This ciupaga (the highlanders’ walking axe, an inseparable attribute of every góral), held by Julek Schneider, a Holocaust survivor from Nowy Targ, hides an extraordinary story. The winters of the occupation in Podhale were very severe. Frost and heavy snowfall worsened the already tragic situation of the Jewish inhabitants of Nowy Targ, whose shops and businesses had been taken by the German authorities and whose official food rations were not enough to survive on. Jews were also deprived of their fuel. Those winter months were a time of desperate struggle against hunger and cold. Some of them received help from the least expected quarter: from Karl Dangelmaier, the German manager of the Nowy Targ railway station. Jakub Schneider (the brother of Julek, seen in this photograph), who did forced labour at the station as a 15-year-old, recalled after the war: “When winter came, Jewish women would come to the station to ask for coal, because they had nothing to heat their homes with. He treated them as if harshly, because there were other Germans [there] too. He shouted: What? Have you come to work? And he took them to where the heaps of locomotive coal were and told them in German: ‘Fill the sacks and run!’ My father [Feiwel Schneider] told him that there were women left alone in the town […] and that they had no fuel for the winter. So this German told him to come two or three times a week with a horse-drawn sledge, load the sledge with coal and share it among those women, so that they would have something to light a fire with.” With Karl Dangelmaier’s permission Feiwel also took potatoes from the station, which made it possible to prepare hot meals in the soup kitchen for the poorest Jews. Because of his conduct, the station manager was removed from his post in February 1941 and ordered to return to his home town of Rosenheim in Bavaria. After the war, through a newspaper notice, he found Jakub Schneider and gave him the highlander’s ciupaga, a ring that had belonged to his mother, and a few photographs he had received from Feiwel as a farewell gift. He also gave him a letter written on 17 February 1941 on the occasion of his departure by three Jewish residents of Nowy Targ: Juliusz Nass, Mundek Goldmann (uncle of Julek and Jakub) and Alfred Gewürz.

It is the only surviving Jewish testimony written down there and then that records the feelings of living through an ever more oppressive reality: “Dear Mr Station Manager, unfortunately something has happened and you have left us. […] Your departure from here has greatly worried and surprised us. It is as with health: only its loss shows what one really had. We cannot and do not wish to list now all the good deeds that we have received from you. It would be a very long list. Leaving aside material matters, whose importance we do not wish to diminish here, we wanted above all to stress that in you we found spiritual and moral support. In the time of our deepest humiliation you let us feel that we too are human beings. Your kind, friendly, encouraging, indeed fatherly way of treating us […] gave us back our faith in people and in humanity. Grateful and for ever faithful, Juliusz Nass, Mundek Goldmann, Alfred Gewürz.”

The keepsakes Dangelmaier handed over after the war were the only objects left to Julek and Jakub from their parents, Sala and Feiwel Schneider, who were murdered in Bełżec. The authors of the letter were murdered too: Juliusz Nass (with his wife Estera and his sons Adolf and Szymon), Mundek Goldmann (with his wife Toni and their little son Bernard) and Alfred Gewürz (with his wife Roza, his daughters Lea, Salomea, Helena and Rachela, and his sons Abraham, Henryk and Samuel).

Text: Karolina Panz.

Ta ciupaga (nieodłączny atrybut każdego górala), trzymana przez Julka Schneidera ocalałego z Holocaustu Nowotarżanina, kryje w sobie niezwykłą historię…Okupacyjne zimy na Podhalu były bardzo srogie – mrozy i ogromne opady śniegu pogarszały i tak tragiczną sytuację żydowskich mieszkańców Nowego Targu, którym władze niemieckie odebrały sklepy i firmy, a oficjalnie wydzielane racje żywnościowe nie pozwalały na przeżycie. Żydom odbierano też ich zapasy opału. Te zimowe miesiące były dla nich czasem dramatycznej walki z głodem i zimnem… Niektórzy z nich otrzymali pomoc z najmniej spodziewanej strony: od niemieckiego kierownika nowotarskiej stacji kolejowej Karla Dangelmaiera. Jakub Schneider (brat uwiecznionego na tej fotografii Julka), który jako 15-latek wykonywał prace przymusowe na stacji kolejowej, wspominał po wojnie: „gdy nadeszła zima, przychodziły na stację kobiety Żydówki prosić o węgiel, bo nie było czym opalić mieszkań. On się do nich niby srogo odnosił, bo byli [tam] także i inni Niemcy. Krzyczał: Co? Przyszłyście do pracy? I zabierał je tam, gdzie były hałdy węgla do lokomotyw i mówił im po niemiecku: „Wypełniajcie worki i zbiegajcie!”. Mój ojciec [Feiwel Schneider] opowiedział mu, że zostały w mieście samotne kobiety […] i że nie mają opału na zimę. Na to ten Niemiec kazał mu dwa, trzy razy w tygodniu przyjechać saniami, zaprzężonymi w konie, naładować sanie węglem i rozdzielić pomiędzy te kobiety, żeby miały czym zapalić”. Feiwel za pozwoleniem Karla Dangelmaiera wywoził ze stacji też ziemniaki, które pozwalały na przygotowywanie ciepłych posiłków w jadłodajni dla najbiedniejszych Żydów. Na skutek swojego postępowania kierownik stacji został w lutym 1941 r. odwołany ze stanowiska z nakazem powrotu do rodzinnego Rosenheim w Bawarii. Po wojnie dzięki ogłoszeniu w prasie odnalazł i przekazał Jakubowi Schneiderowi ciupagę góralską, pierścionek, który należał do jego matki i kilka fotografii, które otrzymał w prezencie pożegnalnym od Feiwela. Podarował mu też napisany 17 lutego 1941 r. list, który w związku z jego odejściem, napisali do niego trzej żydowscy mieszkańcy Nowego Targu: Juliusz Nass, Mundek Goldmann (wujek Julka i Jakuba) i Alfred Gewürz.

