The history of the Nowomiński Family

Written by Ziv & Izhar Izhaki

Draft | May 2021, Israel

Early history
The narrative of the story is focused on Gitla Sztokhamer-Nowomiński, born on 12
October 1924 (also called Gittel, Gitale, Gutcha, Gutka, Gutanka), the daughter of
Yehoshua-Dov Nowomiński, born on Rosh-Hashana, 5 September 1898 in the city of
Maków (Passed away on 7 January 1979; also called by his relatives Yehushua-Dov,
Shiverl/Shye'Burl, Burl, Berl, Berek, Szyia, Jeoszua Berek).
Yehoshua-Dov, told Hannah (Gitla's daughter) that in the past, the Nowomiński
family's last name was "Mida" which means - "good values / good measures".
In Israel, Yehoshua-Dov used to meet a relative named Julio Nowomiński, who lived
in the Haifa area. Julio researched the family lineage, and wrote a genealogy, according
to which, the ancestors of the Nowomiński family lived in Spain; his research supports
the fact that the family's previous name was "Mida."
The Mida family of Spain was engaged in the timber trade. The family lived in Spain
until the period of the 1492 Jewish Expulsion, the deportation from Spain under the
Alhambra Decree. The family migrated to France. One of the ancestors of the family
arrived the Russian city of Minsk. He was a wealthy Jew who continued the timber
trade (including managing forested plots and selling tree trunks for various purposes).
When the King of Poland invited Jews to settle and work in Poland - and even granted
them rights by the government - apparently for economic reasons, the Jews jave become
important actors in the commercial life of Poland.
The king realized that wealthy Jews could indeed benefit his country's economy with
their assets and skills. Therefore, he approached a group of Jews with thriving
businesses across the eastern border (Tsarist Russia) and offered them to immigrate to
Poland. This is probably how the family moved from Russia to Poland. With the
transition, the family name was changed to 'Nowomiński', which means: Nowo - new,
Minsk - from Minsk, that is, the new ones, originating from Minsk.
The family settled in the city of Pułtusk, about 60 km north of Warsaw, on the banks of
the Narew River, and continued in the timber business.
In the 1867, Yehoshua-Dov's father, Jakow-Lajb (Jakob-Leib, Jankiel), was born.
He later married Pesa-Fradel from Maków, born in 1864 (passed away in 1934). The
couple had five sons: Fichzel-Nathan, Meshulam (Shilim, Jzulim), Nahum,
Yechiel (Hayiel) and Yehoshua-Dov.
Deborah Fishman (daughter of Fishel-Natan, the eldest brother) told Hannah that
Jakow-Lajb would play the harmonica and violin (the violin was always placed on one
of the cabinets in the family's synagogue).
 Jakow-Lajb Nowomiński

The family owned and purchased forests that the workers cut down, gathered the trunks
into batches and sailed them down the Narew River, when the trees were finally sent to
Germany. The family estate complex (located southeast of the city of Pułtusk) included
a sawmill (the "Nowomiński Tartak"; there is still a street in Pułtusk named after that
factory), a flour mill, horse stables and a thriving farm that provided employment for
both the general Polish and the surrounding Jews.
Farmers also came to the estate and brought their agricultural produce to the place -
such as wheat for processing in the flour mill. Also, outside the city, in the Poplow area
- the family had vacation homes that they would rent during the summer for vacationers
who came from the big city of Warsaw and the surrounding area.
The Nowomiński family, unlike other families, had their own synagogue (their own
Torah scroll). The brothers lived in one building complex, with an apartment for each.
The members of the family conducted themselves while preserving their Judaism,
religion, culture, and customs - however – they were involved in the life of the wider
community, providing employment and livelihood to the Jewish communities and other
Poles in the area.
They kept the tradition of their ancestors and did not assimilate, marrying only Jews.
