Bublacki family of Hajnowka, Bialystock & Slonim. (dalefarmer@ntlworld.com) on
Monday, March 09, 2009 at 05:32:11
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: Thank you for your wwwsite, from information found we traced family
members who perished in the Holocaust. The photos you show on your Slonim page
shows [we think] several family members, most of who died in the Treblinka
death camp. My own views are that it was the myth that 'All Jews had money and
were wealthy', was the match that lit the holocaust-fire, but it was robbery
and and the thought of looted personal gain what got the lynch mob motivated.
These people were looters masquerading as nationalists, just the same as Hitler
was when he robbed 2 firms of German banknote printers during the Munich
putsch.

I recently sent a message to the Archives in Bialystok.
What follows is a rough translation through Poltran;

Record office inform in bialystok kindly, that we lack in local stock:
Acts (records) from period of interwar .m bialystok person confession
moses metrykalnych For from period of interwar registration books .m
of bialystok; Act from end for XIX .m of warsaw metrykalnych w.;Thus,
we can not lend information about your family jakiejkolwiek.We inform
simultaneously, that records (acts) are transferred from offices of civil
statuses after hundred from moment of fabrication ( 100 ) lat (summer;
year) metrykalne. Therefore, bialystok is belonged to return regarding
documents for from period of interwar for office of civil status .m
confession moses metrykalnych, street 9 Branickiego, 15 089 bialystok.
In questions of act of birth carrying (concern) Majera Ingberg, ur.
In warsaw 1877 , it for record office .m st. warsaw advise (consult)
return, bandy circle A street 7, 00 270 warsaw...
it appears there are no records for my family.
I cannot request a look-up of my Uncle's birth record in Warsaw
as I do not have an exact date or the District in which he lived
which the Archives in Warsaw requires for a search.

I had hoped there would be some way to trace my Uncle through the
address at which he resided in Bialystok, but again have hit a brick
wall. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might be able to
find information on my family?
Thank you in advance for your help!

Elizabeth Jackson

From: Eli Rabinowitz <elirab@iinet.net.a>

My great grandfather was Avram Skarishevski from Orla near Bialystok, married to a Rochel Guta Rishilevski.

If you find any connection, let me know.

I am visiting Bialystok / Orla in May.

Cheers

Eli Rabinowitz

Perth Australia

Dear Friend,
Years ago we used to keep in touch. As you know, I have been dealing with the history of Jews in Bialystok and this region for years. I have written dozens of articles and several books on this matter, one of which is titled JEWISH BIALYSTOK, which was published in the USA in English. I have drawn up documentation for eight Jewish cemeteries. On my web page www.bagnowka.com (the project is entirely non-profit) there are approximately twenty-thousand photographs of Jewish tombstones whose inscriptions have been translated into English. I am the author of a number of exhibitions, such as the exhibition about Jews in the Holocaust. The very exhibition SNAPSHOTS OF GENOCIDE has travelled almost the entire world (more about this exhibition on http://www.szukamypolski.com/strona/kadry_zaglady)
My short jewish films I made You will find at http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/tomek/films.htm

I have been working for a year on a full-length feature film about the Polish-Jewish relationship in Bialystok. The plot is partially based on authentic facts and is full of the inner tension. A young Jewish boy coming from a religious Jewish family falls in love with a Polish girl, who is a Christian. She returns his feelings. Because of how he feels about this girl, he is willing to discard his Jewish religion, and she is willing to do likewise. And this is the part in which the vicissitudes and problems emerge of a moral, religious, and cultural nature.

A feature film is a big project,and this in itself is quite a challenge. At this stage we are unable to produce it due to financing and logistics. That is why I want to begin with a small movie undertaking which hopefully will interest other partners and potential producers. I gave the script to my friends to read, they accepted it, and we then set up a small crew (cameraman, set designer, director, recording engineer and lighting electrician, actors and others). We have also found a superb shooting location, which is perhaps the last district of the pre-war Bialystok that has remained unaltered.

I am writing to you for obvious reasons: we are seeking financial support. Although the pilot will be short (seven to ten minutes long), I am already aware that its production will involve a great deal of expense. Although some of us (including myself) will be working on the project on a non-profit basis, many expenses are unavoidable (props and scenery, and other inevitable production-related costs).
My plan--perhaps it is naïve--assumes that the project would be supported by Jews who come from Bialystok or who are descendants of Bialystokers, i.e. those who can trace their roots back to the Bialystok-Grodziensk region. I also hope to gain support from those who perceive the project as meaningful, who would be most welcome to participate. I also would like representatives of both nations to be participants in this project, and thus we will also turn to Polish companies and businesses, currently operating in Bialystok, for their financial support.

We would like to present the pilot as the product of our efforts, at a film festival (it could be San Francisco Jewish Film Festival; this has not yet been decided). Should our film win recognition, it will be easier for us to raise money for the entire project, which is the full-length feature film. Maybe we will be successful enough to find a film producer willing to cooperate with us.
What sum of money am I hoping for? I am thinking of a one-time donation of five hundred dollars. We will request a similar amount, in Polish zloty, from businesses in Bialystok. We have received a declaration of support from the mayor of Bialystok. I estimate that the amount of fifteen thousand dollars should be sufficient to carry out our undertaking. All of the names of the people involved, as well as the names of companies financing the project, will be mentioned in our film (by first and last name, and by place of residence). All financial matters shall be duly accounted.
With kindest regards,

Tomasz Wisniewski
P.S. I have enclosed a draft of my film script – a starter of sorts for the bigger project we would like to produce in Bialystok.

Tomek Wisniewski
www.bagnowka.com
www.youtube.com/bagnowka7
www.szukamypolski.com
Bagnowka Facebook

******

SCREENPLAY:

Black and white. "The Pencil”. Starter.

1. Distant shot: an outline of dense town architecture (2 -3 takes)
  - town/city (a shot without elements of contemporary, modern architecture)
- close-up: a maze of roofs, chimneys, condominium-like in character

2.  Shot: a yard, condominium-like in character. 3 girls are playing hopscotch. One first-floor window open. Below it - the entrance to the building (staircase).
- shot of yard, from above. Nobody to be seen, but you can hear girls' voices
- shot of yard, from below. Girls are playing hopscotch. In the background, the entrance gate that leads into the yard.
- The girls are playing hopscotch. Close-up shot: in  the background above you can see the windows, one of which is open.
 - visible are 2 signs (the tailor's, and the name of the caretaker with the number of the apartment; 1 sign in Polish and Jewish (yiddish), the other only in Polish.

3. Interior shot. A woman is stirring soup in a pot. Shot of soup. In the background: a boy reading something, (studying?), playing with a pencil, behind him clear shot of an open window. In the background: sounds of conversation (in Polish), jumping, something hitting against the cobblestones, sounds of throwing stones, girls' giggling.
- Shot: through the enfilade, from the direction of the entrance to the apartment. A woman, her kitchen, in the background her son, an open window.
- Shot: a hand stirring soup in the pot.
- Shot: the contents of the pot. One can see the soup, pieces of meat, dumplings.
- Close-up: the boy, clearly absent-minded, moves the pencil from one hand to the other, looks back to his mother with a worried expression.
- Close-up: a notebook, a book in Hebrew, a few Hebrew sentences scribbled in pencil.
- The boy glances at the window.
- Shot: the mother looks at the son. She stops stirring the soup. She rattles the soup ladle gently against the pot.
- The son, resigned, returns to his lessons.
4. Shot from below. 3 girls are playing hopscotch. One sees, from the side, 2 Jewish girls (in long stockings) approach the wall, stop, and begin a quiet conversation (a few sentences each) in yiddish. It is, however, only a pretext to look up. Upstairs, one of the windows is ajar, and now and again a boy wearing a skullcap looks out and gazes down.
- The girls are playing hopscotch. Behind them, in the background, one can see 2 Jewish girls approach the wall. They look on with dislike and, excited, discuss something (in yiddish).
- Close-up: the  Jewish girls, one of whom looks up now and then at the empty, open window.
- The same shot, but from the window. One can see the girls playing hopscotch. One of them looks up now and then at the window, just like one of the Jewish girls.
- Shot from below – another shot. The boy again looks out the window, gazes down as if bored, but with a „blurry” expression in his eyes at one girl, then the other. You hear the sound of something hitting against metal (soup ladle against the pot)
- The boy is sitting hunched at his desk, this time the pencil is lodged behind his ear, and crams thoughtlessly his  Hebrew verses. He is clearly not concentrating, he turns the pages, bites his nails, moves objects on his desk, consults a Polish-Jewish dictionary  (7-10 shots of details, contents of the desk, bookshelf, ink, others). He takes the pencil, twirls it around, is clearly pretending to study.
- Shot from below. Three girls are playing hopscotch, two Jewish girls are standing against the wall, looking on, both now and again look at the window, in which some two times appears and disappears the face of the boy.  
- Shot: mother, whose gaze returns to the kitchen, looks for something in the cupboard, adds some spices to the pot. But, whatever she does, she watches over her son and, routinely, bangs the ladle against the pot. She clearly suspects that her son does not apply himself to his study.

5. Although the boy controls himself as much as he can, he can't bear it much longer. Enters the boy's father.
- Close-up: a hand twirling the pencil made by ("St. Majewski, Pruszków”, a pre-war manufacturer).
- Close-up: the boy (from the direction of the window), is clearly „getting ready”, places the pencil behind his ear, looks at his mother (who has disappeared somewhere) and immediately looks out the window.
- Shot from below (but one cannot see the girls, only the sound of their playing). The boy looks out the window (first floor), he is clearly in two minds, he looks here and there.
- The same situation, but this time one cannot see the boy. One of the Polish girls stops and raises her head.
- Shot from the window onto the yard. At the moment that the girl gazes at the boy, into the yard enters a man in Jewish garb, his head down, and walks quickly towards the staircase (located below the window out of which the boy looks out).
- The Jewish girls straighten up and bow politely, and the Polish girls stop their play for a moment and gaze at the man in the kapoteh with interest, and a slight smile (not contempt).
- One of the Polish girls, the one who is "flirting" with the Jewish boy, says in Polish „Good morning, Mr. Hirsh”. The elderly Jew, engrossed in his thoughts, does not answer, notices no one, and disappears up the staircase.
- Another shot: the man enters the building, the camera pans up, one can see the boy disappear from the window.

6. The boy continues playing his game. These shots are very fast (very brief cuts)
- The boy is watchful. He tidies up his desk, he places the Polish-Jewish dictionary on the shelf so that one can't see the spine, makes a show of piling up his books, moves the ink, writes a short sentence in Hebrew on a sheet of paper  (2 shots?)  
- From the window. The frame is filled by a blurred shot of the boy's ear with the pencil behind it. The father enters, kisses the mezuzah in the doorframe, and somewhat peremptorily greets the mother. He hangs his kapoteh (one cannot see the hanger). He disappears inside an invisible door, one hears the door bang. Silence, invaded by ever louder sounds of the yard and the playing girls.
- The boy, once again, stooped, as if frozen.
- The Hebrew letters come into focus, then, suddenly, with a shout from outside, they blur. From the window above the boy's window one hears a thunderous shout: „Jad?ka! Homework!”  
- Shot from the kitchen. The boy automatically leans out the window.
-  Shot: below. The girls have stopped their play and are gazing up at the window above the boy's. Suddenly 2 of them return to their game, and the girl – the one who flirts with the boy - lowers her gaze and looks ostentatiously at Lejb.
- Shot: the boy, frozen at the window, an empty window above him. The boy does not know that the girl's father has disappeared inside it. There is no one at that window.  
- Shot of the girl, who, pronouncing her words theatrically, shouts at the empty window so that the boy can hear her clearly . „Dad, I have asked you to call me Jadwiga!”.  
18 Lejb, enchanted, gazes at the girl. One of his hands is resting on the window sill, the other writes unconsciously (in pencil, in Hebrew) "Jadwiga". (2 – 3 shots).
7. This time the boy is caught red-handed.
- The mother is standing just behind the boy, but he cannot hear her at all. Frozen, he gazes down. His left hand is resting against the sill, and the right hand, holding the pencil at a weird angle, is scratching something involuntarily on a piece of paper.
- The mother gazes at the hand that writes something on the piece of paper.
- The woman leans lower. The boy inadvertently writes the same word in Polish, in Hebrew, and in Yiddish, in various ways, making numerous mistakes. The word is „Jadwiga, Jadzia, Adzia, Idzia”.  
- The mother grabs the pencil from the boy's hand.
- The boy turns his head violently. Terrified, he stares at his mother.  
- The mother enunciates, very slowly, through clenched teeth (in yiddish): „Don't even think about it!”  
- The mother is shaken. She moves into the kitchen with the pencil in her hand and throws it mechanically into the pot.

8. The boy, resigned, returns to his studies.
- The boy leans lower and lower over his Hebrew book.
- The Hebrew letters slowly come into focus.
- Again, momentarily – in a flash – as if he couldn't help himself, the boy gets up, looks out the window, and immediately returns.
- The yard is empty.  
- Shot (from the direction of the yard): the empty window, ajar. In it, momentarily, appears the boy's father, to shut the window with a loud bang.
- Shot: identical to the one at the beginning. The mother is cooking soup, the father leaves the boy's room, disappears, the frame is filled with the figure of the boy, studying. The closed window.
- The mother is cooking soup, staring unconsciously into space.
- Shot: the soup, stirred; to its surface there floats up the pencil.

--------------------------------------------------------------

From: David Conway <smerus@gmail.cm>
Date: Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 11:58 AM
Subject: Bublacki
Dear Mr. Levitan,

My ancestor (gg grandfather) Isaac Bublacki (1846-1910) and his brother Hyman (1857-1934), both born in Bialystok according to their naturalisation papers, arrived in England about 1877 and 1900 respectively, and adopted the surname Simons, presumably after their father Shima Bublacki (d. c. 1899). (I believe that both Shima and Hyman retired to Jerusalem before their death and are buried there).
Hyman married Esther Greenberg about 1876 in Bialystok and their 13 children, six of whom died in infancy, were born in Bialystok or thereabouts. His eldest son, Abraham (b. 1876/7) returned to Bialystok to marry after the family had moved to London. In 1 904 he married Sarah Pearl Pawelski, and he is recorded in the 1912 Bialystok voters list. They had four children all of whom survived the war – I am not clear about the fates of their parents.
Isaac’s death notice ion the Jewsih Chronicle 'African and American papers, please copy' - therefore there were almost certainly Simons/Bublacki relatives (?brothers/sisters) in those continents.
I note the Bublackis listed in your website and am intrigued as to whether they can be linked to my family. Clearly Shima, Isaac and Hyman were part of a large family but I have never been able to identify links with other Bublackis.
For example, a candidate is Chana Bublacka, who married Israel Leib Friedman (b. 1835) and gave birth to Josef Isaac Friedman (who settled in America) in 1866. According to her descendant Michelle Gillmann, Chana's children were born in the villages of Lunna and Volpa (about 25km E. of Bialystok). Michelle reports that Chana is said to have died in Jerusalem and to be buried on the Mount of Olives (cf. My family stories about Shima and Hyman Bublacki). Both Isaac and Hyman Simons named a daughter Annie (=Chana).
If you have any views or comments on the above, I should be very interested to receive them. I have fairly complete trees of the descendants of Isaac and Hyman.
Yours sincerely,
David Conway
(London)

Hi Friend

This - below - letter I send to some people around the world. Maybe You will find a sense to help in this short film related to Krynki. Would be nice to resend this my letter to some others KRYNKER's 
 
-------------
For years I’ve been fascinated by Krynki, little jewish town shtetl nearby Bialystok
 It has started towards the end of the eighties in the 20th century when I was  working on the Jewish cemetery in Krynki.
It was yet during communism period. I remember it as an extraordinary experience. There I managed to get the essence of Hebrew language. The complete documentation of that cemetery I handed over to the conservation officer’s office. From that moment on Jewish cemetery in Krynki  has become recognized as a monument and was taken under the legal protection.
I return to Krynki constantly and on many occasions. I’ ve been there with a number of my Jewish guests searching for their family roots. Moreover, as an extraordinary fact from my  family’s past, during the period of the German occupation my grandfather and father had  lived  in Krynki for a year and a half. They turned up there being resettled from Brest Litovsky ( before the war my grandfather worked at the post office in Brest).
Five years ago I made a film for a private TV. It was about an eminent, deceased Byelorussian writer Sokrat Janowicz, who remembered Jewish neighbours  with a real affection. In my books SYNAGOGUES IN BIALYSTOK REGION and THE JEWISH BIALYSTOK AND SURRONDINGS Krynki are mentioned in wide chapters. When I’ve gone into amateur filming  Krynki appeared on my way again… These films are widely accessible and can be found on the You Tube channel under the addresses some of which are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EQ_zVQ2XTs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igqlULdnCq4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzsryKYgcYs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwpp4iQFQ68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tPvIdisUrE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejEaAwdpo7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IH5FoR8HZ4
 I haven’t a clue when it piled up ! All of them I made out of my own budget, without any support. I happened to be In Krynki again. Thanks to Joanna Czaban I ‘ve met a wonderful man Anatol Szygalowicz who beautifully recalls Krynki and their Jewish inhabitants. I’ve already recorded 5 hours of interviews, amongst them there  are  memories of the Hasids from Krynki. Hardly few sentences, but very precious. Hasids In this area it was a real scarceness. I would love to make a film about them, with  English subtitles and a good soundtrack. In this project financial support is necessary. Dear Sir ( Madam)  Would you kindly contribute to this project ? I’m thinking about figure of around 100 dollars.
It would cover the costs of camera, operators, musicians and other people involved in this film production. There is a chance of publishing a DVD, two copies of which would be sent to every donator. Obviously the surnames of all kind supporters would be placed on the published stuff.  If the amount of funds for publishing the DVD won’t be sufficient in the project available on the internet all donators will receive a link for downloading the Full HD version of this film.
 
