We are saddened by the death of the New York-based businessman and philanthropist Sigmund (Zygmunt) Rolat, a key figure in the post-communist revival of Jewish life and heritage in Poland, who has passed away aged 93.
A Holocaust survivor from Częstochowa, in southern Poland, Rolat in recent decades supported many Jewish heritage and cultural projects, organisations, and initiatives in Poland.
He was a major funder and one of the co-founders of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and he co-chaired the American Friends of POLIN Museum.
Other projects and organizations he funded included the Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow and the Singer’s Warsaw Jewish Culture Festival.
Born in Częstochowa on July 1, 1930, Rolat was particularly attached to his home town and served as founding President of the World Association of Jews of Częstochowa and Their Descendants.
“Without his efforts, our World Society and its five Reunions in Częstochowa would never have happened,” the organization said on Facebook. “He was the major force behind the creation of the Częstochowa Jewish Museum and the preservation of Jewish heritage sites in the city.” Rolat was also a patron of the Częstochowa Philharmonic.
Rolat’s parents and brother were murdered in the Shoah. He survived in the Czestochowa ghetto and later in the HASAG Pelcery labor camp. He emigrated to the United States in 1948, and eventually established an international finance company.
Among his many awards and honours were two of Poland’s highest honors — the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Poland Reborn, for his efforts towards fostering Polish-Jewish dialogue, granted in 2013, and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit, awarded in 2008.
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life — may his memory be a blessing!