There are 2 cities mentioned as the possible origins for Stan’s Rothman family. The first one is Bialek. This was mentioned on Isador Rothman’s naturalization paper as his city of birth. The other is Tuszyn which is where Isador married Hannah Lewin. Below is a little bit about each of these places. I also included a little bit about Lodz, the administrative capital of these places. All of these were located in Galicia noted to be the poorest area that Jews came from as the Jews from LIthuania and Latvia looked down upon their Galician brethern. [6]
Bialek
In Poland, at the turn of the 20th century, there were two places called Bialek. Which one was the one that Isador was born in? We can only guess, but I am making this guess based on the proximity to Tuszyn. As of this writing, I cannnot find any historical information about Bialek. However, we do know if was considered a village in the administrative district of Gmina Gorzkowice, within Piotrków County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It is approximately 41 miles south of the regional capital Łódź. [1] [2]
Tuszyn
Although Jews started settling in Tuszyn in the 17th century, by 1897 only 589 Jewish people were living there. This was 36% of the population of Tuszyn. Among the Jewish population, some owned distilleries, a couple of doctors and barber-surgeons. By the end of the 19th century, there were six Jewish cheders (schools). If they wanted to, parents could send their children to a state school, but they preferred their own, [3]
Łódź
Because there is little to no information about Bialek, I want to provide a little history about Lodz since it was considered the capital of the administrative disctrict (Voivodeship [4]) containing both Bialek and Tuszyn. In 1793 there were only 11 Jews living in Lodz but that grew to 259 Jews by 1820 and by 1897 there were almost 99,000 Jews. In 1820 the first synagogue was erected. The Jewish Cemetery operated from 1811 to 1892. It was destroyed during WWII, however.
According to The Virtual Jewish World:
“Lodz fell under Russian control in the 1820’s. During this time, Jewish factory owners, merchants, bankers, industrialists and blue-collar workers played an important role in developing Lodz’s economy, and the city became an important industrial center. Restrictions were placed on settling and owning property in the city, as well as selling liquor. The restrictions eased when it was announced that in 1827 Jews could buy building sites and could build and own homes in certain districts. The Jews, who could live in the city had to assimilate, i.e., speak Polish, French or German, send their children to general schools and forgo wearing traditional Jewish clothing. In 1848, the Czar of Russia lifted the limitations on Jewish settlement in Polish cities. Decrees in 1861 and 1862 abrogated the concept of a separate Jewish Quarter in Lodz. Some Jews settled throughout the city, although many decided to remain in the former Jewish quarter, “Alstadt.” An orthodox synagogue, the Alte Shul or the Stara synagogue, was opened in 1860. Renovations took place in 1897, it was burned down in 1939 during the Nazi occupation of Lodz. A reform synagogue opened in 1883. The wealthy, Jewish factory owner, I.K. Posnanski oversaw its construction. At the time, it was the largest structure in the heart of the city and was known as the “Great” Synagogue. It too was burned down in 1939 during the Nazi occupation. A third synagogue, the Vilker Shul, was opened in 1899 and was demolished in 1939 with the rest of the synagogues.”
One interesting fact about Lodz is that it was an important part of the textile industry and by 1914 Jews owned 175 of the textile factories there. [5] I find this interesting since Isador Rothman was a weaver.
