A decorative tray for various types of dishes. It is circular, with a narrow collar with a turned-up edge. In the mirror of the tray, there is an engraving in the form of a simplified flower, and the floral decoration indicates the decorative, not ritual, character of the object.
The tray was made in the factory "Brothers A. and I. Zolberg Factory of Silver and Plated Goods". The Zolberg brothers specialised in the production of cutlery and tableware. In comparison with competing companies, their factory was characterised by good quality products at more affordable prices.
Between 1910 and 1939, the Zolberg brothers' workshop operated in Warsaw at 11 Gęsia Street, on the corner of Zamenhofa Street. Gęsia Street (today Anielewicza Street) was the heart of pre-war Muranów. It was not a beautiful street in the aesthetic sense, but it was constantly bustling with life for residents and visitors. Trade, especially textile trade, which lasted almost around the clock, gave the street its rhythm. Large, medium and small-scale goods were traded all the time - as they used to be called.
Before 1939 the State Gymnasium for Mosaic Religion Teachers was located in Gęsia Street. You can read more about the structure of Jewish education on the Virtual Shtetl website: https://sztetl.org.pl/de/tradycja-i-kultura-zydowska/historia-zydow-w-polsce/szkolnictwo-zydowskie-w-ii-rp-cz-1-warszawa (date of access: 14.09.2021).
In the tenement house at 6/8 Gęsia Street was located the last hospital of the ghetto, created after the great liquidation action. The previous inhabitants had already been taken to Treblinka; there was not much time to make room for the hospital, so furniture was thrown out of the window, getting rid of the last keepsakes of the inhabitants... The most crowded rooms were those in the infectious diseases ward (many typhoid patients) and the surgical ward (traces of gunshots).
In the 19th and early 20th centuries funeral processions used to line Goose Street. If the deceased was rich, crowds accompanied him on his last journey. The street froze, shops were closed, as Szmuel Lejb Sznajderman wrote: "The constant chase for money stops for a moment. As soon as the cart with the body moves away, passers-by fearfully reach into their pockets to check whether the pickpockets have not accidentally taken out their wallets. The horses, covered in black canvas, are advancing step by step. The horses' eyes, moist with mute sadness, glare through the holes they have cut out. Those closest to them place their hands on the black caravan, hoarse cries come out of their throats" (J. Zieliński, J. S. Majewski, "Spacerownik po żydowskiej Warszawy" [Walk around Jewish Warsaw], Warsaw 2014, p. 311).
Object donated by Michał Kulisiewicz.
Natalia Różańska
