Chaim Solan (Slutzky)

MANIA SERLIN AND YITZHAK SLUTZKY

Zionism without quotation marks.

Mom Mania, from Serlin house, was born in 1906 in the town of Pruzhany. Her parents were YENTE and ZVI HERSH SERLIN. There she passed her childhood with her older sister ALTE FREIDE. In 1927 Mom ended her studies at "Matzkevich" state high school majored in Mathematics and Biology, and one year later in 1928 she ended the Teachers Seminar, placed beside the state high school.

At first she would teach in Pruzhany, and, in 1929, she worked as a teacher in the Popular Hebrew School in Lenin town. There she taught mathematics, geography, history and polish language. In Lenin she met my father, YITZHAK son of MASHE and CHAIM SLUTZKY, who would become into her husband later.

One year later their ways split. Dad traveled to Warsaw because of his job as a bookkeeper, and Mom worked in Kartuz Bereza. Mom arrived in Kartuz Bereza in 1930. She was appointed to the charge of Head Teacher (Director) of the Yavne Hebrew School of the Tarbut net. Despite her age, for she was very young, she leaded the school and was the higher level (7th) teacher. Mom leaded the school during 6 years. In this school like others of Tarbut net, pupils used to learn all human and technical subjects in Hebrew, with sefarad pronunciation. Since my mother spoke polish, it was obligatory to teach these subjects on that language.

Dad decided to move to Kartuz Bereza too. There he got a job as Accountant Director and joined Mania, his friend of past years. They both joined local activist group "Poalei Sion" (Workers of Zion) and worked very intensely in their spare time, as well as collecting money for the KKL and "Keren Ha'yesod".

In 1934 YITZHAK and MANIA got married in Bereza, for their friend's joy. Of course, they thought at once about emigrating to Eretz Israel, but how to avoid the sanction imposed by Britain mandate for immigration? At that moment, "sacred objects" were needed in Eretz Israel community. Dad was a lover of liturgical songs. He left his beard grow, he studied Jewish laws related to animal slaughtering, and with his relations help, he got to obtain a permission from Israel Rabbinate to emigrate. Armed with his polish passport and the British stamp on it, with the emigration document of Jewish Agency for Israel, the request letter by the Central Rabbinate, besides several documents about his Jewish heritage, my parents left Lenin to the long journey to Eretz Israel, and on April 26 the ship docked in Haifa port.

Dad worked as an Accountant Director at the Youth School "Ben Semen". Mom didn't go back teaching, she spent her days on an infinite devotion to her son CHAIM (after the grandfather) and NETA (after her grandmother YENTE SERLIN). During many years our house was a meeting point, and a torch for mom's pupils, those who were not exterminated on the Shoah and came to Eretz Israel.

Dad died in 1966, still young, and mom passed away in good old age, in 1988. May their memories be blessed.