Parks
Vacation travel was a luxury beyond the means of most of Baluty’s residents, but that did not stop them from seeking refreshment and adventure. When they wanted a change of scenery, they turned to the natural areas and parks close to home.
Baluty’s children could discover nature through summer camps organized by Jewish congregations or the city administration. Held in the nearby villages, these camps introduced children to…activities …. Sometimes the residents of the Jewish quarter made the hour’s trek to the Łagiewniki forest, northeast of Baluty. Today, Łagiewniki is incorporated into Lodz and is the largest urban forest in Europe.
Mania Goldberg would often relate her early childhood misadventure in the Łagiewniki forest. When she was about five or six, she snuck out with a couple of her little playmates to go blueberry picking there. Separated from her friends and lost for hours in the big, scary forest, she was finally rescued by an old peasant woman who took her back home. At that point, the whole neighborhood was already searching for their missing child….
Green spaces were notoriously scarce in Lodz itself. Each year, the municipal government planted thousands of shrubs and trees, but these quickly died because of the industrial waste in Lodz’s groundwater . The city did manage to maintain several parks. Some of these, especially Kolejowy (Railroad) Park near the train station, became regular haunts of the Baluty Jews. Nonetheless, poor Jews (and Gentiles) were not welcome in the more affluent private parks.
Starting in 1937, the Julianów Park became one of the favorite spots for the inhabitants of the northern districts of the city. Julianów was a beautiful space for walks in every season and for water sports in the summer. There Lodz’s Jews could escape the stench and filth of their everyday environs. On their first date, Mania and Zanvel took a long walk through Julianow. During their courtship they often returned there, especially during the summer, when they could enjoy boat rides in the ponds
