Ran Kislev (Weksler) born in 1927 in Częstochowa about his life
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An English resume of an interview that took place in Israel, as a part of the Polish Roots in Israel project.
Interviewee name: Ran Kislev (Weksler)
Ran was born in Częstochowa, a city that is sacred to the Catholics. The Jewish population was a large community in the city, estimated at about 40% of the population.
Ran studied in a private Jewish elementary school under the directorship of Dr. Axel. He did not study Jewish subjects and it was forbidden for the students to participate in Zionist youth movements. The lessons were conducted in Polish and all the teachers were Jews. His father, Moshe Weksler, was born ~ 1890, in Częstochowa. As a descendant of a well-to-do family, he was the co-owner of a factory that manufactured various bicycle parts and exported them to England. The financial situation at home was very good, and his average income at the time amounted to about 1000 zloty, which was five times the average salary at the time. His brother Romek Weksler was the owner of a factory that manufactured toys. His mother, Rivka Weinreich, was also born in Częstochowa and was the daughter of a family of rabbis. Ran also had an older sister, Genia Weksler, born in 1923. Upon her graduation she was immediately sent abroad since there was the risk she would be arrested, together with many of her classmates for being involved in communist activities. Eventually she reached Belgium, and moved to France with the breakout of WW2, married a Frenchman and died in 1956.
When WW2 broke out, Ran's parents decided that they had better distance themselves from the border and moved to Radomsko, about 30 km. east of Częstochowa. As soon as the German aerial attacks started, the parents decided to leave for Warsaw. A few days after their arrival they heard a rumor allegedly originating from the mayor of Warsaw to the effect, that it would be best for women and children to leave the city. So Ran and his parents once again were on the road, walking eastward till they reached Kovel (situated today in Ukraine). Three days after their arrival the city was taken by the Red Army. Quite miraculously his father was nominated director of a textile manufacturing plant. Ran believes that he got this job owing to his connections with Jewish Communists. The plant was situated in Sokal; and so the family moved there.
The town was divided between the Russians and the Germans. They led an uneventful and peaceful life until one night in July or August 1940. Three people arrived, a civilian and two soldiers. They told them to get out of their apartment, loaded them on a truck and drove them to the railway station. They boarded a train which transported them in locked carriages until they reached the river Volga. Upon their arrival the carriages were unlocked, and they were given food to break the hunger they suffered from during the journey. The train kept going till they were unloaded in one of the gulags in the taiga of Sibirskaya Oblast.
The labor camp they were sent to, had been constructed by Russian political prisoners. Upon the arrival of Ran's detachment, the prisoners were transferred to another place while Ran and his parents and the others took their place. The camp was considered a "special settlement," which meant that it was populated by families; people were allowed a certain freedom of movement in the vicinity, as long as they did not venture too far from camp. There were three camps in the area, about six kilometers apart. One camp was in the taiga, where its inmates were employed to fell trees, which were then transferred by tractors to the river. Another camp was situated near the river and its prisoners were in charge of preparing the trunks for transportation down the river; and the third camp was in between, and it was responsible for the maintenance of the tractors that dragged the trees to the river.
Moshe Weksler worked there as a mechanic, taking care of the maintenance and repairs of the tractors. Inside the camp there were barracks for about 20 families each; they were the only Jewish family in their barracks. There were quite a few Polish children of the same age as Ran (about 13 years old). One of their favorite pastimes was to gather in one of the rooms and Ran would entertain them by telling them stories from Sienkiewicz' trilogy. There was very little food available and they were hungry most of the time. The children used to look for food – fish from the river and potatoes from the nearby kolkhoz. On one occasion Ran and his mother were caught gathering ears of corn. They were taken to the main camp of taiga: his mother was detained and Ran was allowed to leave. About half an hour later a policeman came and released her too. As it happened, a Russian parole committee arrived in the camp, acting on behalf of the agreement that was reached between Russia and Sikorski's government in exile to the effect that Polish citizens who were detained or exiled would be pardoned and allowed to settle in certain areas.
Administrator dołożył wszelkich możliwych starań, aby prezentowane treści były prawdziwe i aktualne oraz nie naruszały praw osób trzecich,w tym praw autorskich, jednak nie może tego zagwarantować.Dlatego błędne informacje na stronie internetowej nie mogą być podstawą roszczeń. W przypadku jakichkolwiek wątpliwości prosimy o kontakt na adres: sztetl@jewishmuseum.org.pl
