One kind of chapter I often come across in Yizkor books, and have
published here before, is a compendium of Yiddish nicknames or sayings
that were popular in a town or region. These are yet another prism for
getting a feel for daily life. Such is the case with "Nicknames in
Chrzanow," a shtetl in Poland that's a little less than 40 miles >from
Krakow. So, you learn that "knaytsh" was a tavernkeeper who served beer
on credit on the Sabbath, since he wouldn't take any money. And a
"kozemashin" had its origin in the business of an enterprising Jew who
came up with the idea of bringing a booth with a stove and sold "roasted
potatoes and chestnuts, drew apple wine with seltzer >from a copper jug,
and most impressive, had a sort of roulette game- a wheel with a wooden
stork in the middle."

URL:
https://www.facebook.com/JewishGen.org/posts/1964870333535112

Bruce Drake
Silver Spring, MD

Researching: DRACH, EBERT, KIMMEL, ZLOTNICK
Towns: Wojnilow, Kovel