Morris Kirsch

Click to enlarge

As April is the month in which we remember the Holocaust, we are featuring an oral history of Morris Kirsch recorded in 1994, shared by his daughter Sarah (Cerka) Kirsch. As Congregation of Moses sponsored the Kirsch family's arrival in Kalamazoo, their history is a part of the CoM history.

"Born in Rachowa, Poland in 1913, Morris Kirsch was the middle child in a family with five other siblings, among whom were two brothers, Isic and Naftola, and two sisters, Tova and Ruchel. His father Zadic owned tailor shop in Rachowa, and he sold clothes to local farmers, who, in turn, would sell them in the marketplace. Rachowa was a small village in Poland with a population of only five-hundred, one-hundred of whom were Jewish. In Rachowa, Morris attended an orthodox Jewish school called Heder until the age of thirteen; thereafter, he worked at home with his parents tailoring clothes. Morris does not recollect having a very happy childhood; many of his memories of early childhood in Poland bring to mind the poor conditions in which he lived (seven family members living in a one-room apartment), the meager rations of food at home and the Anti-Semitism that was prevalent in Poland." Find the rest of the story, including videos, here.

Mr. Kirsch’s story is recorded at the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills, MI. Visit the website to search for this and other oral histories at https://holocaustcenter.org.