With kind regards
dr Tomasz Wi?niewski
bagnowka@yahoo.pl
507181939
 
 
P.S. I‘m attaching a link to one of my documentaries that has received several awards. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfTP1FceXdc

Film about Krynki is not going to participate in any competition.
It’s only a reminiscence, called Hasids from Krynki , that may influence creation of another film stories about former inhabitants of this little town, unfairly forgotten town.

 
This film THE PENCIL was made withh support of some Bialystoker Jews from all over the world https://vimeo.com/54917639

Dear Ladies and Gentleman, 

I´m a young filmmaker and artist from Austria and work currently on a essayistic film about the history of the city Bialystok.

The film will be a reflection of the past  till the nowadays and the question what will come and how we can ready the history of a city for a deeper understanding of political changes in general. Especially when we see the 

frightening changes in Europe nowadays. The film brings a lot of things together, like the first Anarchist movement in Bialystok, Jewish Partisan movements, Jewish uprising, Ghetto, the Holocaust, multi ethnical city, Zamenhof, 

Dziga Vertov,  Anarchist Movement in 2000 to Neonazi Movement. In short hand, it´s a film that reflects changement, resistance and history.

Therefor I researched quite a lot and found the website http://www. eilatgordinlevitan.com/ bialystok/bialystok.html

with a lot of interesting photographs which could be interesting for the film. 

For example:
http://www.eilatgordinlevitan. com/bialystok/bial_pix/front/ 041808_06_b.gif

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan. com/bialystok/bial_pix/front/ 041808_13_b.gif

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan. com/bialystok/bial_pix/front/ 041808_31_b.gif

http://www.eilatgordinlevitan. com/bialystok/bial_pix/front/ 062012_64_b.gif

Therefor I wonder who I can contact regarding the rights and use of this images in the film.
 
It´s not clear yet if it will fit into the montage,  but I wanted to ask in advance if there is a chance to use it in the film.

Thanks for your time and looking forward to hear from you, 

Johannes Gierlinger

From: ivanka <ivanka@interia.pl>
Subject: hello from Poland

hello I recognize my School in Bialystok number 31 in name Henryk Goldshmit (Janusz Korczak). I remember since I was 7 we every year remember in our school of uprising in Bialystoker ghetto and in Warsaw. We sang Shallom Alejhem and it was very important for us to remember. 

A ceremony in School No. 31 in Bialystok, Poland. 

After World War II

From: Esther Werdiger <ewerdiger@tabletmag.com>
Date: Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 9:39 AM
Subject: Permissions for bialystok photos
To: <egl.comments@gmail.com>

Hi! Tablet Magazine is looking for some Bialystok Ghetto Uprising images for a story running this week. Would we be able to use any of photos here? http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/bialystok/bialystok.html
Thank you!
Esther

--
Esther Werdiger 
Art Director, Tablet Magazine
212-920-3672
tabletmag.com

 Bialystok Remembers 
Project we did and film I made from this event
Tomek

Bia?ystok Pami?ta - Bia?ystok remembers 27.VI.1941 - 27.VI.2020