p.277, Translated by Bertha Berman

Chapter Seventeen

The "Chlodna No. 8 Institution"

The home of Haynt is at Chlodna 8, aside from all the Jewish streets in Warsaw. The surrounding population was mixed - Jews were a minority. Haynt was a tiny island of Judaism in the midst of a pure Polish neighborhood and the "Red Proletariat" quarter far enough from the Jewish neighborhood of the city where its readers lived. Toward the east and the south lay "those streets", the main routes, elegant neighborhoods in the city where very few Jews resided. To the west was the valley where the working class, the Polish poor and the underworld was. Jews lived crowded around DZHBOSKI Place, the northern section of the city, the streets around the GALEFKES. GENSHE and DUSHIKE, and the areas around the Old City, all a short way to Chlodna 8. Near the printing office stood a cathedral, tall and broad with crucifixes and many bells. Sundays and holidays were troublesome and often dangerous for the Jews to travel their streets because of the Catholic processions with the priests! Or the patriotic parades with their flags, with crucifixes, with holy paintings of saints that would start out of the cathedral. The bells tolled, thousands of the faithful filled the plaza and the surrounding streets, kneeling, singing holy hymns and often they attacked the Jewish passers by as part of their excitement in celebration. More than once frightened Jews escaped into the yard of Haynt to hide or they happened into the building to wipe the blood from their wounds.

Life a Chlodna 8 continued, day and night, holiday or no, constantly with no stop, with no interruptions. The house was busy as an ant hill. Daily newspapers and magazines in Yiddish. Life at Chlodna 8 went on day and night, holiday or no, with no interruptions, day and night without a stop. The house was like an ant hill. Daily newspapers and magazines in Yiddish, Hebrew and Polish, their own publications and those printed by contract, HAYNT circulated and grew. The book publisher from YEHUDIAH was also found at Chlodna 8.

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HAYNT occupied four large houses on two floors in one yard and a second building in the next yard were the night editorial staff, the proof readers, the large area for the setting machines, the rotating printers and all the technical equipment for the paper rollers - all necessary for the printing. On the third floor, under the supervision of Nehemiah Finkelstein, we find the archives, the library from the liquidated journal, HUMOR, and the Danish(?) archives. The meeting hall of the :"old/new" was also found in that building. Before HAYNT took over the building, Nehemiah ran a wagon factory there.

Both Finkelstein brothers and their father, Reb Yacov Ber, who owned the house, lived in Chlodna 8 and several writers and community activists lived there, too. Alter Yehuda Chasan, the famous lecturer and leader of the S.S. (?) moved into Chlodna 8 with his hometown friends, the Finkelsteins. When he came from Brisk to Warsaw, that is where he composed his articles and brochures. One that he wrote on his deathbed, has a short quotation from S.Y. Yatzkan. His son, Jacob Aryeh Chasan, one of the founders of Hapoel Hatzion made Aliya in 1923 and is now a member of the Knesset. The poet and drama critic, Alexander Farba, who worked in the daily newsroom, a proof reader, and Aaron Ganse, one of the founders of HAYNT, also lived in the house.

At the address of HAYNT you would find writers for Haynt and their other publications. They would be in group huddles or strolling the grounds and contemplating sudden occurrences or about articles they were planning to compose or critique already published material. Often you would see writer's circles. The most famous and sociable came to the editorial office or the meeting room. Nehemiah Finkelstein convinced the more intimate friends to stay in his home.

When Sholem Asche came to Poland, he was received as the High Priest. He often gave readings from his yet unpublished works to invited guests. On his last trip to Poland in 1938, Sholem Asche felt it was proper to thank the HAYNT family for the hearty welcome and honor which all, young and old had prepared for him.

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Asche belonged to a cooperative and invited all the other members of the cooperative to a banquet in the Piccadilly Restaurant, with drinks and with cigars - but he left the bill to be charged to the cooperative.

Nehemiah Finkelstein was one of the most involved in running the beehive community that was Chlodna 8. He was named cashier (treasurer) of several cultural societies and even private individuals who invested inheritance and endowments. Haynt sponsored many discussions about the problems of Yiddish literature and art and often famous champions of artists and advocates came to Finkelstein's home.

Finkelstein played viola and had organized a chamber ensemble in his home. Every Sunday he invited a chamber orchestra under the conductor, Dr Gershon Levin, (cello), with Simon Krongold, (first fiddle) and others from the professional intellegencia who played various instruments. Halla Goldstein, who was a professional violinist, wife of Y. S. Goldstein, participated in these concerts for quite a while. The fine music gave a special warmth and color to the atmosphere which set Chlodna 8 apart as an institution in the open life of Warsaw. Famous composers and the Choir director Moshe Shniur (1885-1942) was a frequent guest. In 1938 the government stopped the popular folks choir; they argued that the choir was really a communist cell.

Chlodna 8 had all sorts of seekers, unfortunately not all from the world of arts and literature.. Jewish Youth Groups on field trips from the provinces to Warsaw, frequently came to see how HAYNT was produced. They had no qualms over invading the editorial offices. They would peer boldly into the windows of the vestibule looking to see writers. Students from Warsaw and the suburbs were scheduled to visit Chlodna 8. Often the area around Haynt was the rendezvous for boys and girls who came around the middle days of Pesach or on Shavuos to take the first peek at a prospective bride or groom. The meetings were indeed arranged in Chlodna 8.

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Another category of folks one saw at Chlodna 8 were the "free" subscribers who received HAYNT free for years. When the co-operative, "Old/New" took over their business and the board tried organizing, a few hundred people appeared to receive the daily and the supplements from Haynt and no one seemed to notice how they got past the free subscribers or for what projects they were collecting.

The neighbors of the grounds at Chlodna 8 considered themselves "above' the idlers. They felt like part of the Haynt family. Haynt was their badge of honor, Their excuse to receive Haynt free; maybe they had gone too long to pay the price of the newspaper. If they were well known as part pf the Haynt family - Hurrah -they should not have to buy the paper - it was their privilege - It was due them. They felt quite at home dropping into the office. They used the office telephones to conduct personal business. Their children used the telephone when they didn't want their parents to know what was going on. Others were casual guests and would drop in of an evening to share a glass of tea with their co-workers and voice their opinion abut the papers. They felt equal to the others in the office. Another group of visitors were the peddlars, who brought chocolate, soap, fountain pens (automatic pens?) and that sort of trinket. They'd show up on Thursdays, payday, or before a Yom Tov. Otherwise they were just freeloaders who took a paper or a journal, whatever they were allowed.

Among the folks who were part of the Kladne 8 environment were two we can describe: both functioned on the periphery if the Yiddish theater. Arnold Ginsberg who perished in the second evacuation, in January, 1943 and Yankele Danziger (1890 - 1942).

Arnold, (no one ever called him by any other name though he was a 40 year old gentleman) was a well recognized character in the Yiddish theater world, and among the Yiddish writers. From childhood he lived in the theater world and mixed with the Yiddish actors. He had no other livelihood and never sought one. He began his

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career with Abraham Kaminski, (1867 - 1918) the husband of the "Mother of the Yiddish Theater," Esther Rachel Kaminski, (1870 - 1925). They had adopted Arnold and he bragged of it all those years. He was never more than an errand boy and he remained an errand boy all his years. Artists sent him on errands and he served them wilingly. He brought sand (?) to take up the boredom between performances and did other errands. He worked up to be an assistant writer for actors, became a glorified messenger, carried announcements and theater posters into the editorial office. He didn't compose the notices himself. The notices were composed by unemployed poets in the literature organization at TLAMATEKE 13 and he paid them with free theater tickets. He'd arrive daily with the notices, begging to have them printed. Late at night he telephoned so, "G-d help him, his name not be overlooked" and they not list the names of the actors. Arnold was "at the ready" for the writers and actors. He flattered them with elaborate compliments, as though he were a great man. He would pat them on the back like a familiar friend. He praised Sholem Asche to the heavens for his last novel published in Haynt, told him he was a writing genius and that Asche deserved the Nobel Prize. Then he'd pry for a future work for the theater. Arnold was a "slick operator"; he pretended to be a clown, to be confused, but he was no fool. When Abraham Goldberg wanted to test the pulse of the Jewish public, he would spend a minute, take up a discussion with Arnold about politics, or about Haynt, what changes were needed. Anold would be pleased and boast that Goldberg asked his advice to run the paper.

Yankele Danziger was a different type. A short round man with a fine pot belly, he considered himself to be an expert on vocabulary and statistics. He was also a bit knowledgeable about the tiny print faces. In contrast to Arnold, Yankele was qujiet, modest, knew his place. Danziger belonged to the Independence Party who followed the teachings of Dr. Joseph Kruckin. Later, in the thirties, Danzigerr moved into the Communist Party. Danziger was a bit of an impresario. He arrangeed the

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KIPNIS - Zeligfeld folk music concerts. He worked a bit for the Vilna troupe, helped compose the advertisements in the Yiddish press for the impresarios who organized the Warsaw venues featuring visiting actors and musicians. When the famous dramatist, BEN TZVI BARATON and the opera star LEV SIBIRAKAV (1870 -1938)[Note [1]] from the Russian stage came to play the Yiddish Theater, Yankele Danziger was their manager in Warsaw. Both performers were tall broad boned men and when they entered the newsroom he looked like a Lilliputian between them. He came with pockets full of tickets to the performance and shared them generously with his co workers.

Chlodna 8 took a very conservative position, kept to Jewish tradition and practice. The outside appearance of Haynt never changed without study and deep consideration. In the thirty years since the first issue of the paper, the orthography and grammar of Yiddish language was updated; the other newspapers accepted the changes, but not Haynt. That newspaper and all its publications used its old layout and grammar style. A delegation from YIVO vested Haynt to convince them to adopt the new language standards, but Haynt had no intention of complying. Haynt continued to (spell Yid) print: “ALEPH YUD DALED” and refused to budge on the silent “AYEN”. They justified that the Yiddish masses were conservative and would never accept the style of the Yiddishists. The opponents, S. Y. Yatskan and the coworkers were reluctant to take on the YIVO innovations. ZALMAN SILBERZWEIG said that he had watched Yatskan pacing from one room to the other, stroking his beard, and mumbling, "growth, moving, going forward; repeating "you understand the idea?" he preached in his Litvak accent to the workers sarcastically, "think, think, ‘smart heads’ (really means stupids) Geniuses”.

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In Chlodna 8, they even built a new rotating press which could print l6 pages at a time . The circulation of Haynt grew too large for the press, but they had no need to import another press. Alexander Finkelstein, a younger brother of Nehemiah, an engineer and tinkerer(?) on the press machines, worked at Haynt as a cashier. Sitting near the firebox, between transactions, he patiently planned the addition to the press. He worked out the technical details with the mechanic of the Haynt printery. The addition project took two years to install.

That was the working atmosphere called Chlodna 8. The publications were edited in a folksy spirit. Following the Jewish tradition, there was the policy of rebuilding Eretz Israel and the will to oppose the intellectual and physical terror. Kladne 8 is where the opposition was born. The bulk of the writings were destributed from there to the far corners of the world.

Chlodna 8 was famous. It was callled "a house of wisdom". A synonym for Haynt was sufficient to say, " Chlodna 8 decided"; Chlodna 8 writes"; " Chlodna 8 alerts"; so supporters and oponents should understand the Haynt's position.

The sun never set at Chlodna 8 - there was an ebb and flow of Jews coming and going. Something was always going on there. More than one remarkable project came out of Kladne 8, declared there and the practicalities worked out there, but only a few succeeded.

As we wrote in Chapter 4, the Polish finance minister, GROBSKI, in 1926, levied a large tax burden on Jewish property and factories. That levy took the last bit of inventory, the machines, even the furniture and household items, down to the last pillow. "Grobski's Hearse" drove all the Jewish possessions to sell at auction. Poverty and despair spread over the Jews of Poland. The victims were merchants and craftsmen that the levy had brought to desperation.

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An epidemic of suicide broke out among the Jewish middle class. Numbers of Jews took their own lives. It became the fashion in those dark days. The methond the unfortunates chose was to jump from their windows onto the cobblestone pavement.

In those dark days for the Jews of Poland, Haynt initiated a plan to recruit businessmen to rescue victims and families of "Grotski's Hearse". The plan to gather the committee began in the editorial office. Prominent businessmen and craftsmen, known for their commitment to the community were invited. Staff from Haynt discussed and planned for the assembled to create a quick assistance to the tax victims. The plan was accepted. At the same meeting, the new enterprise adopted the name, "Jewish Rescue Committee", and the motto: "Those who are not in need, must share with others". The Rescue Committee soon became renowned, not only in Warsaw, but also in in the other cities, where the need was, perhaps, greater. In Warsaw the committee printed small markers selling for 20 groshn. Hanging the current week's markers in their house window became a prestige signal for each Jewish family. The record of the Rescue Committee's activity statistics in the first six months of operation showed how timely Haynt's initiative had been. The record on Sept.2, 1926 showed: in the first six months of work the committee in Warsaw received 14,000 requests from families. In that total were an estimated 5,188 tracked requests, of which 4,437 were confirmed. The committee had distributed 625,672 Zlotes for reconstruction purposes and 103,476 to other urgent needs.

By that time the Rescue Committee stopped granting charity (tsedakah) and concentrated on free help to small merchants and craftsmen. This afforded thousands of Jewish families to get back on their feet and begin a new life.

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Several years later, thanks to another initiative Haynt set a goal to found a new sort of school using Yiddish as the basic language.

The existing school system that taught Yiddish as the primary language was under the ovesight of the Central Yiddish School Organizatiion (TZISHA) where the BUND wealed the strongest influence. The Bund contested the traditional Jewish traditions and the direction toward Zionism. Haynt fought against that trend in cultural ideology. Haynt printed articles criticizing their upbringing of Jewish Youth; criticizing the Yiddishists'methods which lead the youth from the Tzisha movement to grow alienated from Jewish ideology, history and the Nationalk Jewish themes.

At the end of 1927, under the influence of Haynt, versus the Tzisha's Shuls, the plan acquired more concrete plans. Within National Jewish circles the idea of a school organized in a dual curriculum style (Utrechian) in Hebrew and Yiddish themes with Yiddish as the emphasized language. Utrechian schools in Yiddish language were not new in Poland. such Polish Tzisha schools existed in Lodz, Vlataslave, Cracow, Warsaw and several other cities. Examples of those curricula were in three high schools, (two for boys and one for girls) in Lodz, under Dr.Mordechai Broide, a brother-in-law of Martin Buber, where some teachers were Dr. Yaacov SIMCHON, The Hebrew Poet, Dr. Yaacov Cahan, the historian, Philip Friedman and other literati, learned and pedigogues of that calibre. One of the classes ran in Hebrew; in the others the primary language was Polish and Hebew and Tanach were taught for a few hours a day. Now the thought arose of schools where Yiddish could indeed be the basic language, but in contrast to the Tzisha schools, would teach Hebrew and history and raise the childen in the national spirit.

Recognized culturists of writers and pedagogues became interested in the project. The orgnizational meeting occurred in July, 1928, creating the new entity called "The School and Culture Farband (union). Soon the nickname became the SHUL KULT. The initial invitation to the opening for the Shul Kult was printed on the fromt page of Haynt. Thirten of the twenty culturists, underwriters of the announcement were Haynt employees.

In the first school year, 1930 to 1931,

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twenty five schools fillled up with 3592 students and a faculty of one hundred teachers. In Vilna the Shul Kult filled up eight classes of boys and girls. In addition the Shul Kult located fifteen dormitories for 708 children, eighty libraries also filled with 10,000 readers. The right wing Paoli Hatzion in Poland became the guardian over the organization. Understand that Haynt created the idea of the Shul Kult. The new committee withstood a difficult strugle between the Yiddishists and the Hebraic extremists. The school suffered from chronic funding problems, but they continued to operate until the breakout of the second World War.

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[1] Proffesor L. T. BLOSHTIK wrote in his work, "History of the Music from Poland", that his name was really LIPE SHPIVAK. In Soviet Russia he was presented as a bass in Leningrad and other opera venues. In Poland he sang concerts and was active as a music teacher.