most unusual sight of a dark human being. 

The city of Lutzin was governed by a bureaucrat known as the Esproniks(?) - literally translated, it is an administrator. He was in uniform and possibly came from the army.  He was always a Russian and he was appointed by the governor of the province and approved in St. Petersburg by the national government.  On the whole, these esproniks(?) were friendly with the Jewish community.  It is possible that either the Jewish community or some Jews in the community had generally been able to keep this espronik(?) or functionary happy with some gifts from time to time.  Salaries for bureaucrats in Russia were not very high in those years.  And it is very possible that some even good people who were Russians were looking for this type of jobs because of the extra remuneration that they would be getting from the Jewish community.  There were always some individual Jews who were known to be particularly close to that seat to power so that whenever any favor was necessary or a complaint had to be made, these people would generally adjust it by direct contact with the head of the government.  There was also a locally-elected commission that had charge more to carry out than to enforce the requirements of the national, state, and local government than to represent its people.  But there were elections once in two or three years for this kind of a commission and voters, Jews and non-Jews, would participate, that is, would qualify as voters who  had a certain amount of property and paid a certain amount of taxes.  There was always one Jew elected to that commission who was apparently working at full pay within the city government helping them in connection with the Jewish population, their statistics, the payment of their taxes, the operation of their businesses, the licensing, etc. 

A very interesting thing I remember were cows being driven through the streets on summer days, in the morning and in late in the afternoon.  One of those cows was generally our cow.  Very many people in Lutzin, possibly non-Jews as well as Jews, had their own cow, although the milk obtained from such a cow was not always sufficient for the family and they had to supplement it by buying additional milk.  But these systems with the cows fascinated me because every once in a while I would be involved with it.  In the morning, the herdsman, mostly a young gentile boy, would go through the city to gather the cows into a herd and chase them out of the city, possibly about half a mile or a mile away where they had pasture land.  And then in the evening, they would be coming back and he would repeat the same procedure by going through the streets where his customers were and returning the cows to their owners.  Very frequently, I mention about once a month, he was looking for the monthly pay and the way upon forcing the payment was to have the owners come for the cows themselves to the pasture and take them home with them.  In my younger days, I was sent by my mother time and time again to the pasture and pay the young fellow who was in charge and bring the cow home with me.  It was always quite a task and it was, of course, very interesting to spend a little time over in the pasture and with the rest of the cows of the community.  And by the way, we had a now and then obtained a calf from the cow, generally in the winter time.  And that was quite an occasion in our house.  We would generally take the little calf into the house and live with him and watch his uncertain steps he was making and uncertain noises he was making and he would generally stay with us several weeks until he would grow up enough so that Mother would turn it over to the butcher for the purpose of getting meat for us.

                                          A JEWISH CHILD GROWS UP IN LUTZIN

What was the lifestyle of a Jewish child in Lutzin between the ages of six and twelve?  How was he kept busy?  What were the things around him that kept him interested, and even excited?  What did he have for amusement?  for entertainment?  What was going on around him that would leave a permanent impression upon him for all his life and his interests as he grows up?  His nostalgia? 

Certainly the lifestyle of the Jewish child in the thousands of villages and towns of the Jewish Pale of Settlement in Russia, White Russia, the Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have certain common dominators which were primarily fixed by the religious customs, traditions, and overwhelming influence of the demand of public opinion and the parents.  Nevertheless, there were many differences caused by geographic and climatic variations and also, of course, the economic circumstances and cultural atmosphere of the child.  After all, the Jewish community in a small village in Russia on the whole was not uniform and there were many variations and gradations in the community because of social-economic and cultural differences. 

So what I am going to say now regarding the life of the Jewish child, is primarily to reminisce and depict some of my own childhood and the influences it had on me from my surroundings. 

Now the climatic and geographic conditions of Lutzin were fixed by the fact that it was located quite far to the north of the general Jewish Pale of Settlement in the Russian empire and because of the differences in the non-Jewish population and character:  they were not Ukrainians and they were not Latvians.  And primarily by the fact that we were surrounded by these lakes, immediately alongside of the city and many of its streets and because of the very region where it was located.  Also by the hills which we called mountains, which were an important item in the city and also, because of the ruins of the castles and fortresses on top of those hills. 

