As printed, in Yiddish
National Library of Israel
The fire brigade's appeal, from the paper of 26 Iyar 5694 (11 May 1934) See it in the paper
Bring your dues to Mr. Birnbaum
Pruzhany's volunteer fire brigade, as the Pruzhaner Shtime reported it, 5694 to 5699.
Pruzhany was a town of wooden houses, and its fire brigade was made up of volunteers, Jews and Christians together. For five years the paper reported on them: their night calls, their meetings and their festivals, and the treasurer who kept asking the town to pay.
The fund is empty
Friday, 26 Iyar 5694 ·
אויפרוף!
The fire season is coming and the fire brigade's fund is empty. The vehicles and the equipment must be repaired immediately, the horses must be changed and the wells put in order. … So every resident must immediately bring the membership dues to the cashier Mr. Birnbaum, without waiting until someone comes to him.
The cashier was Eliyahu Birnbaum, the brigade's treasurer. Two years later the board printed his address, Pocewicza 33, and a line it would print again in 5698:
Friday, 23 Iyar 5696 ·
2 pairs of horses with barrels of water must stand ready day and night. … Remember that this is not charity but self-insurance of your possessions.
Sirens at two in the morning
The brigade answered for the towns around Pruzhany too. In Sivan 5694 it was called to Shereshev:
Friday, 25 Sivan 5694 ·
פרוזשאנער פייערלעשער ארויסגערופן געווארן קיין שערשעוו
At 2 o'clock on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday the town was startled by terrifying fire sirens. As it turned out, the local fire brigade had been alerted from Shereshev, where a fire had suddenly broken out.
Three years later, called to a great fire in Nowy Dwor, in Wolkowysk district, the firemen went by motor vehicle:
Friday, 9 Tammuz 5697 ·
פרוזשאנער פייערלעשער ארויסגערופן קיין נאווידוואר
They left by motor vehicle on Saturday at 2 in the afternoon and returned on Sunday at 11 in the morning. In connection with this a relief campaign was carried out in Pruzhany for the afflicted fire victims of Nowy Dwor.
The meeting of 22 Elul
In Sivan 5694 the paper printed Poland's new law on fire brigades:
Friday, 18 Sivan 5694 ·
דאס נייע געזעץ פון פייערלעשער ארגאניזאציעס
The new law is permeated by the tendency to introduce strict order and discipline into the fire brigade organisations, while ensuring a strong influence there for the supervisory authority.
That May the head of the district union of fire brigades had suspended Pruzhany's board, without giving a reason. For the general meeting of 22 Elul he sent a list for a new board that kept only one of its Jewish members. Dr. A. Goldfein spoke against it, and the meeting voted:
Sunday, 29 Elul 5694 ·
אנטיסעמיטישער פארשלאג אויף דער אלגעמיינער פארזאמלונג פון די היגע פייערלעשער
"If someone has something against the board," Dr. Goldfein called out, "let him not hide, but come and say clearly and openly what their sins are..." … With a large majority of votes, Jewish and Christian, almost the entire old board was elected
Eliyahu Birnbaum was among those elected, and he went on as treasurer.
Strażak against Strzelec
In Tammuz 5697 the brigade marked its thirty-ninth founding day. On the Saturday its football team, Strażak, three weeks old, played the Strzelec team. On the Sunday the firemen marched in new uniforms with their orchestra and banner, and showed the town how fast they were:
Friday, 23 Tammuz 5697 ·
פייערלעשער־פייערלעכקייטן
The result was 7:4 (5:3) in favour of the Strzelec players. The result is nonetheless satisfactory, considering that the firemen's team has been playing for only 3 weeks. … At 10.30 there is a practice alarm, and the firemen each rush to their assigned place, and within 3 minutes the operation is already in full swing.
Photograph
Pinkes fun finf fartilikte kehiles (1958), p. 141
The firemen's band on the market square during the German occupation of the First World War, from the town's memorial book of 1958. Its caption says the band played there by order of the German authorities.
Mazel tov from the brigade
The brigade greeted its members' family weddings in the paper, as families did. In Elul 5694 it wished its treasurer joy:
As printed, in Yiddish
National Library of Israel
Friday, 13 Elul 5694 ·
אונזער געשעצטן לאנגיאריקן w Prużanie
To our esteemed long-standing member and treasurer Mr. Eliyahu Birnbaum, on the wedding of his daughter Miss Nadia to Mr. Yaakov Reikherman: our heartfelt mazel tov and best wishes.
In Kislev 5699 the board greeted Avraham Selecki in the same way, on his daughter's wedding. He was the society's doctor and the manager of its orchestra, and in 5697 the brigade had made him a life member for forty years of work.
Forty years
In Tammuz 5698 the brigade turned forty. The day began at six in the morning with an examination:
Friday, 1 Av 5698 ·
40־יאריקער יובילעאום פון פרוזשאנער פייערלעשער געזעלשאפט
At 6 in the morning, first-grade examinations of newly joined firemen were held. Out of 28, 25 passed the exam. … After the exercises the deputy starost presented service medals to the devoted activists of the fire brigade Mr. Eliyahu Birnbaum and Lipa Zakheim.
Every spring the brigade's board asked the town for money. In Iyar 5694 its appeal was short: