Table of Contents
PART ONE
OLD ROOTS
PART TWO
DERACINATION
PART THREE
TRANSPLANTATION
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By: Jacob Auerbach
Copyright @ 1992- Jacob Auerbach, Long Beach, N.Y.
CHAPTER FOUR
TOWN MEETS VILLAGE
P.37 - 44
1. Coexistence
The population of Shershev was
almost equally divided between Jews and gentiles, but the economy of the Jews depended
mainly upon the peasantry of the neighboring villages whose combined population exceeded
by far the total of the town's 5,000 residents. These villagers were equally dependent
upon the Jews for essential supplies and services, and for disposing of their surplus
products.
Except for the police, clergy and some
impoverished Polish gentry, the town's gentile residents were not much different from
their village cousins--perhaps a little better dressed and more refined in manner and
speech. Like the villagers they tilled their fields, raised cattle, hogs, sheep and fowl
for their own use and for sale; and engaged in handicrafts that almost made them
self-sufficient. They milled their own grain and baked their own large round dark-brown
loaves of rye bread--rye being the chief grain crop, although some wheat, barley,
buckwheat and oats were also grown. They churned their own butter by hand in wooden
churns, and made very tasty cottage cheese. They had plenty of fruit--apples, pears, plums
and cherries, and an abundance of vegetables--cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips,
cucumbers--but lettuce, tomatoes and corn were unknown. In the autumn their garrets were
filled with dry peas, beans and lentils in burlap sacks, and plaited strings of onions and
garlic hanging from the rafters. Next to bread potatoes were the most important staple.
They were stored in deep pits lined with straw, to be dug up in spring for sowing. Added
to all this were mushrooms and berries picked in the woods, eaten fresh in summer and
dried or made into preserves for the winter. An occasional piece of pork or lard from a
hog usually slaughtered for Christmas or Easter, complemented this simple but nourishing
and plentiful diet.
The peasants also produced much of
their own clothing. They grew flax which was worked into excellent homespun linen for
towels, sheets and undergarments. Long strips of linen were also used for foot wrappings,
to be worn with the homemade bast shoes; the lapti, since leather shoes and
boots were a luxury, usually worn only on Sundays to church. It was not uncommon to see
villagers walking to town with their footwear in their hands or thrown over their
shoulders, to be put on only upon reaching the outskirts. Pressed-felt high boots, known
as valenki, were worn in winter, with mittens, scarves and head coverings
made of homespun wool. A prized possession was the kuzhukh, a sheepskin
short coat with the fleece on the inside, and an indispensable accessory was the
torba, a large catchall leather bag slung over the shoulder on a wide leather strap, usually
worn only by men. Many poor peasants, who could not afford leather, had their torbas made
of burlap, with a sturdy rope serving as a shoulder strap.
If the modern woman's handbag, with
its plethora of gewgaws, seems bewildering (to a man, that is), the torba was a
veritable storehouse of things ordinary and arcane. It always contained a hunk of black
bread and a piece of hard cheese, bacon or dried fish; a knife; a corncob pipe and a pouch
of makhorka, the coarse veins of tobacco leaves that produced a nauseating
miasma when smoked; a piece of flint, a steel bar for striking it, and some tinder
(matches were too expensive); and a lengthy piece of twine or rope, for any emergency. The
torba might also contain a horseshoe or two; some rusty nails picked up on the
road; harness parts and household articles to be mended in town; quantities of dried
beans, peas or lentils, in small linen bags, for sale; and sometimes the carcass of an
unlucky rabbit killed on the way. Good behavior was often exacted from Jewish tots by
threats of being sold to a "goy" and be put in his torba.