Documents obtained in the recent years, at the Zamek Hotel (The written document was written
by the Hotel's Manager, still remembering his grandfather's stories about the
economic contribution of the Nowomiński family)
Up until WWII
Relations between Jews and Christians in Pułtusk before the war (World War II) were
normal and they lived in cooperation and friendship. The General Polish population
respected the heritage of Judaism and did not prevent Jews from maintaining their
religious way of life. Most of Pułtusk's people were not as rich as the Nowomiński
family - people subsisted on trade jobs, small crafts and agricultural crops.
There were Jewish elementary and high schools, as well as schools of the local
population. Those who wanted to pursue higher education, went to study in the great
city of Warsaw. The Jews did not assimilate with the rest of the locals, but there were
many young people who turned to a secular-Zionist direction. Some of them
immigrated to Israel.
The Zionist movement was present and accepted among certain Nowomiński family
members.
The childhood of Yehoshua-Dov
As mentioned, Yehoshua Dov (Hannah's grandfather) was the youngest of five
brothers, and was born in 1898.
A selection of stories that Yehoshua-Dov (who had a healthy sense of humor) told his
granddaughter Hannah:
* When Zaida was small, he was curious to know what was in the harmonica that made
such beautiful sounds. When no one saw him, he took scissors and cut the harmonica
to see what was inside it.
* As a wealthy family, the family had a private Torah teacher for little Yehoshua-Dov.
The teacher – a Melamed - would come from the big city of Warsaw every Sunday for
the whole week and by Shabbat he would return home. One day, before anyone noticed
that the teacher had arrived - Yehoshua-Dov, who did not feel like studying and was
more eager for time off from school - grabbed him by the beard, dragged him into the
basement and slammed the door behind him. Yehoshua-Dov did not say anything and
probably everyone thought the teacher just did not come. The poor Melamed sat in the
cold caller for a day or two, until by chance someone opened the door to looking for
some groceries there, and to his surprise he found the frozen Melamed.
* The name of the mother of Yaakov-Leib, the grandmother of Yehoshua-Dov, was
Gittel (Gitla, the daughter of Yehoshua-Dov, is indeed named after his grandmother).
Old Grandma Gittel had lived a long time (105 years old) and Zaida tells a nice story
about her: in the last years of her life, she kept the cellar at low temperature, so they
could keep their stocks of food (potatoes, Carrots, onions, etc.). Since the young lads
(Yehoshua-Dov and his companions) would "steal" vegetables for campfires and
adventures from the basement - she would be on guard and not let anyone get close.
* At the entrance to the family estate, there was a small shack where the guard of the
estate had lived (the family referred to him as the "Strish"), with is elderly wife, whom
the family employed. One night, the young guys sitting outside (again - Yehoshua-Dov
and his friends) heard the old woman shouting at her husband who had come out of the
shack to dump his water (since the building had no toilets): "Yankel David! Be careful
that the dogs do not eat your best piece of meat!" And the group were overjoyed with
the funny event.
Yehoshua-Dov in the Polish army
Before Yehoshua-Dov was called up to join the Polish army, his father, Yaakov-Leib,
took him to a doctor, so he will inflict upon him some sort of disability, in order to
prevent him from being drafted to the Polish army.
It was decided to amputate one of his fingers. Yehoshua-Dov was already on the
operating table, when suddenly he jumped over the table and said that he would rather
to go to the army.

Yehoshua-Dov in his uniform

Indeed, he was drafted into the cavalry of the Polish army. He had a chestnut-colored
horse called Kashtan.
The horse Kashtan was smart and was very attached to Yehoshua-Dov. On one
occasion, Yehoshua-Dov and his horse were in some sort of prairie (an open area, far
from a settlement). Yehoshua-Dov was tired, he tied the horse, allowing him to eat
some grass and he himself laid down and fell asleep.
He suddenly woke up feeling the horse licking his face. He looked up at the sky and
saw that they were filled with heavy clouds and was about to burst into a storm. He
realized that the horse had woken him up to find shelter. He climbed the horse and rode
away.
