Chaim
Solan (Slutzky)
MANIA SERLIN AND YITZHAK SLUTZKY
Zionism without quotation marks.
Mom
Mania, from Serlin house, was born in 1906 in the town of Pruzhany. Her parents
were YENTE and ZVI HERSH SERLIN. There she passed her childhood with her older
sister ALTE FREIDE. In 1927 Mom ended her studies at "Matzkevich"
state high school majored in Mathematics and Biology, and one year later in
1928 she ended the Teachers Seminar, placed beside the state high school.
At
first she would teach in Pruzhany, and, in 1929, she worked as a teacher in the
Popular Hebrew School in Lenin town. There she taught mathematics, geography,
history and polish language. In Lenin she met my father, YITZHAK son of MASHE
and CHAIM SLUTZKY, who would become into her husband later.
One
year later their ways split. Dad traveled to Warsaw because of his job as a
bookkeeper, and Mom worked in Kartuz Bereza. Mom arrived in Kartuz Bereza in
1930. She was appointed to the charge of Head Teacher (Director) of the Yavne
Hebrew School of the Tarbut net. Despite her age, for she was very young, she
leaded the school and was the higher level (7th) teacher. Mom leaded the school
during 6 years. In this school like others of Tarbut net, pupils used to learn
all human and technical subjects in Hebrew, with sefarad pronunciation. Since
my mother spoke polish, it was obligatory to teach these subjects on that
language.
Dad
decided to move to Kartuz Bereza too. There he got a job as Accountant Director
and joined Mania, his friend of past years. They both joined local activist
group "Poalei Sion" (Workers of Zion) and worked very intensely in
their spare time, as well as collecting money for the KKL and "Keren
Ha'yesod".
In
1934 YITZHAK and MANIA got married in Bereza, for their friend's joy. Of course,
they thought at once about emigrating to Eretz Israel, but how to avoid the
sanction imposed by Britain mandate for immigration? At that moment,
"sacred objects" were needed in Eretz Israel community. Dad was a
lover of liturgical songs. He left his beard grow, he studied Jewish laws
related to animal slaughtering, and with his relations help, he got to obtain a
permission from Israel Rabbinate to emigrate. Armed with his polish passport
and the British stamp on it, with the emigration document of Jewish Agency for
Israel, the request letter by the Central Rabbinate, besides several documents
about his Jewish heritage, my parents left Lenin to the long journey to Eretz
Israel, and on April 26 the ship docked in Haifa port.
Dad
worked as an Accountant Director at the Youth School "Ben Semen". Mom
didn't go back teaching, she spent her days on an infinite devotion to her son
CHAIM (after the grandfather) and NETA
(after her grandmother YENTE SERLIN). During many years our house was a meeting
point, and a torch for mom's pupils, those who were not exterminated on the
Shoah and came to Eretz Israel.
Dad
died in 1966, still young, and mom passed away in good old age, in 1988. May
their memories be blessed.