Krzysztof Bielawski of Virtual Shtetl reports that three former synagogues in southern Poland — in Grybów, Bobowa and Józefów Biłgorajski — have received financial support from regional authorities toward their restoration and refurbishment. The sums are not huge, but they help.
On February 24th, he reports, the Regional Assembly of the Małopolskie Province adopted a bill allocating PLN 3.5 million (more than $1 million) to the the province’s Monuments’ Protection program, which will be distributed this year among 131 projects.
As part of this, PLN 30,000 was allocated for the synagogue in Bobowa, currently maintained as a synagogue visited by religious pilgrims and where ongoing restoration work recently uncovered wall paintings, and PLN 45,000 for the refurbishment of the derelict synagogue in Grybów. (We posted earlier this month on the condition of and threats to this building, including a series of deliberately set fires.)
In Józefów Biłgorajski, Lubelskie Province, the Municipal Public Library is located in the former synagogue. Krzysztof reports that the town council and the library management have raised about. PLN 90,000 from the local council and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for the restoration of the synagogue and the purchase of new equipment.
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