In the Polish army, soldiers were drafted for three full years without vacations.
Yehoshua-Dov fought as a cavalryman during the war between Poland and Russia in
1920. In those battles, the soldiers of the armies would dig and shoot at each other's
army from the excavations. Yehoshua-Dov told Hannah like this: He thought to himself
– "why should I kill a man, that I do not know, who did not do me any harm personally,
and surely he has a family and children ?!" So, he decided to avoid aiming his rifle
towards the enemy, but to the horizon, towards the sky (not in the direction of the
excavations and tranches).
He remained a disciplined soldier but did not kill.
During the battles, the horses were
exhausted. So, it was necessary to
return them back home for recovery
and replace them with fresh horses.
They loaded the horses onto trains
and placed them side by side - but
because the horses were not
anchored to anything stable, many of
the horses (who were tired and
sometimes injured) could not stand
the journey and died during it.
Yehoshua Dov, proposed an
optimization proposal, according to
which: Large wooden beams should
be fixed along the length of the
caravan. The saddle of the horse
should be tied upside down - with the
saddle under the horse's belly, and
with the straps tied over the beam.
This way the horses will be held and
supported by the beam.
This proposition was accepted, and indeed thanks to it most of the horses survived the
journey and could be returned to the battlefield after recovery.
Awarded for this initiative, Yehoshua-Dov received a week-long vacation at home (a
very rare prize for a drafted cavalryman).
Gitla told Hannah that when it was learned that Yehoshua-Dov was coming with his
horse Kashtan on vacation, Chaja (Haicha) Benedon (Feiga Benedons's sister from
Ostrołęka, who was married to Meshulam [Jzulim, the father of Adash – Adam
Nowomiński] and Yehoshua-Dov's future wife), went out to meet him happily and
greeted him with apples.
(Note: The war ended after the Bolsheviks reached the outskirts of Warsaw. So the
English - led by Churchill - sent aid against the Bolsheviks).
Chaja and Feiga were the daughters of Wolf and Sarah Bendon, born in 1 September
1901, she and her family was a wealthy and privileged Jewish Zionist family, with real
estate that included residences of an entire district in the city of Ostrołęka.
Yehoshua-Dov married Chaja when she was 21 (probably in 1922). Preceded by this
marriage - his brother's marriage - Meshulam (Shilim, Jzulim) with Chaja's sister
(Feiga).
Gitla Sztokhamer-Nowomiński
Devoira-Gitla was born to the Nowomiński family (12 October 1924) in Pułtusk,
Poland (about 60 km north of Warsaw; she was born in a Warsaw hospital).
Gitla grew up among the extended family with all her cousins - because all the
Novominsky brothers (Yehoshua-Dov and his brother) lived together on the estate.
Gitla told Hannah that she always had a dog of her own. One of the dogs was called
Lalka ("dull", a mixed schnauzer female in black). One day Gitla sat outside crying.
The dog walked over to her and started licking her tears. When the dog saw that it did
not help, it ran to the kennel, dug in the kennel well and took out a musty bone which
she brought as a gift of encouragement to Gitla. Gitla was so happy she stopped crying
- she realized the dog had brought out the most precious treasure for hers.
When Gitla was 9 years old, she became very ill. Her father, Yehoshua-Dov, traveled
to Warsaw to one of the Rabbis, to consult with him. The rabbi suggested adding the
name Deborah to Gitla, and since then it has been called Dvoire- Gitla.
Gitla told Hannah that in the years before the war, the economic situation of the
Nowomiński family in Pułtusk was in decline, So not all members of the Nowomiński
family lived in Pułtusk at that time, some of the brothers (the sons of Yaakov-Leib)
expended their businesses because there was not enough livelihood for everyone on the
farm in this pre-war period.
