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Kasriel K. Eilender, M.D.

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THE BARBER OF GOERLITZ - A MEMOIR

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Chapter One

My younger

brother Gerszon, 

my little sister Esther, 

and me. 

I was born in 1923 in the capital of East Prussia, known as Koenigs-berg, which in German means "the Mountain of the Kings." This German province was on the border between Poland and Lithuania, but my parents actually lived in the small Polish town of Suwalki. However, it was common among the middle class to seek the medical services of German physicians in East Prussia. I was the eldest of three children, which included my broth-er Gerszon and my sister Esther.

We lived in a single family house. The population of Suwalki was mixed among 30,000 inhabitants. The majority were Polish people, but there were also Germans, Lithuanians and old-fashioned Russians exiled by the Tzar many years before my birth. 

The Jewish population was about 11,000. Some of them were quite wealthy and involved in a variety of businesses which included lumber, wood products, export, textiles, mills, shoemakers, tailors, bookbinders and a few lawyers and doctors. There were, however, many very poor people living in our town, some of whom used to come to our house about once a month to get donations from my maternal grandparents, who lived with us. There was also a large garrison of military forces set up, since Suwalki was a border town.

For its size, Suwalki was a rather sophisticated community where several cultures coexisted. There were churches, synagogues, Polish ele-mentary schools, Jewish elementary schools and one high school. Many cultural events were held including concerts, lectures and sport activities such as soccer, kayaking and skating involving nationally known teams.

Once, as part of the Tzarist Russian Empire, our city was known as a gubernia, a provincial capital. The area covered approximately 6,875 square miles. Until 1386, the province was a part of the Lithuanian Duchy. During the period of 1402-1413 and 1420, wars continued between Poland, Lithuania and East Prussia that resulted in many broken pacts. 

Napoleon had chased the Prussians out and the region was under the domination of the Russian Empire. In 1920, after the Russian Revolution, the region returned to the newly independent Polish State. The first mention of Jewish inhabitants in Suwalki was in 1808, a number totaling 44 people.

My father, Josel Mordechai Ejlender was born in 1895 in the little village of Sztabin. He was the eldest of three sons and his father, Elkona was a very religious and poor man who immigrated to the United States in 1906 and his wife Cypora followed a few years later. When he died in 1943, my grandfather left an estate worth $3.00. My father’s two brothers Arthur and George came to the United States in the twenties.

I remember my father as being a very astute and kind man, who was well respected by many members of our mixed community. He spoke fluent Polish, German, Russian and Yiddish and was very involved in local and Jewish politics. I often think he would have made a very good attorney if given the opportunity to study law. I remember there were many people who used to visit our home to ask my father for legal advice and general guidance. He was in the lumber business, and used to export a great deal of wood to East Prussia, as well as England.

Through the years, my father befriended quite a number of interest-ing German businessmen, who used to visit him. There were those such as Mr. Schultz who was in the First World War and who took a special interest in me as a child. I was particularly curious about his artificial rubber hand resulting from a war injury. I recall another businessman, Mr. Knopf who arrived from East Prussia to see my father one day in 1936. My father was at work in the lumber-cutting mill, and I enthusiastically volunteered to take Mr. Knopf over there, so I could have the opportunity to ride on his motor-cycle. 

Three months later, I received a kayak as a gift from him. There happened to be a river running near our house known as the Charna Hancza. It wasn’t long before my brother and I went into the kayak, and promptly fell into the water. This was the first and the last time we used the boat, since it was immediately taken from us by our parents.

My mother, Sarah Blacharski was born in 1900 in the town of Augustow. Nicknamed, Sonia, she was the only child of Benjamin and Eiga.

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