Tag #143082 - Interview #100229 (Yakov Bunke)

At that time the population of town was 2 thousand people, more than a half were Jews. Estate of prince Oginstiy was the real adornment of the town. It is still there, though look deplorable. The prince did a lot for the town, in particular he stimulated trade and craft. He built 36 stores in the downtown and rented them to the Jews under long,-term lease agreement and in 24 years after the value of the store had been paid off, the title of ownership was transferred to the Jews. Almost all owners of the stores in Plunge were owned by Jews. There were merchants among them- Bisop, who was responsible for processing and sale of flax, Rolnik, Polyanksiy, Kurlianskiy, the owners of manufacture stores. There was also Jewish intelligentsia in Plunge : one lawyer, doctors. The mayor was also a Jew. Dovid Goldwasser held that post from 1919 till 1932. His deputy Girsh Mets was also a Jew. He had his own business- painting workshop. My uncle Nehemia Ril, the goldsmith was also prominent in town. There were a lot of craftsmen in the town- glazers, tailors, cobblers, watch menders, bakes etc.