Gitla in WWII
The escape
Every summer, Gitla used to stay with her mother Chaja (Haicha) during the summer
vacation in Ostrołęka (northeast of Pułtusk), in the cottages of her mother's parents (the
Benedon family). At the end of the summer of 1939, before Gitla returned for the
beginning of the school year in Pułtusk, World War II broke out: on September 1, 1939,
the Germans invaded Poland and within a week arrived in Warsaw, when the Polish
army was unable to cope with the German Blitzkrieg, a mechanized and modern
warfare, With considerable numerical priority.
In accordance with the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement signed a short time before the
war, Poland was divided so that the eastern half was destined for Russia and the western
half for Germany. Pułtusk and Ostrołęka were included in the area designated for the
German side.
At the outbreak of the war, Yehoshua-Dov was in Pułtusk. Being a very realistic man,
who predicted the conduct of the Germans (based on knowledge he acquired after
retiring from the Polish army in the years after the end of WWII) – and he decided the
he was not "ready to meet" with the Germans. When he heard about the war that broke
out, Yehoshua-Dov did not want to lose time in the face of danger, and made sure to
convey a message to his wife and daughter that he will be fleeing east and asked them
to follow him.
Before he left, he said goodbye to his father and received a watch from him that he kept
all these years.
Yehoshua-Dov crossed the border on bicycle, after registering with the Russians as a
carpenter. Shortly after the outbreak of the war (September 1939), the Russians
temporarily allowed entry of certain skilled and proffesional refugees from Poland, to
support their country. Yehoshua-Dov took advantage of this opportunity. In fact,
Yehoshua-Dov was not a carpenter at all and never did manual labor, since he was a
member of a wealthy family that employed workers and not its children. Later during
his work with the Russians, he actually "specialized" in hard and arduous work as will
be described later.
After Chaja received the message from her husband about his escape to the east, she
left her daughter Gitla at her mother's house (Sarah Bendon) and left Ostrołęka, heading
south towards Pułtusk, in order to collect valuables such as jewelry and silverware from
her home. (about 60 kms).
Unfortunately, Chaja arrived in Pułtusk on the day the Germans arrived, and at a
perfectly tragic time, Chaja met with the first German soldiers. It was a fateful
encounter: the Germans ordered Jews in her area to leave their homes, ordering men to
dig a huge pit, while shouting, beating and threatening with weapons. At sunset, Jews
in the area, including Chaja's acquaintances and possibly her relatives (babies, children,
the elderly, women, men - everyone), Were ordered to undress and stand naked on the
back of the pit. Then the Germans fired a barrage of bullets.
Chaja stayed alive, by fainting and collapsing into the pit, without being hit by any
bullet.
In the dead of night, she awoke covered in blood, above and around were her dead and
dying relatives and friends, moaning, tormented, dying.
She managed to escape from the pit and fled from there, naked, towards the house of
the Polish guard, who had been employed all his life guarding the gate of the
Nowomiński family estate. She was not mistaken in her judgment, that this man would
have done her a favor; in a dangerous venture – he let her in his house, put on his
clothes, harnessed a horse to a chariot (which belonged to the Nowomiński family) and
drove to Ostrołęka, to which the Germans had not yet arrived.
In Ostrołęka, at the home of Chaja's mother, Sarah Benedon - Gitla, then 14 years old,
was waiting for her mother; she planned to get back to Pułtusk at the end of her summer
vacation, before the start of the school year. But inseed, that same night, at dawn, Sarah
Bandon, Chaja and Gitla met and set out on their escape east, where Yehoshua-Dov
was waiting for them.
Gitla was dressed in a large garment into which a pillow was tucked, so that she had
looked humped and older; her head was covered with a large kerchief (‫ )ֿפאַ טשיילע‬to
maked her as old looking as possible (fearing the possibility that the beautiful young
girl would be attacked or kidnapped).