Though supplied with the basic
necessities through their own labor, the peasants still needed other essentials, the money
for which was obtained by sale of surplus produce, a sheep or a calf, and by working as
laborers in the forest during the winter. They also sold pelts of animals, mostly rabbits
but occasionally otters and foxes, which they trapped; and fish, mainly perch and pike,
caught in the numerous streams of the area. The peasant women also contributed to the
family income. Though they worked alongside the men in the fields during the sowing and
harvesting seasons, they had the additional tasks of tending to the cows and pigs, raising
chickens, and taking care of the vegetable gardens, on top of the usual home chores of
cooking, washing, sewing and mending clothes, churning butter, making cheese, and looking
after the children. During the long winter evenings they spun flax and wool, wove the
first into linen towels and sheets, and knitted the wool into mittens, socks and
headwear, the towels often embroidered in colorful patterns. All these products were for
home consumption as wall as for sale to the towns people.
With the proceeds the peasants bought
salt, sugar, soap, kerosene; axes, saws, shovels, rakes, hoes and other hand tools;
harness gear, cooking utensils, and other manufactured articles they could not fashion
themselves. An occasional bottle or two of vodka for the men and some items of finery for
the women--no woman would be seen in church without her gaily colored kerchief on her
head, and no girl would think of going to a dance without some ribbons entwined in her
braids--were also a must. Then there were services the peasants needed: horse shoeing,
wagon repairs, tailoring, boot mending, and repair of household articles. For all these
goods and services they depended upon the Jews, who were also the buyers of their
products, thus bringing about a lively intercourse between the two disparate segments of
the population.
The Jews were congregated in the
towns, large and small, not by choice but by compulsion. The Pale of Settlement was a
circumscribed area in the western part of Russia designated by the Tsarist regime as a
place of residence for Jews, who were not allowed to live elsewhere in the vast territory
of the empire, except by special permission. But even in the Pale there there were
severe restrictions on their living conditions, occupations and education. Jews were not
permitted to own land other than small plots for houses within the boundaries of towns,
thus preventing them from engaging in farming. Though subject to draft into the army,
they could serve only as common soldiers and were not promoted to the officer class. The
civil service was closed to them; they were excluded from the police and the railroad
administration; and it was a rarity for a Jew to be found in the legal and educational
professions. Their entry into the medical, engineering and other scientific fields was
curtailed by the rule that Jews could constitute only five percent of the total
enrollment in institutions of higher learning. For this reason Jews aspiring to a higher
education or profession often went to study in Germany, Switzerland or elsewhere in
Western Europe, if they could afford it. Because of these restrictions Jews were perforce
reduced to earn their livelihood by commerce, industry and service occupations. Hence the
profusion of Jewish storekeepers, itinerant traders, tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths,
carpenters, repairmen, and ordinary laborers. A few became small manufacturers, wholesale
grain and cattle merchants, and lumber contractors. These were generally more prosperous
than the storekeepers and artisans, most of whom led a hand-to-mouth existence.
Essentially they were all middlemen, catering to the needs of the peasantry and providing
the necessary link between the latter and the urban population of the large cities.
2. The Market Place
The common meeting ground between
Jews and gentiles was the town's market place. The local residents did their trading
during the weekdays, but the big market day was on Sunday, when the villagers came to town
to attend church--many villages had no churches--and to take care of their mundane
affairs. On that day the place was packed with peasants' wagons, shafts raised vertically
to provide more parking space. There were cows, pigs, sheep and fowl brought for sale, and
lively bargaining went on all over. Cows' udders were examined for presence of sores,
squeal ing pigs were hefted aloft to gauge weight, and fowl's feathers were ruffled to see
if the skin was yellow with fat--the fatter the better. All this was accompanied by
shouts, recriminations, swearing and curses until a mutual slap of the antagonists'
hands signified that the deal was made, and both parties repaired to the nearest inn to
seal the agreement with a few shots of vodka. Horse trading was one of the most
important activities at the fair, and horse stealing was not uncommon. Many fights broke
out, especially in the afternoon when the "goyim" had already fortified
themselves with monopolkathe vodka produced under government monopoly. Not a
few men were down on the ground in a drunken stupor, wallowing in the horses' droppings
and urine, oblivious to the commotion around them. Peasants often urinated next to their
wagons, since the few public toilets ware out of the way on a side street and there was
not enough of them for the huge throng. Here and there a group was gathered around an
accordion player, hopping and stomping to its lively tunes. There were enough sights,
sounds and smells to satisfy any curiosity seeker.
