Chapter
VI
What
did the people of Rozalimas notice about their Jewish fellow-citizens.
What
did the people of Rozalimas notice about their co-citizens who happened to be
Jewish in those days (1930-1941)? How did they interpret their observations?
They
noticed that the synagogue was used on Saturdays and that the men were seated
downstairs and the women upstairs in the synagogue. They noticed that the
services in the synagogue were held until the German-Nazi Occupation started (until
summer 1941). They
noticed and heard the spoken language of their Jewish neighbours, which was
Yiddisj. They
noticed that the Jewish men and boys wore yarmulkas on special occasions and
that some of them wore the yarmulkas every day. They
noticed that before Pesach the Jewish women cleaned the house thoroughly and
that they baked a lot of matzos. They noticed, that the women even changed the
crockery. The items used every day were replaced by special and luxurious items.
They noticed that during the Pesach-festivities, the Jews of Rozalimas were
eating matzos instead of bread. They noticed the end of Pesach especially,
because they were given matzos by their Jewish
neighbours. They
noticed that when a Jewish person had died, the corpse was put in a coffin and
that this same coffin was used time and time again when a Jewish person had died.
They noticed that the dead body was laid down in a hole at the cemetery and they
noticed that the hole was covered with boards inside. They noticed that inside
the hole the Jews of Rozalimas put a bag filled with sand to serve as a pillow
for the deceased. They
noticed that once a year in the synagogue the Jews of Rozalimas had their
so-called ‘terrible night’ and during this night men and women prayed a lot
(Yom Kippur). They
noticed that when there was a rainstorm, the Jewish men who were in the forest
at that time hugged the trees and prayed loudly.
They
noticed that in the autumn the
Jewish families had built some sort of tent in their yard and that the roof of
the tent was covered with branches from the pine-trees.They even noticed that
the Jewish families had their meals in this tent .(Sukkoth is the name of this
Jewish feast : The Jews commemorate their 40 years stay in the desert after
their liberation from slavery by God Himself in Egypt. These festive days last 7
days and it is a feast of profound joy.).
And
what did the Jews of Rozalimas notice about their non-Jewish fellow-citizens? I can’t give you the answer, because the Jews of Rozalimas aren’t there anymore, they are wiped off the face of the earth forever. |
Copyright
© 2005 Dora Boom
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