by tskzOn 14 June 2023, as part of the commemoration of the National Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of German Nazi Concentration Camps and Death Camps, an official unveiling of the renovated wartime tomb of the Jewish Intelligentsia murdered by Nazi occupants on 20 March 1934 took place.
The event hosted by the Częstochowa Branch of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland, was attended, among others, by the representatives of the Embassy of the State of Israel in Poland, municipal and local authorities, as well as members of local associations and foundations forming The Old Town –New Life Partnership for Local Activity.
Mr Alon Goldman, Chair of Union of the Jews of Częstochowa in Israel, expressed his gratitude for preservation of the memory and burial sites of the Jewish community.
Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska, a member of TSKŻ Częstochowa, who chaired the meeting, thanked for the educational campaign addressed to young residents of Częstochowa, which included, among others, cleaning works at the Jewish cemetery.
I am taking this opportunity to express my gratitude for your kind understanding and contribution to preservation of the memory and conservation of a historical site, and for your courage, tolerance, and organising living history lessons for local young people at the Jewish cemetery. This cemetery is the last palpable remnant of the cultural heritage of the Jews of Częstochowa – said the Chair of our Częstochowa Branch.
The next part of the event consisted in granting thank-you notes to representatives of the nine local schools, which took part in an educational campaign including tiding-up of the historical Jewish Cemetery in Częstochowa. The 2-week campaign was conducted the Municipal Department of Education, TSKŻ Częstochowa, Adullam Christian Foundation and Częstochowa Town Mayor’s Social Consultant for Jewish Community Affairs, Ms Jolanta Urbańską, under the Honorary Patronage of Mr Alon Goldman.
The school coordinator of the educational campaign was Ms Iwona Brzezowska, the Principal of General Władysław Anders School Complex in Częstochowa.
At the end of the first part of the event, the participants lit candles at the gravestone commemorating local members of the Jewish Combat Organisation [i.e. ŻOB] and other civilian victims of the Częstochowa Ghetto on the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Little Ghetto. The candles were lit by Ms Elena Lagutin, Director of Public Diplomacy at the Israeli Embassy in Poland, Mr Alon Goldman, representatives of the Municipal Office and members of TSKŻ. Rabbi Szychowski then took the floor and concluded his speech by saying a prayer for the victims of the Częstochowa Ghetto.
On behalf of the victims’ families, the Caddish was recited by Alon Goldman, followed by the prayer Ana Bekoach sung by Mrs Monika Kamela, accompanied by Mrs Ludmila Kosterecka.
After a moment of silence, when the trumpet song “Śpij kolego” [“Sleep Well, Buddy”] was played, and the delegations and flagbearers proceeded to the place where the ceremonial unveiling of the restored tombstone of the Jewish Intelligentsia took place. The ceremony ended with the laying of flowers.
