The first large demonstration of the Bund in Praga on May 1, 1920, the march of about 2000 Jewish workers, made us very happy. But this same success also greatly interested certain others—the Polish police and the government. Their assault on our organization came quickly.
Suddenly, one night, when the Bund Club was closed and no one was around, a large contingent of police arrived. People referred to them ironically as “canaries,” because of the light yellow stripe on their hats. The police broke into the club and wrecked everything, breaking tables, chairs, filing cabinets—anything it was possible to break. They scattered and tore up all our papers, including the books in the library—and then left a notice that this location was being “requisitioned.” The Praga Bund was left out on the street, homeless.
When we found out about the destruction the next morning, we, of course, felt great pain and anger. But on that same day we began working to restore the Club. First we established an office for both the Bund and its affiliated unions on Ząbkowska Street, one of the centrally located streets. Committee meetings took place in the private residences of our Praga activists, and after a short time the Bund’s organizational work was reestablished.
We began looking for a new location for the Club. This was no easy task. Many landlords were afraid to rent to the Bund. After much searching, however, we finally found a landlord willing to rent us an apartment at 19 Ząbkowska Street. The house was a dilapidated wreck. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds. Around the courtyard stood old neglected cattle stalls. They were willing to rent us this wreck of a place, where no one wanted to live, except for very poor folk. We rented the whole fourth floor, containing a number of rooms. Here we could even set up a large meeting hall for larger assemblies and readings. But the apartment itself was even more dilapidated than the rest of the house. Its walls had long not seen a living soul.
Nevertheless, we were very happy with this “bargain.” We had found a new home for the Bund in Praga. We began to refurbish our new location. We did almost everything ourselves. Our carpenter comrades did the carpentry work and our painter comrades painted the rooms. At the end of 1920, we reopened the new Bund Club on 19 Ząbkowska Street.
It remained the headquarters of the Bund’s work in Praga during the whole duration of independent Poland.