It seems to me that the most interesting season in Lutzin was the winter season.  It lasted quite a long time.  It was getting cold in October.  And we did not feel the springtime until April or May.  The city of Lutzin was early being blanketed by a covering of snow.  And the snow has generally been laying on the ground throughout the winter season.  The lakes were freezing up quickly and were freezing up solidly, being covered with a very thick layer of ice.  Water was obtained from the holes made in the ice and possibly some fishing was being done in those holes.  The frozen lakes offered shortcuts to the peasants and other persons living outside of Lutzin and coming into the city.  They did not have to go around each lake any more but were coming in directly over the ice where roads were formed early and remained for the remainder of the season.  The wagons with the wheels disappeared - sleds took their place, sleds of every kind:  cheap homemade sleds made by peasants and very fine decoupages brought in very other parts of the country or even from abroad purchased by the richest people.  Those big, beautiful sleds were generally drawn by a troika or three horses and their coming in through the city and through the streets of the city was generally heralded by the bells on the horses.  And it was thrilling and beautiful and attractive.  There was a special skating rink built on the lake, separated from the rest of the lake by beautiful evergreen trees, cypresses, pines, and others.  Inside the rink was clear and kept clear from the snow so that the ice clean and almost transparent. And there was skating there every evening in the winter months.  And in the evening there was also a band playing marches and waltzes both by Russian and foreign composers.  So far as I can remember, the band was the band of the volunteer fire society and the director was Mr. Policoff who was also the singing teacher in my school.  We children would gather in the evening around the skating rink, even if many of the parents, including my own, had been raising objections.  Around the skating rink, there was very frequently a battlefield between groups of Jewish children and groups of non-Jewish children who were fighting each other with snowballs and threatening each other using appropriate names.  And there was plenty of name-calling all around.  There were leaders being developed in these groups and not seldom some was getting into a huddle in hand-to-hand combat and the result were injuries and bleeding for some of the combatants.  This was why we Jewish children very seldom went to the skating rink by ourselves.  We always went in a gang.  And as a matter of fact, there were several gangs and each of us belonged to one special gang that he called his own, mostly children of the same cheder which he himself attended.  We were also skating outside of the lake, down from the hills in the city to the point.  We were improvising or making our own skates of wood and wiring on the bottom.  And also improvising our own little sleds.  However, many parts of the children were having regular skates bought by parents or relatives and many children of the richer people also had sleds purchased and brought in to Lutzin from the larger cities.  There were also horse races on the ice.  And we children, of course, very anxious and interested spectators.  Very seldom did any Jews participate in those races, there were mostly people from the region and sometimes some of the owners of the landed estates racing with their beautiful horses, with their beautiful sleds. 

I don't believe we were tiring of the winter season.  But nevertheless, it was followed by springtime.  It was getting warmer and the interesting things to watch was again the lake or the lakes, with the breaking of the ice, sometimes making noise.  The creation of floes, big and small.  Some of the daring children would even try to get on some of those floes, much to their disappointment because of the fact that many of the floes would not exactly go in the direction they wanted and they could not easily control them.  Later on the lake would overflow.  The lakes being fed by distant rivers and mountain streams, in addition to the rains.  Many blocks around the lake be covered with water.  Our house for many years has been within five to six hundred feet from the edge of the water and we were very close to the flooded area - and sometimes it even reached and over-reached our own house.  It was again a type of fun.  We were wading in the water, cold as it was.  And we were making little boats out of paper and out of wood, of different sizes, big and small - running races with them between the children.  And looking forward when we would be able to use our lake for its main purpose and that was bathing.  Unfortunately, I remember that we were not permitted to go bathing even if it was hot and the water was warm and attractive until after the holiday of Shavuot which is exactly seven weeks after first day of Passover.  That was a religious custom which, of course, could not be violated.  Any violation, of course, could be easily detected. 

