Mazel tov to Piotr Figieli who has been named the new director of the Old Synagogue museum in Krakow — a branch of the Krakow City Museum.
The Museum announced his appointment in a Facebook post.
Figiela, a graduate of the Institute of History and the Department of Judaism of the Jagiellonian University, is a curator of the Krakow Museum and a co-author of numerous publications dealing with Jewish heritage and history in the city.
“His exceptional interests and enthusiastic contribution to research on the socio-political history of Jews in Krakow until 1939 provide a solid basis for leading the Old Synagogue branch,” the museum’s announcement said.
The gothic Old Synagogue, the oldest preserved synagogue in Poland, was built in the 15th century the rebuilt in 1570 by the Italian builder Mateusz Gucci, who gave it a Renaissance form. Further changes were made over the centuries. During the Holocaust, the Germans used it as a warehouse; its interior was ruined, and its vault collapsed in 1944.
It underwent restoration in 1956–1959 and the Jewish history branch of the city museum was established there in 1958.
Take a virtual tour of the Old Synagogue museum