help to the Jews from Kalisz. The Committee functioned for approximately
three months, but many Kosów families continued to sustain the assigned
families long after.
Several days after the arrival of the Jews from Kalisz in Kosów, it became
apparent that an internal social organisation was lacking. The Kaliszers called
a meeting in the synagogue and a Refugees’ Committee was elected under
supervision of the rabbi and several of the local esteemed citizens. It consisted
of 7 Kaliszers, cMr Perle (chairman)c and 1 Wyszkower.¹²¹⁵ The Committee
members were not social activists before the war. They were elected because
everybody trusted them. One [4] of the first acts of the Committee was to
send a delegate, cMr Engel,c to the Joint in Warsaw with a request for help.
Approximately 50 straw mattresses were then delivered. Several more delegates
were sent to Warsaw for help and the total of approximately 50,000 zlotys
as well as some clothes, underwear, and footwear was received. The clothes
were distributed among the poorest, with the first [obtained] money allocated
to bread purchase. It should be stated here that until the first financial aid
from the Joint, the Kosów citizens bought bread themselves and distributed
it among the poorest resettled Kaliszers. The b r e a d c a m p a i g n, [begun
by] cMr Klimerski,c¹²¹⁶ developed very effectively and it was a real help. Almost
all refugees, not only those from Kalisz, received ½ kilo of bread a day, free
of charge per person. Even though the Joint urged the Committee to introduce
a modest fee, the Committee did not do that, knowing how difficult the
local situation was.
The s o u p k i t c h e n was [5] also free of charge, [organised by]
cMr Staszewski, Mr Grüner.c¹²¹⁷ In early January 1940, a cauldron was ordered
and the soup kitchen was built for the money from the Joint in Hashomer
Hatza’ir’s own premises. In the kitchen, 800 meals were cooked twice a day.
The resettled from Kalisz constituted over 70 per cent of its customers and the
beneficiaries of the bread [campaign], the rest were those from Wyszkow and
Kosów. Due to lack of money, the soup kitchen did not function regularly;
there were days when it did not cook at all or just once. In early March 1940,
1215 All Wyszków Jews were expelled on 11 September 1939.
1216 B. Klimerski was the chairman of the Committee to Aid the Refugees (Komitet Opieki nad Uchodźcami) in Kosów Lacki. See AŻIH, AJDC, 210/422, p. 1.
1217 Shmul Staszewski was the secretary of the Committee to Aid the Refugees, ibidem.
