On August 24, 1940, Adam Czerniaków, president of the Warsaw Judenrat, visited a Halutz (pioneer) farm in Grochów. The boys and girls working on the farm proudly showed off their new stables, two horses, and a borrowed cow. They also prepared refreshments: sandwiches and potato borscht, and President Czerniaków thanked them for… making their journey from Egypt to Palestine possible.
Zionists in Grochów
Adam Czernikow's visit took place before the ghetto was sealed in November 1940, but even then, the idyllic, agricultural atmosphere of the kibbutz had already impressed the guests arriving from central Warsaw. From the autumn of 1940, the kibbutz was a true oasis. Outdoor work provided respite from the cramped confines of the enclosed and overcrowded ghetto, and farming, though difficult, allowed for the production of additional food.
Chairman Czerniaków's expression of gratitude had a hidden meaning. The farm was run by Zionists from the He-Halutz organization . Their goal was to prepare young people for emigration to Palestine. They were trained in professions useful in the emerging society of the future Jewish state. In kibbutzim like Grochów, active learning in agriculture and animal husbandry was accompanied by courses in Hebrew and Jewish history and culture.
It wasn't just about escaping the Northern District or growing the vegetables and vegetables so vital to Warsaw Jews during the occupation. The pioneers also pursued their plan to actively prepare for life in Palestine, while simultaneously cultivating asparagus, rhubarb, onions, beans, cabbage, sugar beets, and fodder beets.
A progressive agricultural farm instead of a cemetery.
Kibbutz Grochów, with a total area of 30 hectares, was established in 1919 on land purchased before World War I to house the third Jewish cemetery in Warsaw (after Bródno and Wola). The plan sparked resistance from residents and was ultimately abandoned. After Poland regained independence, the religious community donated the plots on what is now Grochowska Street to the Zionist organization He-Halutz. At the kibbutz, young people not only learned to work and speak Hebrew, which was their language of daily communication, but also participated in various cultural initiatives. The ideological foundation of this movement was socialism, so the farm was organized as a communal commune. Profits earned by kibbutz members, and even parcels received from home, were donated to a communal fund.
This principle wasn't easy for everyone to accept. Tzvi Berzeli , recalling life on the kibbutz in the 30s, described the surveillance of "private" property conducted by board members. Hidden items such as bread, challah, cigarettes, or money were found – violating the principle of communal ownership was punishable by expulsion from the commune.
Pioneers in Grochów.
He-Halutz's offer was aimed at young people from cities and towns, primarily working-class people, but the kibbutz included young people from diverse social backgrounds. Their choices weren't always accepted, especially in conservative families. Tzipora Ritov recounts the difficulty of such decisions : one of her aunts went to her grandfather's grave so that her ancestor's spirit could influence her and break her obsession with Zionist ideas. It wasn't just about a political agenda. It was difficult to accept a social model in which girls lived under the same roof as men and worked in the fields in their slacks. The farm's beginnings were modest. In the 1920s, around twenty pioneers lived on the kibbutz at any one time. By the 1930s, there were around a hundred kibbutzniks, and before the outbreak of World War II, as many as 200 people lived in Gocław. There was literally a shortage of sleeping quarters, and people had to share rooms: even three to a bed. The development of kibbutzim was linked to the economic crisis in Poland, unemployment, and anti-Semitism. It is worth noting that in 1938, a group of Zionist youth expelled from Germany also arrived in Grochów.
Greenhouses in place of apartment blocks
The farm's current location is Witolińska Street 43, but it's extremely difficult to find any trace of the kibbutz farm. Where the pioneers established greenhouses and plowed fields, the Ostrobramska housing estate and the King Cross shopping complex were built.
At the beginning of the farm's existence, the pioneers had only wooden outbuildings at their disposal, living in rented houses in Grochów. In mid-1925, a brick barn was built, and in 1928, construction began on a brick residence with two bedrooms, a dining room, and a common room. The annexes housed sewing rooms and a shoemaker's workshop, which produced clothes for the collective's members. The pioneers moved in in 1934, and the completion of the work was made possible thanks to the generosity of donors such as the renowned Warsaw philanthropist Henryk Doktorowicz.
Harvest festival at the housing estate
Young people arriving in Grochów often had no agricultural or even horticultural experience, so they hired a specialist agronomist. Thanks to Aron Kryński , who oversaw the kibbutz's economy from 1931, they managed to establish a functioning farm. Interestingly, Aron Kryński himself did not share Zionist views, but was an excellent manager and had an agricultural education. He was the one who introduced, among other things, the eight-hour workday. What was grown in Grochów? According to the sowing plan for the 1934/1935 season, the following crops were planted: tomatoes, rhubarb, lilies and other flowers, asparagus, and cauliflower. Members of the collective recall as many as 120 species of roses, and the flowers they cultivated even received awards at floristic exhibitions in Warsaw. Meadows (hay), rye, barley, lupine, potatoes, beets, and other vegetables were also cultivated. The crops were sold at markets and at the Warsaw vegetable market. Grochów also raised animals: cows, poultry, and horses, which were primarily used for field work, but they were also trained to ride them and organized races. The kibbutz's true celebration was the harvest festival, which drew numerous guests. Large haystacks were built at that time, and vegetables were arranged in fanciful patterns.
Development time
The 1930s were the heyday of the agricultural farm in Grochów, and not just for the plants from the kibbutz fields and greenhouses. Social and cultural life flourished: Friday and Saturday dances were famous throughout Warsaw, and the choir and theater troupe performed outside the kibbutz. Guests from Poland and abroad flocked to Witolińska Street: future Israeli Prime Minister Gołda Meir danced the hora with the pioneers, and Miss Judea Zofia Ołdak had her photo taken with the cows.
