Aaron Kriwitsky oral history interview

Mr. Kriwitzsky came to America with his wife and five children in 1921 after his village was demolished during WWI. He joined his father and family who had settled in Hartford in 1906. Since he had been an experienced Hebrew teacher in Poland, he was able to find work at different Talmud Torahs, first on Bellevue St., then on Pleasant St., finally on Nelson Street where he taught for 30 years until he retired in 1960. The first shul he attended was on Winthrop St., and then he attended the one on Garden St., which was built by Morris Sheketoff.

Mr. Kriwitzsky was a cantor for 12 years at Rabbi Lindenthal’s [Teferes Israel] shul. He described the development of the Yeshiva through the efforts of Rabbi Eisenberg who came from New York. Mr. Kriwitzsky was very active in the Yeshiva as well as in Zionist organizations. He spoke about Abraham Goldstein, who was a leader of the shul on Bellevue St. and also published a Yiddish newspaper during the years 1940-1945 called Tzeit (The Times), and Mr. Kriwitzsky, who was also a poet, had several poems printed in the newspaper. He also had a book of poems published by a firm in Tel Aviv when he went to Israel on a trip. He read a few of his poems in Yiddish on the tape. His daughter, Mrs. Edith Gittleman has translated them into English.

Play with transcript in OHMS Viewer

1972-08-13

01:00:23

Interview conducted in English

Kriwitsky, Aaron

Cohen, Emma Pearlstein

M5 Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford Oral History collection

Hebrew language

Jewish education

Copyright Undetermined

Compact audiocassette tape

Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut

Oral histories