Asa Hadas talks about Hadasa (Glibter) and Yitzhak Hamburg
An English resume of an interview in Hebrew that took place in Israel, as a part of the Polish Roots in Israel Project. Interviewee's name: Asa Hadas. This life-story is based on the memories of Shmuel Hadas (Hamburg). Given by Mr. Asa Hadas Hadasa and Yitzhak Hamburg's grandson. Address: Yesod Hama`ala, Israel Tel: 04-6937155
Hadasa (nee Glibter) Hadasa was born in 1875 in Zamosc, Poland. Her parents were Miriam (1850) and Elkana Glibter (1849). She was the firstborn child and had seven brothers and sisters: two names were forgotten, Etel (1878), Azriel (1880), Rachel (1885), Zvi-Chaim (1886) and Ita (1888). One of Elkana's brothers was Yitzhak and he was a doctor. Hadasa's mother Miriam died during the birth of Ita and Hadasa raised her. Her father Elkana was influenced by the spirit of Enlightenment. The Yiddish writer Y.L. Peretz used to read his new material to Elkana at home before he brought it to print. Zamosc was one of the cities which were influenced by the Enlightenment and Education in the late eighteenth century. The famous Jewish historian, Ettinger, was also one of the city's residents. He too was devoted to Enlightenment. Elkana was one of the mainstays of the Jewish community of Zamosc. He was a very religious man. However he was a liberal as well: in those days, women did not attend school but he sent his daughter Hadasa to study at a Russian high school and she got a high school diploma and also learned French and German. She knew Yiddish, Polish, Russian, French, German and Hebrew. It was highly unusual for girls to be so educated and know several languages. She loved reading books. She used to read till late at night. Hadasa was a religious but liberal person.
She knew how to adapt religion to the times. Her children remember that in Warsaw on Lag Ba'omer ( a Jewish festival) the whole family went with the Hashomer Hatzair (The Young Guard – a Zionist youth movement) on a trip. When she was 70 years old in Palestine, she used to listen to the sports broadcast on the radio on Saturdays, so she would have a subject in common with her grandsons. In 1897 Hadasa married Yitzhak Hamburg. Yitzhak Hamburg Yitzhak was born in Hrubieszow. His parents were Israel and Lea-Pua Hamburg. His brothers and sister were: Aharon, Pesach, Moshe, Marcus, Zelig and Regina. Sam - Aahron's son (Yitzhak's nephew) immigrated to Palestine and studied at the agriculture school in Mikve Israel and then went on to study agriculture at Berkley University in the USA. The original family name was Limon, but his grandparents wanted to avoid the draft into the Russian army and changed it to Gamburg in Russian, which is Hamburg in Polish. Yitzhak's family was not religious. They were Zionists. They spoke Yiddish, Polish, Russian and Hebrew.
zhak studied at elementary school until the age of 13 and then started working. He became an accountant. Yitzhak and Hadasa got married and moved to Chelem where their two oldest sons were born: Feivel (1897) and Moshe (1899). After a few years they moved to Warsaw, where their two youngest sons, Abraham (1905) and Shmuel (1908) were born. Yitzhak didn’t like religious education. When his sons turned five he did not want to send them to the Heder. He and some Jews from Warsaw, Fogtzov and Kaplan, established a "children village". The pupils studied bible without head covering and learned Russian and other secular subjects. When the pupils graduated from the "children village" they went on to the elementary school, Hatchia. Yitzhak was not religious and his wife Hadasa respected him, as he respected her, for her beliefs. He used to pray only for her benefit. He was a dedicated Zionist, so when they lived in Warsaw and the Russians forbade all Zionist activity, he established the group Sha'arei Zion (Gates of Zion) disguised as a synagogue, where he and his friends used to gather and discuss Zionism, Palestine (Eretz Israel ) and anti-Semitism. They used to invite emissaries from Palestine and Zionist politicians on Jewish Holidays. When the authorities came to check up on them, they used to improvise a marriage or a Bar Mitzva ceremony.
Sometimes Yitzhak and Hadasa acted as bride and groom. They spoke Hebrew at home as a second language. They used to read Zionist newspapers: Hayent (Yiddish) and Hazfira (Hebrew). They often hosted Zionist emissaries from Palestine in their home, sometimes for a week. They were known as the "Hamburg group". On Saturday evenings, their sons used to read the stories of Shalom Aleichem and Y.L Peretz at the dinner table. Hadasa used to sing Hebrew Zionist songs to her sons about Palestine, songs of Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) and the first Aliya(the first wave of immigration to Palestine). Three of their sons studied at the Hebrew high school in Warsaw. Feivel continued studying at Zamosc high school and lived with his grandfather Elkana. The sons had two graduation diplomas: Hebrew and Polish. When Feivel was 17 years old during the First World War, he arranged the defense of the Jewish neighborhoods from the anti-Semitic attacks by Poles.
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