Poland: Mazel tov! 23rd annual Preserving Memory Awards honor more than a dozen non-Jewish Poles who preserve, promote, and care for Jewish heritage and culture and promote Jewish-Polish dialogue

More than a dozen non-Jewish Poles in central, eastern, and southeastern Poland were honored this week  for their work in preserving, promoting, and caring for Jewish culture and heritage in Poland and promoting Jewish-Polish dialogue.

Their awards marked the 23rd edition of the annual Preserving Memory awards, which were established in 1998 by the American lawyer Michael Traison, who spends part of the year in Poland. Over the years more than 260 people, mostly volunteers and mostly from small, far-flung towns, have been honored for activities ranging from cleaning up Jewish cemeteries to running Jewish museums to carrying out school projects on Jewish history and memory.

Usually the awards are presented at a ceremony at the Galicia Jewish Museum during the annual Krakow Jewish Culture Festival. This year, since the onsite Festival was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum has announced the awards on its web site day by day over the past week.

In this video, Traison recalls how he established the awards and reiterates why he believes they are important recognitions:

 

This year’s awardees are:

Maryla and lreneusz Czubakowie

Krakow, Lviv

Maryla and lreneusz Czubak have for many years been involved in helping Jewish communities in Ukraine, commemorating the heritage of Polish Jews and fighting anti­semitism. In 2014 they established Fundacja Polania, an organization that supports Jewish families living in Lviv and the surrounding area, providing funding for kosher kitchens and the organisation of Jewish holidays. Their foundation is also involved in maintaining Jewish cemeteries. The Czubaks are also active in Poland, particu­larly in Krakow, where they organize and co-organize commemorative, cultural and edu­cational events. Their activities are dedicated to helping Christians of different denomi­nations to educate themselves about the important contribution of Jews to Polish cul­ture and raise awareness of antisemitism as an evil and a danger. 

 

Agata Goralczyk, Magdalena Goralczyk and Malgorzata Goralczyk

Przasnysz

Three sisters born in Przasnysz – Agata, Magdalena and Ma}gorzata G6ralczyk – have been involved in the protection and restoration of the Jewish cemetery in their home­ town. Cooperating with Jewish organizations in the U.S. and  in Poland, including the Foundation for Preservation of the Jewish Heritage in Poland and the office of Chief Rabbi of Poland, they have made the effort to restore the dignity and respect of this site. Magdalena and Ma}gorzata, who live in the U.S., supported this project financially, and established contact with other potential donors. Agata G6ralczyk, working in Poland, conducted uneasy negotiations with representatives of local government, and persuaded the local community, who were often reluctant. Thanks to her efforts it was possible to re-establish the prewar boundaries of the Jewish cemetery.

 

Several activists with  “Ławeczka Dialogu” – a local association aimed at pro­tecting and promoting the multicultural traditions of Janow Lubelski — were honored:

Justyna Flis

Janow Lubelski

Justyna Flis works in the Regional Museum in Janow Lubelski. She is a co-founder of “Ławeczka Dialogu” a local association aimed at restoring the memory of the pre-war, multicultural society of the town. As a member of the association and a museum worker, she was directly involved in organizing ceremonies and events connected with the visit of the descendants of Jews from Janow Lubelski. She was also a co-editor and author of “Sztukmistrz Janowski” – a special newspaper issued during the Jewish Festival “Sladami Singera” organized by Brama Grodzka – NN Theatre from Lublin. Moreover, Justyna Flis popularizes knowledge about the Jewish history and heritage of Janow Lubelski in her everyday work as educator, local guide, photographer and organiser of workshops and art contests on Jewish subjects.

Antoni Florczak

Janow Lubelski

Antoni Florczak, owner of the local Museum of Photography in Janow Lubelski, is a co-founder of the “Ławeczka Dialogu” association, established in 2018 to remember the Jewish community of Janow Lubelski, to protect local Jewish heritage, and to edu­cate the local community about Jewish culture. In his museum he organized the exhibi­tion “Israel: Heritage of Innovation” created by the Israeli Embassy in Poland. Working with the association he promotes diversity and multiculturalism, and reminds us about the multi-ethnic and multi-religious past of his home town.

Urszula Łukasik

Janow Lubelski

Urszula Łukasik is a co-founder of “Ławeczka Dialogu” – a local association aimed at pro­tecting and promoting the multicultural traditions of Janow Lubelski and the area. As an educator, and teacher of history in local high schools, she used many opportunities to promote the ideas of tolerance and coexistence of different cultures. She co-organised an exhibition about the history and present of Israel and a meeting with descendants of Jews from Janow Lubelski, now living in Israel. For many years she has worked with chil­dren and youth discovering the Jewish past of their town and region; she organised edu­cational activities relating to multiculturalism, Jewish tradition and culture, and the lite­rary works of I.B. Singer. Besides her work with school students, she is a local activist working towards dialogue and mutual respect: she has organised an art contest, a day of Jewish cuisine, commemorations of important anniversaries and cele­brations of holidays; she guides groups and individuals to sites connected with former Jewish residents. Additionally she is an amateur photographer, documenting sites of Jewish interest.

