LUDWIK ZAMENHOF

Customers who went to the grocer´s in Muranów on December 15th 2009 instead of minced meat, greens and sauerkraut could ask for  bova muelitajo, legomoj or acida brasiko.

 

 

And in the fashion studio - for pantalono or robo – which means for pants or a dress.
 



 


Cards with names of more than 200 products in Esperanto appeared in three retail outlets - atelier Joanna Klimas at 2 Nowolipki  Street, Christopher Kalbarczyk’s butcher´s at 3/5 Anielewicza Street and grocer´s Rogamex the at 13 Zamenhofa Street. Entrepreneurs were invited to participate in the event by the Esperanto club in Warsaw  and Museum of the History of Polish Jews, who,  in this way,  wanted to draw attention to the 150th anniversary of Ludwik Zamenhof´s birth.



 

The creator of Esperanto lived for many years at today´s Zamenhofa Street, which at that time was Dzika 9 (nowadays at Zamenchofa street 5 there is a post-war block with a commemorative plaque), close to the Ghetto Heroes Square and Museum of the History of Polish Jews created just next to it. It is where he created his most important work "Lingvo Internacia" ("international language"), published in 1887 under the pseudonym Dr. Esperanto (meaning "with hope").It is also where he practiced ophthalmic and where he died on 14 April 1917 and then was buried at the Jewish Cemetery at Okopowa Street.
Zamenhof was born on December 15th, 1859 in Podlasie region - in Białystok, which later he recalled as followed¨: "this is the place of my birth and childhood, Bialystok. It gave direction to all my efforts. (...) In such a city, more than elsewhere, sensitive nature feels the burden of plurilingualism and concludes at every turn that the difference of languages is the only or at least the main reason that divides the human family into two hostile sides”. He came from a large Jewish family - he had eight siblings (the youngest three were already born in Warsaw). He inherited his linguistic talent probably from his father - Mark, who came to Bialystok from Tykocin to give private foreign language classes and incidentally met his future wife - Rosalie Sofer. Then he opened a school for Jewish girls, "Tora ba dereh Erec”, where he taught  German and French.
In his early childhood little Ludwik was already noting into his notebook phrases incomprehensible to others, working on the "lingva universala", which is an artificial language (unfortunately, when he went to medical school in Moscow to meet the expectations of his family, all records were destroyed by his father, who wanted at all cost to discourage his descendant from the little profitable hobby.) If you believe the sources - at the age of 14 Zamenhof had already mastered six languages. As a ten year old boy he wrote a drama “The Tower of Babel”, a Bialystok’s tragedy in five acts, which reflected the language differences  in this multinational city.  In 1879  young Zamenhof  finished his work "Lingva universal”. After returning from his studies Zamenhof got an unpleasant surprise findning out that a German priest Joahim Martin Schleyer had already developed a new common language ´wolapik´ and published a work on it (Schleyer claimed that he had done it ordered by God himself),. Two years after the publication of esperanto, there were 316 wolapik manuals in 25 languages, 283 clubs and 25 newspapers. Afterwards there were 200 thousand active esperanto users, primarily in Europe and America. After the release of "Lingvo Internacia" wolapik was gradually replaced by a much easier to learn Zamenhof’s esperanto.

In his life we can distinguish two Warsaw stages. First - since 1873, when he moved here with his family and began to attend the Second Middle School of Government. Second - since 1881, when after the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II and the threat of anti-Semitic extermination in Russia, he gave up his studies in Moscow and returned to Poland. Here he finished his medical training and specialized in ophthalmology. He got engaged to Klara Silbernik and, due to the support of his future father-in-law, published his groundbreaking work. Then Mr. and Mrs. Zamenhof lived on Przejazd Street no. 9.  In order to support his family Ludwik went briefly to Kherson in Russia, then to Grodno. That did not help much and after he returned his father-in-law and Clara's father helped them again financially – thanks to them they could rent a flat at 9 Dzika Street, where Dr. Esperanto opened a private practice. Fortunately, the result of previously published work exceeded all expectations, even those of the author himself - in different countries Esperanto clubs arised and magazines in new international language were published. In 1905 in Boulogne-Sur-Jun in France first World Congress of Esperanto was held. Zamenhof was given the Légion d'Honneur. 
At that time, Dr. Esperanto was working on a new idea - a universal religion, which would bring the Jews closer to other nations. "Stand brotherly and equally with others on the foundations of a neutral utility for  brothers. A Jew in Warsaw does not have to become neither a Pole nor a Palestinian. Let them be humble Polish citizens. In this way, they´ll be memberS of the Hebrew community and humankind. Using the neutral and international language would unite all the Jews in the world "- he wrote in his first book devoted to this topic, published under the pseudonym "Homo sum". He wanted to create a social movement, based on a tolerance, peaceful agreement with the followers of all religions . This idea called homaranism (from the words in Esperanto: homaro - mankind), derived from the teachings of the philosopher Hillel (1st century BC) did not find wide recognition. "Homaranism is a science which without distracting human beings from their natural homeland, their language or their religion, gives the opportunity to avoid all the falsity and  opposite statements in their national religions, rules and ways of communication with people of all languages and religions on the neutral human foundations with the principles of mutual brotherhood, equality and justice"- wrote Zamenhof. He also wanted to establish a colony in an uninhabited part of the world where there would be an independent Jewish state. 
In 1913, the candidature of Zamenhof was put forward  for the Nobel Prize. The author renounced all the corresponding rights, giving Esperanto to the use of all human beings. Zamenhof died 14 April 1917, his tomb is located at the Jewish Cemetery at Okopowa Street. 


The memorial plaque on a building at ul.5 Zamenhof, where once  Dr. Esperanto´s house was located

In 1930 a part of Dzika Street was renamed Zamenhof to his honour. Before the war that part was known for its excellent kosher restaurants, such as "At seventeen" (No. 17) and "Rajsa" (No. 58). Nowadays this street belongs to the Jewish Memorial Tract. There is also Esperanto Street in Muranów district.
Ludwik's son, Dr. Adam Zamenhof (Leon) was a known ophthalmologist. On September 6th, 1939 he became the head of the Orthodox Hospital in Czyste, and then its director. In the early October 1939, Gestapo burst into the hospital and arrested Dr. Zamenhof. Having beenTransported to the camp in Palmiry, he was executed on January 29th, 1940.