Tauba (Toby) Orenstein

• General Notes
  • Life in Wyszków by Toby Rosen
    My earliest recollection of life in Wyshkova (Wyszków) was the birth of my sister, Florence. I was about 3 1/2 years old and recall running through the streets on a cold October night, hand in hand with my older sister, Sylvia, to fetch a mid-wife. Florence weighed in at about 9 1/2 lbs and to this day, I could hear my mother's screams and my father urging us to bring the mid-wife to help him make the delivery he was so accustomed to doing. We found her in time and soon enough the baby was delivered. My father immediately cleaned her off, wrapped her in a blanket and put her on the scale in the store (which was in front of the house) and sure enough she did weigh over 9 lbs. As was his custom, he immediately went to the Siddur and inscribed her name, weight, and time and date of birth.
    
    Two years later my sister, Gloria, was born---this one was easy enough. A beautiful blond, blue-eyed child who immediately became our toy doll. Each time a child was born, a nanny was hired. I don't recall the times we did not have a nanny, what with the birth of 6 children. Actually, 7, because my mother's first child, Deborah, did not survive. She was born at the same time that Bubba Pearl (Blum) gave birth to Uncle Ruby. It was too much for the mid-wife running between mother and daughter as the story goes.
    
    Life was full and eventful in those days. We had a droshka (a horse and buggy) and Pop would take us for many rides. During the winter months, he would take off the wheels and replace them with runners and we would all climb in under the blankets and take the most pleasant drives through the country under the stars in the deep, silent, white thick snow.
    
    We all attended both regular school as well as Hebrew School. I, for one, was very interested in performing, singing and dancing and did partake in many school plays and concerts regularly given at the Community SALA (as it was called). My brother, Jack, as a teenager, had a girlfriend whose father had an ice-cream parlor where the young people of the community would gather. On Saturday night after Havdoloh, Jack would take me and Sylvia for a treat there. It was a great treat and lingers in my memory.
    
    There is someting quite outstanding about my mother that I admired immensely. I would go along with her from door to door when a poor person needed help, to collect whatever was offered in the way of food, clothing, etc., especially for a poor bride in the town who needed "nadn" ( a dowry). My mother was always the first to donate and so everyone went along with her. The tzedakah she managed to give the people and/or the bride shone in their misty eyes as they thanked her; and how happy we were to give them this small pittance.
    
    Visiting relatives stayed with us, slept at our house and always were welcome for food and drink. We were the headquarters.
    
    However, I learned early in life about anti-semitism. As early as 1926, the "goyim" harassed us. There were many days when we dare not step out of the house when they went on a tear (usually due to drinking). Only my brother, Sam, would defy them and thus I was always on the run to get my father to get him out of it.