Page 82 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. Litzmannstadt Getto. Ślady.

owner of the house at Franciszkanska Street 26. He
complained all the time that there was no money
for children’s education – and there were a lot of
them, because he had three daughters and a son (he
emigrated to the US in 1920). But the twins pushed
the father and reached the goal. They graduated
from the high school and got the dream job. To help
in the payment of tuition fees, the girls did tutoring.
Joseph Toronczyk died in 1935, and he is buried in the
cemetery in Lodz; Frymeta, the grandmother died in
Auschwitz. Their house still stands at Franciszkanska
Street. Salome’s father – Calel Herszenberg – was
born in Lodz in 1895. He came from a religious family,
but did not follow the tradition. He was delivering
wool from the railway station to Lodz factories. His
mother – Salome’s beloved grandmother – Cerka,
Anna Torończyk przełożona sióstr w szpitalu PCK slept with her granddaughter in the same bed and
Anna Torończyk superior of the Sister of the Red told her in the evening dybbuks in Yiddish. – It was
Cross Hospital a gift for our family – Salome said years later. Cerka
Herszenberg died of starvation in the ghetto. Salome
lived with her parents and grandmother in the house
at Brzezinska Street 30 (today Wojska Polskiego)
pieniędzy na kształcenie dzieci – a było ich sporo, on the second floor. Their apartment consisting of
bo jeszcze trzy córki i syn (wyemigrował do USA a kitchen and a living room was considered a luxu-
w 1920 roku). Ale bliźniaczki naciskały ojca i dopięły rious apartment, because most families huddled
swego. Skończyły gimnazjum i zdobyły wymarzony in one room. They drew water from a well in the
zawód. By pomóc w opłacaniu czesnego, dziew- yard, bathroom (the so-called privy) also stood in
czyny udzielały korepetycji. Józef Torończyk zmarł the yard. The girl studied at the best elementary
w 1935 roku, jest pochowany na łódzkim cmentarzu; school in Baluty, which was located at Franciszkanska
babcia Frymeta zginęła w Auschwitz. Ich kamienica Street 13, where the teachers cultivated the Polish
wciąż stoi przy ul. Franciszkańskiej. language, poetry and literature as a national treas-
Ojciec Salomei – Calel Herszenberg – urodził się ure, uncontaminated foreign accent, bad grammar
w Łodzi w 1895 roku. Pochodził z rodziny religijnej, or simplicities –Salome recalled. To improve the
ale nie przestrzegał tradycji. Zajmował się dostar- Polish language, contaminated with influences taken
czaniem wełny ze stacji kolejowej do łódzkich fabryk. over from her grandmother’ Yiddish, her mother
Jego matka – ukochana babcia Salomei – Cerka, sent her to tutor Mrs. Bialer. With her children she
spała z wnuczką w jednym łóżku i opowiadała jej started to go on holiday to Glowno. In September
wieczorem o dybukach w języku jidysz. – Była darem 1939, she had to go to school. I actually started stud-
dla naszej rodziny – stwierdziła Salomea po latach. ying in Secondary School in Lodz at Wolczanska
Cerka Herszenberg zmarła w getcie z głodu. Street 125, but after a few weeks the Germans or-
Salomea mieszkała z rodzicami i babcią w kamie- dered to separate Jewish children from the rest. The
nicy przy ul. Brzezińskiej 30 (dziś Wojska Polskiego) mother moved her to the elite Jewish Gymnasium
na drugim piętrze. Ich mieszkanie składające się called “Our School” (Narutowicza Street 20), then all
z kuchni i salonu uchodziło za luksusowy apartament, Jewish gymnasiums (male and female) were com-
bo większość rodzin gnieździła się w jednym pokoju. bined. First, the Jaszunski gymnasium was housed

81