50 Houses burnt - Over 100 families left without a roof over their head - The Plontcher Beis Medrash, Talmud Torah and Mikveh destroyed

 

Polaniec, May 13, 1929 (by telephone from our correspondent)

A small fire broke out today in the hay and straw storage shed belonging to Melech Sokaloff. It was extinguished quickly so that when the firemen arrived Melech just laughed at them.

But, as it happened, embers that were left from the earlier fire flared up anew at about three o'clock in the afternoon; this time with such force that the storage shed was engulfed in flames and the fire began to spread further.

The results were terrible. In a short time some 50 houses were burning. The panic was unbelievable. People in all of Polaniec began to pack their belongings and to flee in all directions.

It was almost impossible to save anything except for some bedding and linens. Fortunately there were no human casualties. Over 100 families were left without a roof over their heads.

Among the buildings that burnt down were the Talmud Tora (Children's School) of Polaniec, the Bet Hamidrash (Torah Study Hall) and the Mikve (Ritual Bath).

Firefighters arrived from Otwock, Radoszyce and even from Warsaw.

The fire was accompanied by some dismal events. Since there are many unrented summer houses,people whose houses had burnt down began to move their belongings that, they salvaged from the fire, into those houses. The owners of the houses prevented them from doing so and bloody fights broke out.
 

Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Nachman  Goldwasser of Kibbutz Gesher Haziv, Israel, and Yocheved Klausner of Beer Sheva, Israel for translating this newspaper article.