Searching for the Braufenbreners (Brenners): Frampol and Shebershin (Yiddish) Szczebzreszyn

 

Direction sign on our visit to the Braufenbrener and Waldman 

ancestral homes

I was never much interested in genealogy nor my family history until, when sitting shiva for my mother in 2004, my Uncle Gerry mentioned that my grandfather had a brother who was killed after his father emigrated and before the rest of the family left for the United States. The only thing I knew about my grandfather's history was that he came from a shtetl called Shebershin, which, it turns out, is the Yiddish name. The Polish name for the town is Szczebrzreszyn, not an easy name to say as you will hear in the video below. Anyone who might have known my great uncle's name was gone, but my uncle told us that the family story was the older son was killed by a gang of boys. I became obsessed with learning about my great uncle. 

My cousin Beth thinks it is very funny that I cannot pronounce the name of the town.

Determination and help from volunteers from Jewish Records Indexing (JRI) Poland lead to the discovery of his birth and death records, although no information about the murder. His name was Mosze Chill Bronfenbrener (spellings of our last name varied on different documents. Mosze, which is also my father's name, was born in 1900 and died on November 13, 1910 in Frampol. Frampol was the birth place of my great grandmother, my namesake -- Feige (Fanny) Waldman. We assume that after my great grandfather left for the U.S. the family moved in with Feige's mother and father, Gerszko and Gena Waldman. It was believed at the time that boys needed a role model, so Mosze was sent to live with an uncle, although we do not know who that uncle was. Beth and I decided we would go to Poland -- to Frampol and Szczebzreszyn to pay our respects to the family who saved us from certain annihilation 30 years later. 

Our first stop in searching for the Braufenbreners was Frampol, a town made a bit famous with a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, "A Tale of Three Wishes." It is also known for being the town that Hitler chose to practice bombing starting on September 13, 1939. Frampol was chosen for ariel bombing because it was in the shape of a square target. 90% of the town was obliterated, so most everything we saw was built after the war.

Town sign explaining the bombing of Frampol

Beth and me as we approached Frampol

We had a wonderful driver, Piotr, and he helped us when we first visited the Frampol government office. Unfortunately, our visit was unproductive. Records are not digitized and all records over 100 years old are sent to the office in Zamosc. We didn't have time to visit this larger city which is the capital of the area, but I got an email address to follow up. I had been able to find the name of the street where the Waldman family lived -- 3 Maya. It turned out to b a very short street that begins at the market square and ends at a Catholic church. Beth and I took a walk up and down the street knowing that we were walking in the same steps as our family. There were a couple of houses that looked old, and despite knowing that the town was bombed, we wondered if our family could have lived in one of them.

3 Maya ul. (street)

On the street where they lived

Could they have lived here?

Or here? (Most likely not since most houses do not go back to the 19th century.)

Roman Catholic Church of John of Nepomuk and Our Lady of the Seapular

Beth and I assume that Mosze is buried in Frampol with his mother's family since that is where his death announcement was made. Our last stop in Frampol was the Jewish cemetery. We knew that most of the cemeteries had either deteriorated over time or were destroyed in the war or, later, by the Soviets. Only a few matzevot remained, and none of them belonged to any member of our family whose names include Atzenberg (Fanny's in-laws), Elbaum (Fanny's grandmother), Brezel (Fanny's mother's family), and Radler (Fanny's great grandmother's family). There is a mass burial area where Frampol Jews were shot and buried in mass pits. That area is cordoned off, and there is a small memorial.

Entrance to the Jewish Cemetery

One of the few matzevot

One of the few surviving matzevot 

Mass graves from the Holocaust in Frampol

A panoramic view of the cemetery

There was only one restaurant in Frampol, so we had some pizza at the local pizzeria and met our driver, Piotr, to make the way to Szczebrzeszyn. As we got closer we were looking for the sign for the town, one we had seen multiple times on social media and online, but it had been updated like the one for Frampol, and we missed it, so here is the original from a photo I found online. 

