Tag #157277 - Interview #78187 (Waclaw Iglicki)

Zelechow was a small town, with a population of about 3,000. Half of them were people of Jewish origin [an expression commonly used in post-war Poland to describe Jews]. Downtown was mostly inhabited by Jews. And around, closer to the countryside, closer to the fields, were Poles. We lived literally downtown, on a street named after Marshal Jozef Pilsudski 4. That was the main street. It was first called Palacowa [Palace]. Why Palacowa? Because our street led to a palace. The owner of the estate, we used to call him a squire, was Szuster. A very rich man! [Editor's note: In pre-war Poland aristocrats, estate owners lived in manors in the countryside - or palaces in cities and towns.] And when Marshal Pilsudski died in 1935, then they changed the name of the street. There was a magistrate, police station, postal office, all major institutions and offices were there.