in early 1942.²⁰ At that time, schools were already operating, but the reader
makes references to the experience of clandestine classes. Teachers referred to
the experiences of a child in a closed district, using texts by classic authors –
Jewish, Polish, and Western European (Sholem Aleichem, Yitskhok Leybush
Peretz, Avrom Reyzen,²¹ Maria Konopnicka,²² Leo Tolstoy, and others).
Reading in the mother tongue introduced the grief-stricken, hungry child to
the world of great literature.
The reader stresses two basic themes: the world of nature and the world of
noble feelings. Children growing up among the walls, especially younger ones,
had only vague and unclear ideas about trees, plants, and pets. Concepts such
as mountains or the sea were abstract to them. A cow led down Zamenhofa
Street in 1942 caused a sensation among fiveand seven-year-olds, who ran
after it in throngs, arguing loudly about what kind of animal it was. This gap
in the vision of the surrounding world was to be filled by poetic descriptions of
the colours of flowers, the smells of the field, running rivers, and spring winds.
The texts in the reader were also metaphorical. Numerous references in
diaries and accounts indicate that ghetto prisoners, both adults and children,
were fascinated by the Vistula River, which was associated with Warsaw and
freedom. In the reading, such feelings are evoked in Maria Konopnicka’s short
story “On the Vistula”. The image of sprouting grain in a poem by Szymon
Frug, waking up to life after a long lethargy in the frozen ground, was perceived
by readers as a symbol of hope, associated with spring in the closed
district, as well as in the occupied country as a whole.
A second important theme of the reader was friendship and love for
parents and siblings, showing people active and capable of sacrifice, as in
Leo Tolstoy’s story “The Great She-Bear” (in the workbook, titled A Pitcher of
Water), Rivka Galin’s poem “One Pair of Shoes”, or fragments of Edmondo de
Amicis’s novel Heart.²³ The latter, glorifying friendship and camaraderie, was,
20 See doc. 46.
21 Avrom (Abraham) Reyzen (1876–1953), poet, writer, journalist, editor; Zalmen Reyzen’s brother; emigrated to the United States during World War I; published many works in Warsaw; his works were translated from Yiddish into many languages.
22 Maria Konopnicka (1842–1910), Polish poet, novelist, and activist for women’s rights. She was particularly known for children’s literature.
23 Edmondo de Amicis (1846–1908), writer, journalist, author of a novel for young people titled Heart (Italian title: Cuore) translated into almost all languages of the world.