Town Sign (recently replaced and missed)

We first went to our little cabin, Na Talandy, to check in. Originally we were supposed to stay in Zamosc, which is a much larger city with hotels, but Beth was insistent in staying in our ancestral home. Luckily, we found a place with two rustic but modern cabins that we booked. They had two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, patio, a washer and dryer in the main house, and it was perfect! Our host was a lovely woman named Monica Karpowicz. Her home had several books with paintings by her husband, niece, and other family members. The cabin looked new, and she explained that the land belonged to her family -- Talandy -- and they built three cabins: one for their family and two to rent out to supplement their income. Just as we arrived there was a bad storm so we took refuge in the cabin and a had a long nap. Finally, after the rain let up, we walked into town to explore the small village. 

Na Talandy, our home for two nights

Cmentary Street (Cemetery Street)

Unlike Frampol, most of the houses date back to the end of the 19th century

Could they have lived here (minus the satellite dish)?

Szczebrzeszyn has become an artist's village with several local painters, including some renown artists. One of the local painters, Piotr Koldozidcyk, paints scenes from the town as a shtetl. Many of his painting comes from the memories presented in the book, Tales from the Shtetl, by a local Jewish resident who immigrated about the same time as my family, Philip Bibel. 

Shebershin as a setting for Fiddler on the Roof

Piotr's art gallery

Szczebrzreszyn became famous when a poet, Jan Brechzwa, wrote a tongue-twister of a poem about a beetle (chrasczc): "W Szczebrzesynie chrzasszc brzmi w trzcine" or "in Szczebrzesyn, a beetle buzzes in the reed." The beetle has become the symbol of the town and is celebrated throughout the town including a statue in front of the town hall.

Chrascz in front of the old synagogue, now the cultural center

Beetle and cricket bench in front of city hall

The beetle made famous by Jan Brechzwa

The Dawna Synagogue was turned into a cultural center, but the city restored some of the interior has been restored. The room is used as an exhibit hall. When the rooftop and bimah of the former Gwozdziec synagogue was being painted for its installation at the Polin Museum, the panels traveled to four towns, involving students from Poland as well as other international students in its creation. The synagogue in Szczebzreszyn was one of those towns. 

The lighter-colored parts are original to the synagogue.

The arch and steps are original.

Monica introduced us to a friend who is a retired history teacher in town who is involved in helping people find local ancestors. She also worked with a group of students from Szczebzreszyn and Israel in cleaning up some of the Jewish Cemetery a few years ago. She met with us and, as we walked up the street to the cemetery (it was only yards from where we were staying) she told us the horrors of the day the Jews were all rounded up and walked up that street to the cemetery and murdered. Mothers, fathers, and children were forced to undress and stand waiting for their turn to be shot. 

Entrance to the Jewish Cemetery

A few remaining tombstones lying near the entrance

The following morning before we left for home I took a brief walk to take a few more photos.

The original school, now the education center

Again, we tried to imagine the house where the Braufenbreners lived

The exterior of the former synagogue

Originally the market square, the plaza now sits in front of the Town Hall.

A photograph of Market Square taken around the turn of the 20th Century

Notice that most of the buildings across the street are the same.

Although we didn't learn anything new about our family history, we walked in the steps of our family, and that was worth the journey. We will send a request to the Zamosc archives, which holds record over a century old, to request any information of the family. If we get an address, we will still know where they lived and one of our new friends in Szczebzreszyn will take photos for us. 

Our amazing journey ended with an emotional goodbye to our host, Monica. But that was after a little trouble with a coffee pot that was not familiar to me, and I did everything wrong. I put the coffee where the water should go. I put the water where nothing should have gone. I turned the induction stove on high when it should have been low. Soon after the kitchen was filled with smoke and everything smelled like burned coffee. Monica was most gracious about my narishkeyt (stupidity). 

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Map showing all the cities from which people were deported to Auschwitz

I have been putting off the writing of this post because it is an emotionally draining experience. When we were getting near the camps, I was a bit taken aback at all the homes that surrounded the camps. Once we were inside, there were times I needed to look away or leave the room. I have seen many movies and read a wide variety of books about the Holocaust, but nothing was like visiting the two concentration camps. I will not do it justice here, but I will try to give you a sense of our visit. I didn't take many pictures.

I will start with logistics. Since we were not traveling with a large tour group, we had tickets for an English group tour with about 25 others who were in a similar situation. As you walk into the visitor's center you check in and wait for your time to be called. Other small groups seemed to have a private guide. Large groups were met outside where there were several guides waiting for them. 

Once gathered with our guide, we went through security and picked up "whisperers" so that we could hear the guide throughout the tour of Auschwitz. We did not have the audio at Birkenau. As we went through the infamous gate "Arbeit mach frei," or "Work makes you free," it seemed disrespectful somehow to take a photo, besides the point that there are so many groups of people it was difficult to take a photo. Still, I grabbed my phone and got this view.

I learned that the camp was built by the Russians before the war as a training ground for soldiers. The Nazis turned it into a death camp. We walked past the 24th block to the first barracks. The start of the tour is a museum with each barrack showcasing the horrors of the camp. Prisoners undressed and their personal belongings were taken from them. The exhibit included items such as tallit (prayer shawls), housewares (people were told they were being relocated and could take some items so that they would be more obedient and less afraid), luggage, and shoes, including one window that only displayed shoes of the children that were murdered. I had to look away. I couldn't stop thinking of Ari and the tremendous loss of generations.

Tallit (prayer shawls)

Housewares

Luggage

We went into another barrack that was for the prisoners who worked. I was astonished by the beautiful murals that decorated most of the rooms, even more so when our guide explained that all of them were created by the prisoners. Some were allowed to keep paint and pencils that were used to create life in a place of death. 

Painting by one of the camp prisoners

As we came to another barrack, we walked into an alcove that was used to shoot prisoners against the back wall. There is also a prison within a prison where the deranged minds of the Nazis came up with numerous ways to punish prisoners. There was one room where people were forced to stand all night and then work all day. The Nazis would fill another room that had no ventilation with as many prisoners as they could. The people would suffocate from the lack of oxygen. There was no end to the horrors. 

Prisoners were shot to death at this wall

By the time we reached the crematorium I was so overwhelmed that I just glanced at the ovens and walked out of the building to get some fresh air, something the victims of the Holocaust will never have. I didn't take any photos of the crematorium.

Once we had made our way through Auschwitz, we returned our whisperers and were instructed to meet at the shuttle bus after taking a brief break. Together we were taken to Birkenau, which unlike Auschwitz, was built as a concentration camp. It was enormous. The wooden barracks were burned to the ground, leaving only the chimney for a fireplace that was the only heat in the winter. 90% of those who died in the complex which is called Auschwitz died in Birkenau, the largest of the sub-camps. 

What is left of most of the barracks in Birkenau

The pictures we see in books and movies of the barracks with three layers of what was the sleeping area for the prisoners was actualized in a remaining barrack. The lowest bunks were for the arriving prisoners who, when people in the upper bunks had to relieve themselves, would have it fall upon them. 

Barracks at Birkenau

The lowest bunks were directly on the floor.

In some cases the bunks were covered with hay.

1.1 million men, women, and children lost their lives here. This included Jews who made up most of the population, but also gypsies, political prisoners, the disabled, and homosexuals. The camp was liberated between January 17th and 21st. Before the liberation, 58,000 prisoners were moved by the SS deeper inside the Reich. The SS burned as much as they could, including the warehouse of personal belongings of the prisoners, and they attempted to blow up the crematorium, some of which was destroyed, but at least one oven remained. The Russian troops rescued 7,000 prisoners, most of whom were very ill and starving. A hospital was set up in the camp with doctors to provide care. Auschwitz became a museum soon after the war in 1947. It is a difficult but necessary visit. 