Jest to jedyne spisane tam i wtedy oraz zachowane żydowskie świadectwo, w którym ujęto odczucia związane z doświadczaniem coraz bardziej opresyjnej rzeczywistości: „Szanowny Panie Kierowniku stacji, Niestety, stało się coś, że Pan nas opuścił. […] Pana odejście stąd bardzo nas zaniepokoiło i zaskoczyło. To jest tak, jak ze zdrowiem, dopiero jego strata pokazuje, co się tak naprawdę miało. Nie możemy i nie chcemy teraz wyliczać wszystkich dobrych uczynków, które nas spotkały z Pana strony. To byłaby bardzo długa lista. Pominąwszy kwestie materialne, których znaczenia nie chcemy tutaj umniejszać, przede wszystkich chcieliśmy podkreślić, że znaleźliśmy w Panu oparcie duchowe i moralne. W czasach naszego najgłębszego upokorzenia, dawał nam Pan odczuć, że też jesteśmy ludźmi. Pana uprzejmy, przyjacielski, podnoszący na duchu, wręcz ojcowski sposób traktowania nas […] dawał nam ponownie wiarę w ludzi i w ludzkość. Wdzięczni i na zawsze wierni. Juliusz Nass, Mundek Goldmann, Alfred Gewürz”.

Pamiątki przekazane po wojnie przez Dangelmaiera były jedynymi przedmiotami, jakie pozostały Julkowi i Jakubowi po ich zamordowanych w Bełżcu rodzicach: Sali i Feiwlu Schneiderach. Zginęli także autorzy listu Juliusz Nass (a także jego żona Estera i synowie Adolf i Szymon), Mundek Goldmann (oraz jego żona Toni i synek Bernard) i Alfred Gewürz (oraz jego żona Roza, córki: Lea, Salomea, Helena i Rachela oraz synowie: Abraham, Henryk i Samuel).

Tekst Karolina Panz

Julek Schneider

This ciupaga (mountain hatchet), which in the photo is held by the Holocaust survivor Julek Schneider from Nowy Targ, reveals an extraordinary story. The winters during the War occupation in Podhale were severe. The frost and cold made the already tragic situation of the Jewish inhabitants of Nowy Targ even worse. Not only did Jews lose their shops and companies, but also the food rations were not enough to survive on. What is more, they were denied their stock of fuel. Some of them received help from an unexpected source: the German manager of the train station in Nowy Targ, Karl Dangelmaier.

Jakub Schneider (brother of Julek whom you can see in the photo) as a 15- year old was a forced worker at the train station. He recalled that Karl Dangelmaier would give coal to Jewish women who came begging him for help and Jakub’s father Feiwel Schneider would distribute twice a week coal from the station among those women who had nothing to light a fire with. Dangelmaier would also give potatoes to soup kitchens for Jews. As a result of his actions, the manager of the station was dismissed and in February 1941 had to return to his hometown in Bavaria. After the war, he found Jakub Schneider and gave him the ciupaga, a ring which belonged to his mother and a few photos which he had received as a farewell present from Feiwel Schneider. He also gave Jakub a goodbye letter written on 17th February 1941 by the three inhabitants of Nowy Targ: Juliusz Nass, Mundek Goldmann (uncle of Julek and Jakub) as well as Alfred Gewürz: “Dear Mr. Manager of the railway station, Unfortunately something happened and you had to leave us […] Your departure surprised and alarmed us. It is just like with health. Only once you lose it, you will know what you really had. We cannot and we will not list all the good deeds which you have done for us. That would indeed make a long list. Apart from the material issues, which we do not wish to belittle, foremost we would like to emphasize that you have been our spiritual and moral support. In the times of our most extreme humiliation, you made us feel human. Your way of treating us which was polite, friendly and uplifting, in fact fatherly […] restored our faith in people and humanity. As always grateful and forever faithfully yours, Juliusz Nass, Mundek Goldmann, Alfred Gewürz”.

Those souvenirs passed on after the war by Dangelmaier were the only objects which were left of Julek’s and Jakub’s parents. Sala and Feiwel Scheider were killed in Bełżec. So were the the authors of the letter: Juliusz Nass (and his wife Estera as well as sons Adolf and Szymon) Mundek Goldmann (his wife Toni, son Bernard) and Alfred Gewürz (and his wife Roza and the daughters: Lea, Salomea, Helena and Rachela and sons: Abraham, Henryk and Samuel).

Written by Karolina Panz
Translated by Magdalena Macinska, Karolina Panz