[3] M. Lipman
Editorial
. . .And again, after quite a long hiatus in the cultural and literary life of our
boarding school, an old friend of ours returns – a newspaper.
. . . And again, as before, when the newspaper was born, it witnessed the
re-organisation and rebirth of our home – it will be with us now. Although
the conditions are different, they are undoubtedly worse in many respects
(mostly of material nature). But as far as the general situation is concerned,
it is analogous to the one when the Ogniwa was founded.⁸²
The goal we pursued at the time was clear and unambiguous. Our first
and foremost motto was: “Lift the dormitory up!” These words summarise the
aim and direction of our work and efforts in this field. And we have achieved
a lot effectively, but there is still much, so much to achieve . . . All that was
done during the period of re-organisation and restoration of the management
(Dr Taubenszlak)⁸³ was not a general endeavour, not a social one in the full
sense of the word, but an effort by a few individuals who, understanding and
appreciating fully the beauty of cooperation with and for the general public,
took upon themselves the hardship that should rest upon the entire community
of our miniature state. That is what it looked like in reality, although
appearances were rather different!
The current situation requires us to do something else, something more
active . . . something more social! – It requires from us not only words, but deeds!
The period that brought the dormitory a lot of sorrowful fame has passed and will belong to the irreversible past. Now . . . having gone through such hard times for us both materially and morally . . . after many awkward
82 Ogniwa – one of the pedagogical magazines edited by Michał Brandstätter, a Germanist, teacher, and publicist. No issue of the paper has survived.
83 Rudolf Taubenszlag, Doctor of Law and Philosophy, educator, author of many scholarly works in the field of school didactics and student self-government. On 9 July 1940, together with Aron Koninski – acting on behalf of 12 headmasters of orphanages in Warsaw, Otwock, Miedzeszyn, and Zatrzebie near Falenica – he signed a memorandum to the AJDC and ŻSS, concerning help for starving children. See ARG I 310 (Ring. I/197). Berman mentions Taubenszlag among the murdered teachers of the Warsaw ghetto. See Berman, Vos der goyrl hot mir bashert, p. 152.