Chaja was able to take with her, among the few items she hurriedly organized before
setting out on an unknown journey, the relevant documents attesting to the ownership
of her family's assets in Ostrołęka. (Later, a woman named Zehava, the daughter of
Shlomo Katchor, a nephew of Chaja, said that wherever Chaja came to in Russia, she
used to bury the documents in an airtight bottle in the ground). Also, her mother (Sarah
Benedon) handed her a pair of family silver candlesticks.
Yehoshua-Dov, Chaja and Gitla finally met on the Russian side, and headed to the town
of Słonim. Sarah Bendon, Chaja's mother, joined too, with other family members. The
place is relatively close to the Molotov line - which is the border between the Russian
and German sides until 1941). Most of them did not continue east.
The 3 Nowomiński family members, Yehoshua-Dov, Chaja and Gitla, traveled as far
as Siberia, reaching the city of Barnaul.
The Russians offered the refugees who came from Poland to become citizens and
become Russians for any matter. Many of the Jews who came to Russia, however, did
not intend to stay there permanently, their goal was to survive the war and then return
to their homeland (Yehoshua-Dov and Chaja also did not intend to settle in Russia).
These Jews were accused of infidelity and unreliability and forced to move to distant
Siberia, where they had to work in hard manual labor.
It is known that two of Yehoshua-Dov's brothers reached Słonim.
Yehoshua-Dov corresponded with his brothers who were in the Słonim and asked them
to come to Siberia and stay away from the Germans as much as possible. He argued
that while there is not much to eat in Siberia, at least they are further away from the
Germans. He managed to get two letters from his brothers in which they said that they
had already gotten along - they have a place to live, work, etc. Since then, no one has
heard from them anymore. It later became clear that those who remained in Słonim
were finally murdered after the Germans invaded the Russian territories in June 1941
(Yehoshua-Dov regretted that he might not have pressured them enough and that they
did not respond to his pleas - for if they had come to Siberia like him, they would
probably have survived).
Life in Siberia
Yehoshua-Dov worked at a Siberian kolkhoz. Every day, at dawn (04:00 AM),
Yehoshua-Dov went out to work in the forests and would return home late at night for
a few hours of sleep.
A picture engraved in Gitla's memory of those days: her father comes home, washes his
only shirt, wears it while it is wet and sits down to dry in front of the fireplace.
Gitla enrolled in high school and began attending high school as did all Russian
children.
Gitla was thankful for the Russian people, accepting and sympathetic towards the
refugees; according to her story, the attitude of the teachers and students towards her
was impeccable: they helped her learn the Russian language, be absorbed, and integrate
into their country. They gave Gitla the feeling that she was one of them, and not an
alien.
A story that illustrates the kindness of the Russian people: Chaja told some strangers,
that her husband Yehoshua-Dov was from a very rich family. This rumor probably
reached the NKVD. One day, when Gitla was home alone, two men dressed 'formally'
knocked on the door and asked if her father was home. Gitla realized they wanted to
arrest her father. She burst into tears and begged not to be taken away from her father.
One of them, apparently his heart softened, told her not to worry because nothing would
happen to her father and reassured her. They left the place. When Yehoshua-Dov
returned home, Gitla told him about the secret police's visit. In retrospect, it turned out
that the good detective had dismissed the "case".
 Chaja and Yehoshua Dov Nowomiński

Israel Sztokhamer, Gitla's husband, recounts the story told by his mother-in-law,
Chaja: One day, on the way to school, Gitla saw a crowd of children near the school
fence. Gitla went over and saw a scary and huge dog, whose head was stuck in the fence
without being able to get it out. None of the children dared approach the dog. Gitla did
not hesitate and gently helped him pull out his head. Afterwards, the teacher praised
Gitla in front of the whole class for the rescue operation.
In Russia, during the war, there was a great famine. the food was rationed and measured
portions by coupons, given to each family according to its size. Gitla was shocked to
see Shiberal, her father, pull out of his mouth a whole healtyh tooth, without holes (due
to scurvy, caused by a prolonged deficiency of vitamin C).