Old Town Krakow

Our five-star hotel, Hotel Polski Pod Bialym Orlem, was well located in the Old Town of Krakow right at in front of the Brama Florenska, a 14th century Gothic watch tower with a statue of Pan in front and a sidewalk art gallery with manufactured paintings for sale. This allowed us to explore the area leisurely over the two days that we had time. 

Me in front of the Hotel Polski

Florianska is a pedestrian street filled with restaurants, shops, ice cream, and bizarre tourist attractions like the Museum of Torture! (No, we didn't go.) It was also filled with tourists and local alike and maniacs on bicycles that swerved around us, frighteningly so at times. We had a sampling of a local cherry drink at Pijana Wisnia. It was a bit sweet but good, a little like the old Cherry Heering my father used to drink.

Art for sale along the old wall of the city

Fioranski Gate

Pouring Pijana Wisnia

The main square was populated with a Renaissance-style market arcade with various Polish souvenirs and a 19th century Polish art museum, Sukiennice. Children were delighted with the pigeons that were as numerous as those in St. Mark's Square in Venice. 

Sukiennice -- open shopping arcade and museum

Overwhelmed with pigeons

Our local representative from JayWay Travel, Adam, set us up with a tasting at a distillery, Miodula, which makes their alcohol and liqueurs from old traditional recipes. We assumed it would be similar to tasting we had done at home, but by the time we finished about 2 hours later we had tasted 14 different drinks from their best know Staropolska, a honey vodka, to the horseradish vodka, that after smelling it, I didn't want to give it a try. By then I don't think I could have had any more. After the tasting we both created our own drink with a moonshine base. She gave us about 10 ingredients from which we can use to add flavor. I remember adding honey, cloves, huckleberry, and a couple of other ingredients I can't remember. I am going to attempt to get it home. (She said the longer it sits the better it will be.) If you are reading this and want to taste it send me a text and we will have a tasting party. There is no guarantee it will be drinkable.

Our host at Miodula

The star attraction of the distillery, a mix of vodka and honey

Making our own flavored moonshine

14 shots

On our last day in Krakow we visited the Wawal Royal Castle and the famous dragon that breathes fire about every three or four minutes. Tired of guided tours, we decided to explore it on our own and with the help someone at the ticket booth we chose a ticket that included the treasury, various rooms in the castle, and the gardens. The castle was the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood. Today it is a museum that contains various artifacts, furniture, and decoration as well as hundreds of years of painting, prints, porcelain, and armor. They also had an exhibit of Turkish tapestries. 

Entrance gate to Wasal Castle

The castle is part art museum

The castle chapel

Armchair from Venice, ca. 1700

Boxwood and velvet

Turkish Tent

The best-preserved sculpture from the castle altar.

Announcement of the divine motherhood of Mary

Lviv Rococo Sculpture, mid-18th century Poland

High Altar of the Horodenka church

The beautiful Royal Gardens were also decorated temporarily with metal statues of people, mostly men with a few women and winged horses. The gardens also offered beautiful views of the city below. After strolling through the gardens and taking numerous photos, we set out to find the famous Wawel Dragon. It wasn't easy, but we finally realized we had to follow a path around the castle and down to the Vistula River. Once we reached the water we just had to follow the crowd. The dragon is from Polish mythology that is said to have lived in a cave under Wawal Hill before the city of Krakow was founded.  I knew Ari might like to see the fire-breathing dragon, so I took a video to send him. On the way back to our hotel we passed an alcohol-free frozen mojito which was just the thing to gain enough energy to make our way back in the heat. 

One of the many sculptures by Pawel Orlowski in the Royal Gardens

Royal Gardens

A view of the town from the Royal Gardens

A garden door

Royal Gardens

Releve, one of the few female sculptures (2022)

The Wawal Dragon, or Smok Walwelsi

Designed in 1969 by Bronislaw.

It has a natural gas nozzle in its mouth that allows it to breathe fire every few minutes. 

Cold mojitos for the walk back to the hotel (non-alcoholic)