the Jews in town, they operate fairly smoothly. Nowadays, there is a group of
activists who, before the war due to their views, were not admitted into the
Jewish institutions, where the Orthodox Mizrachi clique cared only about
their own aims and parties. The Jewish Community, with significant sums of
money from communal taxes and ritual slaughter fees, paid only the rabbis
and shohets. It did not contribute to sanitation expenses, schools, and public
libraries in the slightest, and it even counteracted private initiative.
There were 3 financial institutions in Grodzisk before the war: 1) the
joint-stock bank under the influence of the Mizrachi; 2) the Credit Cooperative
(Zionist); 3. the Savings Bank (Agudah), as well as Gemilut Chesed and the CKB¹⁰⁸⁹ headed by the infamous swindler Majlech Grynberg. Loans were extended
exclusively to fellow party members and money was spent on interparty
conflicts. Those institutions’ potential was wasted, their operation pointless.
In the end, some of their shareholders had to pay large sums of money,
while the Joint and the CKB in Warsaw took note of substantial losses in
Grodzisk Mazowiecki.
On the other hand, the Union of Jewish Craftsmen¹⁰⁹⁰ which had approximately
200 members, developed its broad self-help and legal [aid] programmes.
It extended interest-free loans. Sadly, its means were limited, yet
they were its own. Of the 4 Jewish Councellors in the Town Council, 2 were
members of the Craftsmen’s Union.
Other economic organisations, such as the Traders’ Union,¹⁰⁹¹ were not
particularly active.
Before the war in Grodzisk, there were 2 Jewish physicians, 3 dentists,
1 feldsher, 2 attorneys, 1 engineer, and 6 teachers. During the war, there were
only 1 physician and 2 dentists.
[4] The hosiery industry, which supported several hundred people before
the war, almost ceased to exist. Using a convenient railway connection, the
unemployed transported produce to Warsaw by EKD electric commuter train.
1089 Known rather as CEKABE, (Polish, Centrala Kas Bezprocentowych) Interest-free Provident Societies Centre, established in 1926, financed by the AJDC and coordinating the extension of loans and credits to the Jews.
1090 See footnote 767.
1091 Probably a reference to the Central Office of Small Jewish Retailers (Centrala Drobnych Kupców Żydowskich).
