It is a farming locality. The Christians are farmers and petty craftsmen,
while the Jews are traders, usually grain traders, or craftsmen, of whom
40 per cent are cottage industry hosiers. During the war, the hosiery industry
almost ceased to exist here. It was replaced by small-scale smuggling of
produce to Skierniewice, Sochaczew, and Warsaw.
As for the Community buildings, there is the synagogue, which became
a centre for the resettled,¹¹⁷⁵ and the mikvah, which is open from time to time,
also during the war. The Jewish Community covered the maintenance costs.
Before the war there was a “Yabne”¹¹⁷⁶ school in a Community building. It had
approximately 50 pupils. The remaining 100 students attended the public
school together with the Polish children.
The coexistence of the Jewish population with the Polish one has usually
been fair. The few performances of visiting ONR members had no substantial
influence on Jewish trade and crafts.
Several days after the arrival of the Germans, an army commandant
ordered all the Wiskitki population to gather on a large area of land out of
town and kept the people there for the whole day until late evening. He gave
a speech on loyalty and made a plea for non-resistance to the authorities and
submission of weapons. In the end, he dismissed everybody except for four
hostages: 2 Christians including a priest, and 2 Jews including a rabbi. They
were released after five days. Four weeks later, there was an order to conduct
a census of the Jewish population. One day, a German came from Żyrardów
and painted the word “JUDE” on all the Jewish shop windows [2], charging one
zloty per pane. The flats of the Jewish craftsmen were marked in the same way.
In November 1939, two high-rank officers came from Żyrardów. They
went into the flat of the Jewish Community chairman and gave him several
days to pay a 20,000 zloty levy and to deliver furniture. The sum was divided
between the Jews, who had to pay from 50 to 1,000 zlotys.
Only 15,000 zlotys was collected and the Community representative took
it to Żyrardów and promised to pay the rest in the future, but the remaining
money was never demanded. Some of the furniture was delivered, too. It was
bought for cash or requisitioned from the Jewish inhabitants.
1175 A transport of deportees from Wartheland reached Wiskitki in December 1939.
1176 Also spelt Yavne, place of an ancient Talmudic academy; a network of schools affiliated to the Mizrachi party.
