affluent merchants in town, with their [capital] estimated at 10,000 zlotys,
but this does not mean that the masses were prosperous. On the contrary, the
poverty was generally greater than in other towns.
On the other hand, Sierpc had a reputation for being more generous and
intellectual, but its intelligentsia was imported from other towns: the physicians
from Płock, some of the teachers from Płock or Warsaw. [8] cSierpc
inhabitants were so generous that they even funded their own school building,
relatively pleasing and spacious. With their own venue, events were frequently
organised, attracting people from nearby small towns and bringing
in large profits. Thanks to the intelligentsia, lectures were often organised,
talks, presentations, and discussion evenings, attended also by the young,
who actively participated in the nation’s life and socialised among themselves
¹⁸⁵⁴ There were more Jewish teachers than elsewhere, for there was a seven-
grade Tarbut school with Hebrew as the language of instruction. Parents
eagerly enrolled their children there, and the society generously supported
it. However, that school contributed to the liquidation of the Jewish public
primary school, [3] [. . .] and several of the state-owned facilities occupied by
Jewish schools were closed down too.
The Poles were well aware of the financial situation of the Jews; there
was nothing to envy, so their mutual relations were very good; they supported
Jewish craftsmen or merchants out of compassion. This lasted until the
picketing started, when relations with the town population worsened significantly.
However, they had always been on good terms with the rural population,
as the country [people] did not let themselves be deceived by demagogical
slogans and often defended a poor Jew. The relations of the Jews with the
authorities and public institutions were generally correct. As for the Jewish
community, half Zionist and half Orthodox, it was almost nonpartisan. As it
was not rich, it could not support either group. In the town there was also
[4] an interest-free loan society and two Jewish banks, [x]¹⁸⁵⁵ which had been
started on deposits. They were all needed and they were developing well.
The war immediately put an end to all that. As soon as 3 September 1939,
on the third day of the war, half of the Jewish and Christian population of
the town fled into the unknown. With the railway turning down all private
1854 c–c inserted from p. [8].
1855 [x] in private hands.
