Tag #108991 - Interview #77965 (Jankiel Kulawiec)

We observed the holidays traditionally - at Pesach, for instance, the table was covered, and there was matzah. We didn't recite any prayers, but there were candles lit. Even afterwards, when Granddad died, I remember that we made sure not to eat bread at Pesach. But I remember that we baked three poods of matzah for the whole family. A pood was 16 kilos, I think [Russian pound, 1 pound=16.38 kg]. And there were what were called 'shuvalnias,' which were places where matzah was baked officially [kosher matzah bakery, a locally used word], and other places where it was baked, which the Jews called a 'zborne.' In these 'zbornes' [neighborhood matzah bakeries, a locally used word] the Jews baked matzah together; neighbors helped each other. And at the Mokobockis' there was this old stove, and when the time came to bake the matzah, my aunt koshered the stove, the rabbi came to check that it had been properly koshered, and then there was one of those 'zbornes' there. And the poorer Jews helped each other and baked matzah together.