But the summer would come around eventually and we would go swimming very seldom in the places provided by the Jewish community near the bathhouse or across on the other side of the lake where the water was more swallow and where we could, to our hearts' content, take off our clothes and swim in the open, where we could really learn swimming and I believe we all did.  As a matter of fact, I believe that many of them and possibly including myself had learned to swim substantial distances including across the narrow portions of the lake itself.  Summer, of course, had its own attractions. 

The city was full of flowering and budding trees and blossoms beginning in the late spring.  Everywhere you could see the violets.  They were in abundance, blue and white.  Bittersweets.  Trees of jasmine, wonderfully smelling.  And, of course, there were flowers everywhere.  There were flowers growing wild naturally and there were flowers which were planted.  And then we were surrounded by woods.  Hard by the city were beautiful woods of oak trees which were considered to be spreading health to the surrounding regions.  And a little further, there were plenty of birch trees, aspen trees, and maple trees, and others.  The woods were full of mushrooms, growing wild.  And after a rain, we could go in with sticks and just pull them out.  We learned to understand the different kinds of mushrooms as some we were told were poisonous.  And always these discussions between the children as to which of the mushrooms were to be picked and which were to left alone.  Plenty of berries, wild strawberries, blackberries growing wild, and various kinds of nuts in clusters coming down the trees.  On the other sides of the city there were fields of oats growing and winter rye.  And those were the places where we would go for walks with our parents on Saturdays and holidays.  And these were also the places where the children would play hide and seeks and other games.  Rolling down the hills was another diversion for the children in Lutzin.  Digging into the sides of the hills for old coins and other mementos left over to us unknown from centuries back from when the country was occupied by Germans and Swedes and Poles.  We weren't looking happily towards the coming of fall with its rains, its chills, and one might say, the dirt.  Although the fall season was rather short in the city of Lutzin.

Those were the amusements we children had in Lutzin because the geographic situation of our town.  As Jewish children, these joys were continuously inter-played with the joys and anticipation we had because of the Jewish holidays which filled the entire year.  Passover when we children were helping out and hanging out around the places where our family orders of matzos was being baked.  And later on we children were helping mother to clean up the house to make ready for Passover.  When we were going around together with our parents from window to window to pick up crumbs of bread and other things that were deliberately left there as symbols of chametz so that they could be picked up and burned.  Sometimes we would be having some new clothes bought or having our old clothes renovated.  Then came the Seder with all its beauty, the asking of the four questions by the previously well-prepared for the same, looking for the afikomen on the Seder night, the offer of the wine in accordance with the custom and the drinking of some of it, and falling asleep very soon after the big meal without waiting for the social evening.  There was no bread so Mother would be baking cakes and we were eating plenty of cake for breakfast instead of bread.  And instead of other things we would generally have a piece of cake with preserves and jelly.  Special dishes out of matzo flour, candies made out of poppy seed and ingbar(?) (whatever it was called in English) which was called momabella(?) and ingbarah(?) which was not given to us very freely but we had plenty of them anyway.

Then would come about a month or so later, Lag b'Omer, the day of the trees.  Free from school, where we children would march together with some guide or our teacher into the woods, playing there, looking for birds, trying to recognize and remember the various kinds of birds.  Then sometimes planting trees which Lag b'Omer^[7] meaning the thirty-third day of the Omer, meaning 33 days after the first day of Passover. 

Soon enough, about two weeks later we would have Shavuot^[8] which was more familiar to us because of the wonderful bakery goods which Mother would make specially for Shavuot.  Rolls filled cheese, with preserves, with honey.  Rolls in the form of birds.  Rolls in the forms of step-ladders^[9] and many other forms which I cannot enumerate. 

With Shavuot over, before long, we would go through the days of lamentation which end with the ninth day of Av, the day of the destruction of the Temple, when Jews would go to the synagogue, sit on the floor or on very low benches, read the Book of Lamentations, cry over the terrible loss, ask for the return to Zion and Jerusalem, and fast all day long.  And the nine days before Tisha b'Av were meatless days.  Then, of course, because of that alone, they were distinguished because not having any meat, there were other preparations made of dairy products and vegetables that we would not ordinarily have during the rest of the year. 

