According to Jurek Francuz: The Piaskowski family were shoemakers. There were two sisters: Rachel and Rushka. The older sister, Rachel, was in school with Jurek. There was a brother, Leib, who was friends with Judy Muratore's grandfather, Menasha Przedecki. The sisters escaped Klodawa and were in Bialystok with Jurek Francuz and Michael Pizer. There were no survivors at the end of the war.

Note: A Schmulek Piakowski was in school with Yurig. He was not Jewish, survived the war, and stayed in Poland.

EMAIL FROM DAVID KRISS 01AUG2015: Dear Judy, I hope this is your correct email address. I was surfing around some genealogical sites and came across your Klodowa tribute. On my father's side,the family of my grandmother Ginny were from Klodowa and indeed their family name, Piaskowski appears on your list of names. http://www.klodawatribute.com/NamesFrameset.html Since this was first time that I had ever seen corroboration of the family history I had collected, I was quite excited by this discovery. I've copied below a passage from the Kriss (formerly Krys) family history which is also the Piaskowski history that I know of. By the way, Ginny married Avram in 1912in London but I don't know exactly when they left Poland. I hope you find this useful. Thank you for putting together this lovely tribute to your family. It gives me some sort of connection to my own. Best wishes, David Kriss "Today’s Kriss family are the offspring of two families: the Kriss and Piaskowski families. The Kriss (originally ‘Krys’) family came from Gostynin while the Piaskowsky family came from Klodowa. Both these villages or townships are situated near the larger town of Kutno (where another part of the Krys family also lived). According the map, the Kutno area is about 100 miles west of Warsaw. We know that at some point before WWII the Piaskowski family moved to Warsaw because Jack and Morris remember sending mail to Ginny’s (David’s grandmother) family at: Ulitzakrufelska 29 Gub Warscawa Avram’s (in Hebrew Avraham Eliyahu – David’s grandfather) father was called Reb Moshe. Despite the Reb, we’re not sure if he was really a rabbi. By all accounts he was a mixture of a traveling salesman and a barmitzva teacher. Gerry remembers being told that he did a lot of traveling and was rarely at home. He seems to have been something of a bad apple. We do not know Ginny’s father’s first name. David and Cecilia (David’s mother) remember her saying that he was some sort of steward for a Polish landowner. David remembers her saying that they never lacked anything at home but Jack says that that both sides of the family were, ”as poor as church mice”. Jack remembers his grandmother on his mother’s side being called Leah. Ginny and Avram were second cousins. On the Kriss side, Avram’s known siblings were : Sadie and Fanny – who emigrated to London. Fanny married ‘Kopel’ and Sadie married someone quite well off. As far as we know, neither had children. Zelig – who emigrated to Buenos Aries. Another sister – whose name we don’t know, who emigrated to Chicago and became a furrier. Rosie – Gus Swerner’s mother, who also emigrated to England. Harry also mentions a married sister living in Kutno who was married to someone called Leib Menche. On the Piaskowski side, Ginny’s known siblings were: Sarah – Reverend Nat Bergeman’s mother Sam - who emigrated to England, changed his name to Kosky and had a shoe shop[ in Stratford, London. His son was called Ralph and he had radio shops in Bournemouth. Mordechai – who remained in Poland and, as far as we know, perished in the Holocaust. Ginny may have had other siblings. David remembers her crying over the relations she lost in the Holocaust. As for the children of this generation in Poland, Harry talks of meeting two teenage cousins when he went to Poland in 1925 – Chava and Hershel (Mordechai’s children). There was rumour that Hershl escaped the Holocaust by escaping via Romania. Avram, who was always a frail and sickly man, seems to have left Poland, mainly to escape army service. He was apprenticed to a jacket maker while still in Poland and recalled that as part of his apprenticeship he had to throw out the chamber pots of his employer’s family!"

PIASKOWSKI VITAL RECORDS FROM KLODAWA TOWN HALL 1942 [provided by B. Ganczyk]:

KLODAWA VOTER REGISTRATION 1931 FOR PIASKOWSKI [provided by B. Ganczyk]:

EMAIL FROM BARBARA GANCZYK REGARDING PIASKOWSKI 01AUG2015: I have a verbal debriefing about Piaskowski apprentice shoemaker who had seen him before being sent to Chelmno. It was published in "Job.s Children " in the year 2000.

Tadeusz Ropelski, now deceased Klodawa citizen told a story different from the above academic description of rituals: 

During my work for shoemaker Mordke Piaskowski I got to know some Jewish rituals. 

The Jews were really tidy. Once I made a joke to my foreman and cut my sausage, which I had for breakfast that morning, with his new, sharp knife. I left one slice on the knife. He did not touch the knife ever again, because it was tref. The meat eaten by Jews must have been kosher. They did not eat pork. Other animals must have been killed in an appropriate way. The sheep was hung legs up, its throat was than shaven and cut with a single move by a qualified butcher who was saying a prayer at the same time. The meat of animals failed to be killed that way was sold away for pennies. The qualified butchers were specially trained. 

My foreman was a Hassid, religious Jew who strictly followed the rules of Torah. He had side locks and did not eat pork. His son, who was taught to become rabbi after father was growing side locks too. During the occupation, however, such a famine became for Jews that they ate everything. My foreman, after they were all rushed to the church asked me for some food. I had nothing else but the meat from the pig that died on dysentery, who Germans sold for cheap money after pouring some boiling water on it. The foreman had no fear for The God anymore. 

FROM BARBARA GANZCZYK 01AUG2015:

KLODAWA BIRTH RECORD OF RACHEL-FAJGA PIASKOWSKI. BIRTH: 29NOV1919. RECORD BOOK: 1942.

19NOV1941: GERMAN RECORD OF "TONNINGEN" GERMAN RENAME OF KLODAWA OF ISRAEL PIASKOWSKI.

EMAIL BARBARA GANCZYK 01AUG2015:

09AUG2015 EMAIL FROM DAVID KRISS: Dear Judy, Apologies for not replying earlier to your various emails.It was indeed interesting to see so many Piaskowkis in the various records.And somewhat chilling to see somebody from my extended family in the German records. The story from the local non-Jew on how his Jewish neighbours were keeping kosher and were later forced to eat anything they could get their hands on was also harrowing and moving. Thank you so much for sending me all this and also please pass on my sincere thanks to your Polish contact in Klodowa for her help. My grandmother Ginny (Gnandle) Piaskowski was born in 1892 and by 1912 married her second cousin Avram in London.I couldn't see her name or Lea, the (possible) name of her mother in any of the lists but that could be because my branch of the Piaskowskis had moved either to Warsaw, the UK and beyond before those census records were made. In any event, I've been going over my documents and discovered another family recollection that might interest you which I'll post below You're free to use this unexpurgated or to edit it as you wish. Unfortunately I have no photos of the "heim" though. With best wishes and many thanks, David (see recollections below):

"In 1925, when Jack was 6 and Harry was 8 or 9, Avram fell ill and the doctor recommended that he return to Poland where he was more familiar with the climate (!!). This sort of thing was apparently quite common at the time. Consequently, the entire family sold up whatever they had and traveled back to Poland, steerage class. Gerry was a babe-in-arms and Jack remembers him relieving himself on his (Jack’s) head at some point on the train ride back to England.

Jack has two recollections of the time – approximately one year – that they spent in Poland. With the Piaskowskis (in Klodowa or in Warsaw?). One is of watching a Catholic religious procession. As it passed, a policemen asked Harry to remove his cap and when he hesitated the policeman struck Harry across the face, sending his cap flying. The second is of waking up in the middle of the night and seeing the wall covered with beetles!!"