Beginning Jewish farmers occasionally turned to neighbors for help, seeking farming advice or hiring help with harvesting or digging. Pioneers also worked in tanneries and breweries operating outside the kibbutz, and police officers from the 17th Precinct, where the farm was located, sometimes came for tea. Neighbors also bought vegetables, flowers, milk, and eggs. As time went on, and the Jewish farm expanded, they also inquired about agricultural experiences, especially about the new varieties of grain introduced to the fields of Grochów.
Time of anxiety
The second decade of Poland's independence was also a period of growing anti-Semitism, which affected the Pioneer Collective's relations with the surrounding community, as none of the plots surrounding the kibbutz belonged to Jewish institutions or private owners. Threats against the members of the collective became increasingly frequent: the fact that the farm was worked on Sundays and that the girls wore trousers were offensive. They were often accosted in a rather intrusive manner, so they rarely ventured outside the farm grounds alone. The Pioneers remembered the derogatory term "Palestinian" and being pelted with stones. Over time, increasingly serious attacks occurred, including terrorist attacks with weapons. In May 1935, attackers shot up the main building and threw a bomb inside. During the attack, kibbutz member Frida Wołkowyska was killed. The perpetrators were never identified, and their victim was buried in the Jewish cemetery on ul. Okopowa (the gravestone remains to this day). From that time on, self-defense courses began to be organized in Grochów, and the farm received permission to possess weapons, which were also carried during field work.
Farmers don't abandon the land
The kibbutz area was bombed in September 1939, and the collective members abandoned the farm. Those with families in the area simply returned home. Others heeded the authorities' appeal to evacuate Warsaw eastward, heading toward Kovel and Vilnius; some even managed to reach Palestine. The kibbutz was disbanded, and Isaac Cukerman , who arrived in Grochów in search of food, noted that the buildings, abandoned and destroyed in the bombings, were completely looted. However, the Chalutzim returned to the farm and painstakingly rebuilt the kibbutz. This was accomplished by members of the Zionist youth organization Dror, affiliated with the He-Chalutz movement, but other youth organizations were also invited to collaborate. The goal was not only to produce much-needed wartime food but also to create a cultural and educational alternative for young people demoralized by the war. Although the pre-war scale of operations could not be restored, by the spring of 1940, approximately 40 pioneers were working on the farm. They were aided by supporters of the movement who lobbied for it within the Judenrat, including Janusz Korczak. Although the Old Doctor reproached the pioneers for abandoning Grochów at the beginning of the war, and that "a farmer who abandons the land does not deserve help," he was nevertheless persuaded to support the farm's reconstruction.
The kibbutz during the occupation
In the initial period after the farm's resumption, the occupiers viewed the entire enterprise favorably. Their interest was sometimes somewhat burdensome for those involved. "Supporting" the farm in Grochów involved, for example, issuing orders to the Judenrat to provide the farm with additional livestock, which was no easy task under wartime conditions. Because the pioneers reported thefts, the idea arose to provide them with increased police protection. In this case, Judenrat members had to work hard to ensure this "help" plan failed. They did not want to strain relations with their neighbors. When the Warsaw ghetto was closed in November 1940, the pioneers were initially prohibited from living on the right bank of the Vistula River. This decision was eventually reversed.
The kibbutz's situation changed in 1941. The farm then received a new manager, with whom relations were not good. He prevented the Jews working on the farm from eating the crops he had grown, and in 1942 he ordered them to leave the farm and return to the ghetto.
The Lost Archive
The kibbutz was one of the most important centers of Jewish resistance, used by liaisons who maintained contacts between the main cities of the General Government. Later leaders of the ghetto uprising, such as Cywia Lubetkin , Isaac "Antek" Cukerman, and Mordechai Anielewicz , were associated with the agricultural collective in Grochów.
After the uprising's collapse in 1943, insurgents infiltrated the kibbutz, seeking temporary shelter. Isaac Cukerman even hid the wartime archives of the Dror organization and works by poet and playwright Isaac Katzenelson there . The buried documents were never found after the war. A Polish guard, whom Cukerman found at the site in 1945, claimed that they had been dug up by Red Army soldiers. After the war, attempts were made to recreate the Grochów kibbutz. This failed in Warsaw. However, a Jewish farm called "Grochów" was established in Lower Silesia near Korfantów.
Kibbutz Grochów in the old cinema
Walking in the footsteps of the pioneers from Grochów is not easy, as the former farmstead has been transformed beyond recognition. On the website of the Szymon An-ski Association, you can find a meticulously compiled plan of the kibbutz, marking the locations of the buildings and the locations where archival photographs were taken. Old photographs capture smiling Halutz workers engaged in farm work and harvesting bountiful crops, so you can imagine greenhouses in place of today's apartment blocks and parking lots. The Grochów kibbutz also featured in a film, as in the 30s, part of the land was leased to Yiddish film producer Joseph Green. A film village was then created, with sets evoking picturesque shtetls, where large portions of "The Jester of Purim" (1937) were filmed.
Memories of Jewish farming are also preserved in the ceilings of pre-war tenement houses in Grochów. One of the buildings on the farm was rented to the Klein company, which weaved large reed mats used in construction. Reed mats, covered with sandpaper, filled the ceiling. This technique was used, for example, during the construction of the tenement house at 44 Czapelska Street. When renovation work was underway on the property in 2010, as described in the book "Ruda, Daughter of Tzvi. The History of Jews in Warsaw's Praga District" by Adam Dylewski , the supervising foreman, upon seeing the exposed woven mat in the ceiling, remarked, "Typical Jewish work."
Agnieszka Kuś
The text uses materials from the website of the Szymon An-ski Association (www.anski.org)