In the stores every transaction was a
tug of wits or will between buyer and seller. First the merchandise was carefully selected
from among the number of the same items available. Next it was tried out if at all
possible. A comb, for instance, would be pulled through one's matted hair to test the
strength of its teeth. If it broke in the process due to exertion of too much force, it
was proof that it was no good in the first place, the deal was off and the storekeeper
lost his cost of the comb. A penknife was tried out for sharpness on a small piece of
wood or on one's fingernails. Lengths of pink, blue, green or yellow ribbon would be
entwined in a girl's tresses to get the opinion of companions about which color was more
becoming. A pair of stockings could not be tried on, so it was examined even more
thoroughly against the light, after sticking the hand inside and spreading out the
fingers, to make sure there are no flaws. When the selection was finally made the haggling
would start over the price, the customer offering half the amount asked, the seller
swearing that his own cost was more than that, each side giving in a little at a time
until the bargain was struck. And as often as not the bargaining would be accompanied by
recriminations, insults and curses--it was all part of the game.
Among the storekeepers both husband and wife were involved in the
business, since the store had to be open for long hours and the woman also had to do the
housework, shop, cook and attend to the children. But on Sundays and other market days all
available family members, including children from the age of six or seven, were recruited
as salespersons or watchers. On those days the stores were thronged with shoppers who
could not be trusted to resist temptation. Stealing was a time-honored practice if one
could get away with it, and the torba was very suitable for dropping things into
underhandedly. When caught in the act, the peasant usually returned the stolen article,
spat contemptuously and walked away. However, if a thief became recalcitrant, a shouting
dispute arose, with witnesses on both sides joining in and an amused crowd gathering to
watch the outcome. The commotion usually went on until one of the two strazhniki
(policemen) appeared, listened to both sides and made his decision, from which there was
no appeal. Fear of the police.was so strong that these two men, armed with revolvers and
long sabers in black scabbards dangling at their sides, exercised undisputed control over
the populace, and their word was law. Since the peasants' propensity for thievery and the
Jews' reluctance to court trouble were wall known, the strazhnik's ruling usually was in
favor of the storekeeper, the stolen item was returned, and peace was restored. No arrests
ware ever made in such cases. The frequent fights that used to break out were usually
limited to fisticuffs between drinking companions, encouraged by friends and other
onlookers with: "C'mon, Mikolo, smack him on the jaw !" or "Attaboy,
Petrukho, paste him on the mug 1" "Knock his teeth out, his teeth!" while
the women were screaming: "Botyushki, good people, stop them, stop them, they'!! kill
each other!" After a while one of the older men would calmly pronounce: 'Wright boys,
you've had your fun. Enough!" where- upon half a dozen
hands would grab each of the combatants, blood was wiped from the faces, a fresh bottle of
vodka was uncorked by a smart whack of the palm on its bottom, and everybody joined in the
celebration. These fights left no hard feelings, the police seldom interfered, and
business went on as usual in the market place.
Occasionally, however, fights took on
a different dimension. One of these I witnessed from a safe distance. A peasant from a
nearby village recognized his horse, stolen several months earlier, being offered for sale
by a group of gypsies. These swore that they had bought the horse in a town many miles
away, but the peasant, abetted by his co-villagers who also recognized the horse, accused
the gypsies of the theft and demanded its return. Other people joined in, the mood became
ugly, and a general brawl ensued, during which one of the gypsies flashed a knife and cut
a peasant's face. One of the peasants then grabbed an ax from his wagon and hit a gypsy on
the shoulder. By then
the full police
contingent was on the scene, a shot was fired in the air, the brawling' ceased, and the
knife and ax wielders were arrested. The next day they were taken in chains to another
town to be imprisoned pending trial, since Shershev had neither jail nor court. The cause
of the dispute was never resolved--during the melee the horse disappeared, apparently
spirited away by one of the gypsies. |
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