A merica apish periodical Cotter fr oey, September 27, 1946 URKA DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle Page Fifteen NACHOLNIK JETWHISEHSTROORBYINOHFOAOD By LIBBY L ZARITSKY Pavlova was born to dance. Shakespeare was born to write. Beethoven was born to compose. But Urka Nacholnik—Urka Nach- olnik was born to pick locks. Urka was born in Warsaw in 1895. His parents were wealthy nd planned to give their son lerything that money could buy. hey anticipated a professional future for their first born. What profession? "Medicine," said his grandfather. " L a w ," said his father. "Teaching," said his moth- er. Little Urka lay serenely in his crib and listened patiently to the heated argument. He double crossed them all. He became a crook. At first Urka did not know where his talent lay. He just knew that schoolwork was not for him. He couldn't undertsand arithmetic. He couldn't remember history. He didn't enjoy literature. He would sit in class and play with the watch his father gave him for his ninth birthday. Once the watch stopped running. He took it apart, marveled at its intricacy, poked his little fingers here and there. The watch began to tick. A schoolmate's watch broke. He fixed that too. Then his interests broadened. He found his father's straight edged razor. Was that too intricate in Its makeup? An investigation fol- lowed. He plied at the razor with his nails, with a knife, with a file until he succeeded in rough- ening the edge. The next day, the sight of his father's bleeding face and the touch of his mother's hair brush put an end to the in- vestigation. His interest reverted to watches. Urka did not continue his edu- cation in the gymnasium. He went Instead to a school for mechanics. Theory bored him. But practice— he could fix anything. He tinkered with machines. He tinkered with automobiles. And finally, at 1?, he began to tinker with locks. He took his studies seriously. When he managed to open all the locks at school and at home, he began looking for new, fertile fields. Warsaw abounded in storehouses. At night, when people had gone to bed, Urka would slip silently out of the house and wander about the deserted factory dis- trict. The next morning business- men were greatly surprised to find the doors of their warehouses open. e fr CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, 01110 Then Urka fell in love. He was a tall husky youth. His face was large and ruddy. His voice was loud and booming. And the object of his affections? A petite young lady with a small, angelic counte- nance. She was the daughter of the city's leading lawyer and traveled in refined, cultured cir- Iles. Urka strove to make a good Impression. He even managed to wangle a dinner invitation. The fateful evening arrived. Urka put on a new, blue suit. He perfumed his hair. At dinner he kept his voice at an unusually low pitch. And then he saw the cabinet. The cabinet was locked but with a lock the likes of which Urka had not yet encountered. It was made of gold and was elab- orately designed. It seemed to be three locks in one. Urka could not resist the temptation. When the guests retired to the drawing room, Urka set to work. Deftly his fingers turned the knob right. A click. Swiftly his fingers turned the knob left. A click. A circular motion and the lock flew open. Urka succeeded in his task—but, succeeded also at being caught in the act. The romance shattered, Urka took stock of himself. He was wasting his life away on foolish pranks. If he could open locks so easily, why shouldn't he avail him- self of the material that lay be- hind the locks? The next eight years he did so. He organized a gang. They held up banks and robbed the wealthy. They broke Into warehouses. They acquired great wealth but Urka never kept his share of the spoils. He gave the money to the poor. He felt that he was duly compensated by the success of his ventures. To the rich he became public enemy No. 1, to the poor he became the reincarnation of Robin Hood. Then Urka was caught and im- prisoned, but there was no damp- ening his buoyant spirit. He picked the prison locks and aided the other prisoners to escape. Him self—he was willing to serve out his sentence. Time dragged. Urka became bored. He had to find a new outlet for his gargantuan energy. So he started to write. He wrote about the life that he and Best Wishes to All Miriam Slobin Esther Slobin Harry Singer Norman Singer NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS Seward Hotel Real Estate ROSH 9306 WOODWARD GREETINGS RA. 8030 New Year's Greetings ENTERPRISE HEAT AND POWER Distributors of ENTERPRISE AND HEIL OIL BURNERS WALTER CYTACKI 9127 Conant TR. 1.9019 DETROIT, MICH. 1 2423X1-01X820042/ Bud Sampson SAMPSON'S SUPER MARKET Abe Sampson Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri. — 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. Thurs., 8. 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And finally Urka Nachol- nik, Poland's new literary protege, was pardoned. But Nacholnik had lost the zeal to write. He returned to his par- ents' home and resumed his tink- ering with machines and auto- mobiles. Then in 1939 Poland was in- vaded and enslaved. And Urka, together with his fellow Jews, was Imprisoned in the Ghetto. Once again, Urka began tinkering with locks. He organized a new gang— a gang that harassed the Nazis. At night they filtered out of the Ghetto and broke into the store- houses. The next day the Jews would be properly fed. They raid- ed the warehouses. The next day the Jews would be warmly clothed. Dynamite would be shipped into Warsaw. That night the bridges were blOWn up. And Urka devel- oped a new talent—the talent of silent, swift murder. He resolved a Nazi a month and a Nazi a month it was for 18 months. The nineteenth month Urka was captured. How he was killed no one knows. Where he was buried no one knows. But rumor has it that the Nazis Invented an un. pickable lock and fastened it to Urka's coffin. To this day not one of his disciples has managed to open that lock. Urka might have. But then—Urka is dead. ty:tatsoormoatia-aa-aos:saa-aa-acKPCKIsna-aain - aat:Ma**00-ia-aa-C A VERY JOYOUS ROSH HASHONAH TO ALL . C 2 RtC FISHER'S WAL! PAPER s PAINTS * *rop , J. W. PATTERN WORKS itie 7742 WEST DAVISON 5840 WOODWARD AVE. ottoo(NXIIMIX1** zeir TRINITY 1.4500 H>4:too-cgitmatH,ixti:Hxsm*