Zbigniew J. Nita

Janow Lubelski

Zbigniew J. Nita, historian and journalist, explores the pre-war and wartime history of Jewish communities of Janow Lubelski and the area. As a fan of I.B. Singer’s novels, he wrote several articles on this subject. Zbigniew J. Nita is also a photographer, and author of the photographic exhibition “Czas prawie zapomniany” [”A Time Almost Forgotten”] documenting Jewish cemeteries in Poland, and the exhibition “Zydowski Kazimierz” [”Jewish Kazimierz”] presenting the heritage of Jewish residents of Kazimierz Dolny, pre­sented in the local synagogue. Zbigniew J. Nita is also the originator and co-founder of the local association “Ławeczka dialogu,” working for the protection of sites of Jewish inte­rest. He explains: “We established the association on 17 December 2018, from the need of our hearts and for history. The history that for many years was erased from social memory, concealed; history not taught in schools, with its material remains being des­troyed and forgotten then and now.”

 

Tomasz Kocur Malec

Tarn6w

Tomasz Kocur Malec was born in Sdziszów Małopolski. From an early age he showed an interest in history, but for many years was not aware of the Jewish history of his town and region. In his childhood he was tasked with looking after his two siblings with disabili­ties. Both of these circumstances had a profound effect on his current activism: promo­ting Jewish historical  remembrance and teaching  students with special  needs. As a teacher at a special school in Jasło, and at the juvenile reform school in Zbylitowska Gora (near Tarnów), Tomasz Kocur has been working with adolescents with learning difficulties. He began to introduce Jewish history and culture to the curriculum in special schools. In 2008, Tomasz Kocur founded the ‘Antyschematy 2 Foundation, for which he now serves as president. His organisation focuses on educational activities related to Jewish culture and history, remembrance projects, as well as cleaning and documenting neglected Jewish cemeteries.

 

Ewa Krychniak

Sokółka

Several years ago, Ewa Krychniak, a teacher from Sokółka, initiated the monument commemorating the local Jewish community – it stands on the site of the synagogue. In 2016 she published her book “Oswiata i kultura zydowska Białostocczyzny okresu mi dzywojennego i jej wyniszczenie podczas ii wojny swiatowej” [“Jewish education and culture in the Białystok region in the pre-war time and its annihilation during WW2″]. Ewa Krychniak also wanted to commemorate Lea Perelstein, born in Sokółka, who fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In November 2016 she initiated the cleaning of the local Jewish cemetery – this action is repeated on a regular basis, and the work are still in progress. Ewa Krychniak managed to encourage volunteers to assist with this pro­ject: employees of local museum, teachers, school students and their parents. Then – with the help of a local charity association – she was able to collect funds to buy equip­ment and hire professionals to cut the vegetation. She now plans to record and document the gravestones that were covered by thick vegetation. Ewa Krychniak explains: ”I’m doing it for those buried here, but also for the young generation to know that Jews were our neighbors.”

 

Pawel Kulig

Łódź

Pawel Kulig takes care of the New Jewish Cemetery in Łódź at Bracka Street – one of the biggest Jewish cemeteries in Poland. Together with a group of volunteers – ‘Guardians of Memory’ – he regularly cleans the cemetery. “Guardians of Memory are people who have the city of Łódź in their hearts and understand that people buried in the Jewish cemetery formed the wonderful history of our city. They work to protect the historical and cultural heritage” – he says. Additionally he is in contact with the descendants of Jews of Łódź around the world: he helps them to locate their families’ graves and to search the archives for information about their ancestors.

 

Gabriela Poliwczak

Dubienka

Gabriela Poliwczak is a town councillor (tenure 2018-2023). Besides her work in local government, she is involved in collecting information and promoting knowledge about Jewish residents of Dubienka. Together with local scouts she initiated the cleaning of the Jewish cemetery in Dubienka. In the local community she also brought up the subject of returning matzevot found in private properties to the Jewish cemetery. Gabriela Poliwczak was involved in creating an exhibition devoted to the Jewish community of Dubienka.

Katarzyna Winiarska

Teremiski/Białowieża

Katarzyna Winiarska is a cultural producer and works in the Jacek Kuron Educational Foundation. Together with Danuta Kuron and Pawel Winiarski, she directs the Common University of Teremiski. She organizes workshops for children and teenagers, and coor­dinates the “Teatr w Stodole” theatre in a barn in Teremiski. She created the Virtual Museum of the History of Jewish Community in Białowieża, and initiated the construc­tion of a monument commemorating 77 Jewish victims – boys and men aged 16-45 from Białowieża – who were murdered on 10 July 1942 by the German occupation forces at the gravel pit in the local forest. The unveiling ceremony took place on 11 August 2019, attended by a group of 30 descendants of Jews of Białowieża from the USA and Israel, with whom Katarzyna Winiarska made direct contact in previous years.

 

 

The awards are sponsored by the Michael H. Traison Fund for Poland, the Galicia Jewish Museum, the Jewish Community Center JCC Krakow, Sigmund Rolat, Emile Karafiol z”l, the World Jewish Congress.

Click here to see a PDF brochure about this year’s awards, and a list of all the other honorees, starting with the first edition in 1998