Schneidemühl
revisited
Not many
survivors of the
erstwhile
Jewish community of Schneidemühl had the urge to venture forth to
visit the town
of their birth. The late Joachim Rosenberg,
who had
fled from Schneidemühl to Chile with his family in the last days
of 1940, was one of the very few who did, — thirtytwo years
later,
during the winter of 1972.
These were his impressions:
“Even though the inner city had changed, we did find the old streets and were able to familiarize ourselves. All was full of snow and ice. A woman took us into a hotel, which used to be known as "Café Vaterland", in the former Breitestrasse. Accommodation we weren't offered, but a butcher's wife took us up to the fifth floor, under the roof and, in freezing temperatures, we had a great view of the Küddow...
I saw what used to be the Jewish cemetery, leveled before the war. The streets haven’t really changed, but the houses in the inner city are new. In the middle of the Neuer Markt now stands a Polish monument, and from Wasserstrasse to Hasselstrasse there are five-story apartment buildings. Kleine Kirchenstrasse, Grosse Kirchenstrasse, Mühlenstrasse and Lindenstrasse are still empty lots and the church at the Alte Brücke is a ruin.
Posenerstrasse has the same width as it used to have, but the new houses are set further back. The Wilhelmsplatz exists no more; today it is merely a street with new buildings. Of the post office only one quarter exists, and one can see two trees that used to stand in front of the Tempel. The Zeughaus in Zeughaus Strasse still stands; the house in which Café Kaiserkrone used to be is still there and the same goes for Siegmund Jacob’s house; however, the cinema is gone.
Friedrichstrasse, except for one building, is completely new. Moltkestrasse still has the building where my kindergarten was. The Bismarkschule where the Badeanstalt, the public bath was, is still there, so is the Gymnasium and the Moltke Schule with the beautiful church opposite; the Diakonissenheim also stands in Moltkestrasse.
The Stadtpark, the city park, is desolate, and on the fairground children are tobogganing. The Neues Schützenhaus is still there but opposite the Stadtpark there are no buildings. The Freiherr-von- Stein-Gymnasium is visible as well.
Going from the Stadtpark up to the Oberrealschule, nothing has changed on the right side, to the extent that there was the Schulstein, the place where, as a pupil, I received a hiding almost daily. Now I put one foot on it and my daughter had to take a photo — “I came, I saw, I won!” This is where the fanatic Nazi teachers made life a living hell for me.
In general, Piła gives a totally new, not unpleasantly changed impression of a small town. People are fairly well dressed; the youths seemed happy and Piła has, except for a few bits of memory and the few landmarks, not much in common with the Schneidemühl I used to know...”
These were his impressions:
“Even though the inner city had changed, we did find the old streets and were able to familiarize ourselves. All was full of snow and ice. A woman took us into a hotel, which used to be known as "Café Vaterland", in the former Breitestrasse. Accommodation we weren't offered, but a butcher's wife took us up to the fifth floor, under the roof and, in freezing temperatures, we had a great view of the Küddow...
I saw what used to be the Jewish cemetery, leveled before the war. The streets haven’t really changed, but the houses in the inner city are new. In the middle of the Neuer Markt now stands a Polish monument, and from Wasserstrasse to Hasselstrasse there are five-story apartment buildings. Kleine Kirchenstrasse, Grosse Kirchenstrasse, Mühlenstrasse and Lindenstrasse are still empty lots and the church at the Alte Brücke is a ruin.
Posenerstrasse has the same width as it used to have, but the new houses are set further back. The Wilhelmsplatz exists no more; today it is merely a street with new buildings. Of the post office only one quarter exists, and one can see two trees that used to stand in front of the Tempel. The Zeughaus in Zeughaus Strasse still stands; the house in which Café Kaiserkrone used to be is still there and the same goes for Siegmund Jacob’s house; however, the cinema is gone.
Friedrichstrasse, except for one building, is completely new. Moltkestrasse still has the building where my kindergarten was. The Bismarkschule where the Badeanstalt, the public bath was, is still there, so is the Gymnasium and the Moltke Schule with the beautiful church opposite; the Diakonissenheim also stands in Moltkestrasse.
The Stadtpark, the city park, is desolate, and on the fairground children are tobogganing. The Neues Schützenhaus is still there but opposite the Stadtpark there are no buildings. The Freiherr-von- Stein-Gymnasium is visible as well.
Going from the Stadtpark up to the Oberrealschule, nothing has changed on the right side, to the extent that there was the Schulstein, the place where, as a pupil, I received a hiding almost daily. Now I put one foot on it and my daughter had to take a photo — “I came, I saw, I won!” This is where the fanatic Nazi teachers made life a living hell for me.
In general, Piła gives a totally new, not unpleasantly changed impression of a small town. People are fairly well dressed; the youths seemed happy and Piła has, except for a few bits of memory and the few landmarks, not much in common with the Schneidemühl I used to know...”