Soon after that, our classes would adjourn and we would be getting ready for the three big holidays, the Days of Awe and Conciliation, the days of Rosh haShannah and Sukkot, Yom Kipper and Simchas Torah.  Of course, Rosh haShannah was our new year.  We were going to the special food store which we had in Lutzin to purchase imported grapes, big white grapes and blue and dark blue grapes, also watermelon and sometimes other imported foods so that on the first night of Rosh haShannah we would be able to say Shehecheyanu, meaning the blessing and the thanks to the Lord for permitting us to live during the whole year until now and beginning our prayers for a new and happier year to come.

Yom Kippur followed ten days later with a great day of fast where Jews were in the synagogue all day long, never leaving it.  With the many lamentable and exquisite melodies associated with the prayers on Yom Kippur.  Melodies that ring and endure in the ears of the Jewish children throughout their lives.  The pleading to the Lord for being written into the Book of Life for the year.  The confessions of sin with beatings on the chest that is being repeated over and over again during the prayer on Yom Kippur.  And the evening before with the most solemn occasion of Kol Nidre where we felt that we are seeing with our own eyes how the heavens are opening and the Lord himself and his angels are listening to us in our synagogue:  How well we pray and how sincere we are in our prayers in asking forgiveness for our sins from the year before so that they may decide our fate for the coming year.  The end of Yom Kippur when we all gathered to celebrate was a great holiday - being certain that the Lord has listened to our prayers, the family would gather for special meals which would be ready and having been prepared from before. 

Then comes the holiday of Sukkot where we would participate in a most uncommon event.  We would participant in a most uncommon event, the opening up of the sukkah - the big, beautiful sukkah that was built as an attachment or almost as a patio to my grandfather's big house.  The roof of the sukkah was removable or movable and it had a big pole attached to it with which it could be lowered down and lifted it.  And my uncles Itzel and Maisel never missed the chance to call me in for the time that they fixed for the opening up of the sukkah.  And then on the lattice work on top of the sukkah and on the half-opened roof, we would fill in the openings with big branches of evergreens or birch trees, hang up apples, pears, and fruits over it.  And then for eight days we would have our meals in the sukkah regardless of the weather, whether it is clement or inclement. 

Seven days later, we would have the great, joyful holiday of Simchas Torah where everybody would be dancing in the synagogue, singing old songs on religious themes, telling the simple melodies for the Simchas Torah prayers.  We children would be given flags and pennants and all kinds of paraphernalia which we would carry along at the time the grown-ups would carry the different Torahs around the synagogue and sing.  And, of course, one cannot help to remember these songs and the melodies of that joyful occasion.  And certainly we enjoyed watching many of the elders go into the streets in front of the synagogue and sometimes in front of the house - drink wine in the presence of all and again dance to the songs of the Torah and the prayers:  Simhas Torah which is the end of the reading of the weekly chapters of the Torah which have been read every Saturday and heralding the beginning of the new series of Torah readings for the coming year.  I remember that on that day if there were any Jewish prisoners as sometimes there was one or there were than one or two or three in the prison in Lutzin, they would send us children with some special food and other things for the Jewish prisoners.  And I remember on at least twice I was one of the messengers of goodwill to these Jewish prisoners in the Lutzin prison.  And although I was never permitted to enter inside and only hand over the gifts to the guards, I certainly was satisfied with the fact that I was permitted to do such a good deed as I considered that one.

After this series of holidays, we of course, were looking forward to Hannukah which came about two months.  Hannukah with the latkes, with the Hannukah gelt - Hannukah with the dreidle which we children used to play with and used the pennies or coppers we were receiving.

And later Purim with the hamantashen^[10], with the shaklakhmones, the gifts, with the Purim seudah^[11] where the people would come, the poorer people, would come to my grandfather's table to sing the Purim songs about Haman, Esther, and Ahasuerus^[12] and where they would be collecting their usual gifts from my grandfather which generally delivered by me at his request.  And finally again, and quickly forward towards to Passover.  Where in addition to everything else, we were given walnuts or buying walnuts and we were playing with each other with those walnuts, using small metals balls and playing more or less like bowling so that who strikes from a certain distance a pile of nuts located [tape ends].