Yehoshua told Hannah that every day, the workers would looked forward to lunchtime,
which was the only time when they had a hot meal during the grueling work day.
One day, an unbearably foul-smelling dish was served on the Stolova (the dining room
table, in Russian). Yehoshua thought these were boiled intestines of a dead horse - but
there was no complaining, as there was a danger that he would be reported on to the
NKVD as a "traitor."
So Yehoshua-Dov turned to a Russian friend who was sitting next to him and told him
that his wife had prepared him a good meal in the morning and he was still full of it,
and offered him his portion. He says that the friend "preyed" on the dish willingly. The
famine was severe.
Similarly, Gitla described that one morning, while walking to school, she imagined
what she would have done if one whole loaf of bread were in her hands. She thought to
herself, how she would allocate the bread so that it would suffice for the whole family,
at least for a few days.
While she was daydreaming, a truck passed her, carrying breadcrumbs for the residents
of the area. At the bend in the road, one loaf of bread fell from it and was thrown right
at its feet. Gitla snatched the loaf of bread and pressed it to her lap, but the other children
who went to school noticed this and attacked her, knocked her over and pulled the
precious loaf from her hands; Not only did she fail to have even a small piece of bread,
she was bruised, injured and her clothes were torn after a bitter fight over the bread,
which she eventually lost.
Another story: Gitla had a friend, a girl whose father was drafted into the battles at the
front. Her mother was left with ten children she had to support. The family apparently
suffered from severe hunger. The family also had a beloved puppy. One day the puppy
disappeared. That day the mother put a meaty lunch on the table. The only one who did
not eat the meat was the mother, this is because she cooked the family's dog, to give
food to her hungry children.
Intending to help and alleviate the difficult economic situation, Gitla decided to go to
work, so she stopped studying. Initially, she worked as an accountant. She enjoyed
working as a clerk in a pleasant office. At one point an employer decided to move her
to a different type of job within the same office. She was hurt by it and decided to
resign, as a matter of principle, without thinking about the consequences of losing such
a comfortable job in those days. She was left with no employment, and out of a
desperate need for a salary, she got a job in hard physical work as a grain combine
worker.
Later, when she would tell her daughter Hannah the story of her life, when it came to
the story of moving to work on the combine, she always warned against decision-
making based on strict principles and strict pride. This was because she herself acted
arbitrarily and it was a critical mistake that completely changed her life:
As is well known, in Siberia the temperatures in winter are very low - at -35 degrees
Celsius they still went to work in the fields. In one of the snowstorms, with almost no
visibility, Gitla got stuck while working on the combine, in a middle of the field, and
could not return because of the storm. She remained for a day and a half on the combine
and. When the storm subsided, she was found by a group of workers, completely frozen.
They managed to recover her by massaging her with snow, but one of Gitla's legs was
injured she had developed bone tuberculosis. She was only 18 years old and since there
was no penicillin available (penicillin was then sent only to the front) she was treated
with Sulfonamide, which did not help, and the tuberculosis continued to progress up
the leg. Gitla refused to have her leg amputated and declared that she would live or die
- with both her legs.
She signed on a consent form, to perform an experimental dissection to stop the
tuberculosis, without performing an excision. She underwent four knee surgeries to stop
the progression of the disease. The fourth operation was challenging, and she almost
died, so the doctors decided to stop the operations.
For three years was hospitalized while bedridden and receiving supportive care. The
surgeries left her crippled with a leg that could not be bent at the knee and was a few
inches shorter than the other leg. During this time Yehoshua-Dov taught Gitla to pray
from the Siddur, so she learned some Hebrew.
A villager instructed Chaja to squeeze clean carrots for Gitla, and put bandages of carrot
juice on the leg. Gitla thought that this action helped her.
After the war
In 1945, by the aftermath of WWII, the family returned to Poland, with Gitla carried on
a stretcher. The train ride lasted weeks, in a railroad car with no toilets.
