A Jewish Boyhood in Poland: Remembering Kolbuszowa

by Norman Salsitz, Richard Skolnik

Kolbuszowa is gone now. Before World War II it was a thriving, small Polish town of 4,000 people, half Polish Catholics, half Jews, where family and the traditional ways of life were strong. It was the town where Norman Salsitz was born, in 1920, the last of nine children. It was the town that he helped to destroy, forced by the Nazis in 1941 to assist in the brick-by-brick destruction of the Jewish ghetto in which his family lived. Salsitz was subsequently sent to a German work camp, but escaped into the woods to live and later tell his story of Kolbuszowa to Richard Skolnik. Salsitz speaks to us both as an exceptional witness to everyday events in the town and as a shrewd observer of the broader landscape. Colorful details bring the people, the customs, and habits, both religious and secular, back to life.

296 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

Reviews

[Neil Emmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Town where my grandfather came from. Great history.

[Lovelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm trying to remember when I started to feel interested in the life of the Jewish people. Was it when I read the Diary of Anne Frank? When I visited Poland? Or when I began to occupy myself with holocaust literature?

A Jewish Boyhood in Poland is not a typical holocaust memoir in a sense that it didn’t cover much about the war (save the last chapter entitled ‘I never tasted the fruit’ which was an incredibly sad finale) but went to tell the goings on in the town of Kolbuszowa before and during the war, the daily affairs of the author's family, the thrill of the market days, the relationship between the Poles and the Jews, and the constant persecution and discrimination.

The reason why I liked this book is because it taught me - a lot - about the culture of the Jewish people in an engaging manner (which is completely useful if one wanted to understand their religion and society). This is the fourth book I’ve read on Jewish culture but never have I gathered such informative points as the ones I’ve learned on here. Overview on the dietary laws, High holidays and Shabbos, the elaborate preparation for Pesach, etc. are what interest me most.

This book deserves more readers and better ratings than it presently earns on Goodreads. It saddens me that at this present age, racial prejudice is very much around (like we never learned anything from history). To this, I wish readers would engage more and appreciate this type of books and be aware that understanding other’s belief and culture, acceptance and tolerance will guarantee that holocaust or this dark part of history doesn't repeat itself.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went through a period in my early 20s where I wanted to understand the Holocaust and how hate could build to have such horrific consequences. During this time I read every book about the subject on my library shelves (over 30 books) but several decades later I cannot remember the title of these books and can remember vague details of the other stories...with the exception of this book. 20 + years later I still vividly remember a ton of what I learned in this book. A Jewish Boyhood in Poland totally paints an amazingly vivid picture of the life of a Jewish boy in a small town in Poland.

Maybe one reason the book impacted me so strongly was that when I read this book I had never lived in an area with a significant Jewish population and this book gave me my first insight into Jewish cultures and traditions. By the end of the book I felt I knew this time, this small town and its people.

It is also the only book I've read that helped me understand (as much as possible it it for me to understand this anyway) the hate and the reasons the Jews in Poland were targeted.

The books is also an easy read and there is no real violence or horror for those of you who shy away from those books.

Thinking about it... I really want to re-read this book. One thing I do remember about disliking this book was that I wanted to rest of the story after the book ended. Well thanks to the internet now when you are done with this book you can learn all about Norman Salzitz as a young man and an adult and that is pretty interesting too.

[Doug Sacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this memoir of Shtetl life, although at times it smacked a bit of "Fiddler on the Roof". Maybe that attests to the authenticity of both... There was a real "homespun" quality to the writing where you felt it was more like a conversation at times with many asides and commentaries on aspects of the village's businesses, markets, schools and American visits. The last two chapters were the most compelling and I was wishing for more of the author's wartime experiences. The amazing thing for me was to read about daily relations with the gentile Poles and how the reader could have substituted our own segregated black/white relations for many of the interactions. On a more universal level, the book speaks to how every region, country and generation finds someone to keep down and dislike for one reason or another.