Laurel of Memory award statuettes, waiting to be presented in 2015. Photo: FODZ
At a ceremony May 15 at the POLIN museum in Warsaw, the Israeli Ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, will present the annual “Laurel Crown Award” to five Polish citizens/groups involved in the preservation of Jewish memory and heritage in Poland. The award, established in 2015, is presented in partnership with the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODŻ).
This year’s honorees include:
— Catholic Bishop Mieczyslaw Cislo, initiator of Polish-Jewish dialogue and head of the Polish Episcopate’s Commission for Dialogue with Judaism, active in the 2015 letter to Catholic Poles urging them to care for their local Jewish cemeteries
— The King Sigismund Augustus Regional Society of Knyszyn whose members cleaned the local Jewish cemetery, built an access road, and created an information plaque and tourist guide to the Jewish cemetery, available online
— The Jewish Lapidarium Society in Wronki whose members renovated the local Jewish cemetery by installing hundreds of matzevot fragments in a lapidarium built on the cemetery grounds with the help of prisoners from the local prison
Design of the Wronki lapidarium
— Dariusz Fodczuk of Bielsko-Biała, activist in the promotion of Jewish and Israeli art and culture in Poland through workshops, student exchanges, exhibitions, and performances by Israeli artists
— Council member Mr. Piotr Piłasiewicz of Augustów, who secured Jewish tombstones found in the town, assured their return to the Jewish cemetery grounds along with a commemorative ceremony, and launched an educational initiative for Augustów citizens.
The “Laurel Crown Award” is one of two awards presented annually to Poles who protect, preserve and/or promote Jewish heritage, culture, and memory. The Preserving Memory award, founded in 1998, has to date honored more than 230 people, organizations, or institutions.