The family came to the city of Łomża.
In Poland it became clear that the entire, extended Nowomiński family was gone –
murdered by the Nazis and their aids. The only known survivors were Yehoshua-Dov,
Chaja, Gitla and cousin Adam Nowomiński (Meshulam's son) who lived under a Polish
identity in Poland (see below).
Yehoshua-Dov and Chaja discovered that the family's assets were lost and plundered
by the Poles and Germans, and the real estate was nationalized and seized by the Polish
communist government. Anti-Semitism prevailed everywhere.
There were cases where Poles took over Jewish property and murdered those remnants
of the Jews who tried to return to their homes. For such people, surviving through the
horrors of the Holocaust was not enough, as they were encountered by the "new
owners" of their property. Yehoshua-Dov found out that one Jew-relative (a sibling-in-
law) returned to Ostrołęka, and found his ex-neighbors living in his house. They invited
him to dinner and offered him to stay at their house. That night while, the neighbors
beheaded the Jewish owner with an axe.
After learning of this event, Yehoshua-Dov did not even dare to stay overnight in his
hometown. He spent only one day in Pułtusk - and before dark, he returned to Łomża -
the city where the family lived after returning from Russia.
Yehoshua-Dov said that the only one who came out to meet him in Pułtusk, recognized
him and jumped at him happily, was one of the dogs that grew up on the family's estate.
Somehow, the dog survived the war and was already 18 years old or so, toothless and
slow.
At Pułtusk, Yehoshua-Dov had a sacred task to do; Yehoshua-Dov's father, Jakow-
Lajb, died of starvation and heartbreak on the last day before the ghetto gates closed,
"To the mass funeral of Jews who went out to accompany him on his last journey,
knowing that the next day they will no longer be able to walk freely". But it was
rumored to him, that his father, the late Yaakov-Leib, hid holy books in the courtyard
of the family estate - under the horse stables - before he was deported to the Warsaw
ghetto.
Yehoshua-Dov dug in the place where the horse stables used to be and indeed, revealed
to his amazement and joy that a Torah scroll and a Siddur from before the war were
left there, packed and protected. The Torah scroll made its way to Eretz Yisrael (the
city of Safed) with the Jewish Agency emissary, and the Siddur served the family many
years after that.
A big surprise and great joy filled the family when it was learned that a cousin, Dr.
Adam Yitzhak-Isaac Nowomiński, survived (before the war he was a friend of Dr.
Janusz Korczak).
Adam Yitzhak-Isaac met Gitla in Łomża and after seeing her difficult physical
condition, took her to the best orthopedic surgical professors. After a lengthy intensive
rehabilitation process, they managed to put her back on her feet when she reached the
age of 26 or so.
About a year later, Yehoshua-Dov met the cantor Israel Sztokhamer at the Nożyk
Synagogue (Synagoga Nożyków), the only surviving prewar Jewish house of prayer in
the city of Warsaw, and asked him to meet Gitla.

Israel Sztokhamer at the Nożyk Synagogue (Synagoga Nożyków)

They married by the 8th candle of Hannukah of the Jewish year 5709, and lived together
at the attic of the synagogue. Not long after, the family made Aliyah to Israel.
A family photo, from before WWII.
In the row where the elders are sitting: Jakow-Lajb Nowomiński on the far right, and
his wife Pesa-Fradel on the far left.
Standing behind Jakow-Lajb - at the far right, the son, Fichzel-Nathan. Behind are
(among the 3 men) Deborah Fishman and Lida Tovcha Srebro (Her sun, Uri, was a
professor of mathematics in Israel -
https://history.math.technion.ac.il/sites/inmemoriam/Uri-Srebro/).
In the last, top row on the left is Yehoshua-Dov, facing his brother.
A list containing some of the the family members, as mentioned in Janusz Szczepański's
The History of the Jewish Communities: Pultusk and Makow Mazowiecki powiats.