New long(er) read essay, by Dr. Heidi M. Szpek!
One of the most prominent features in the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Bialystok, Poland is a massive black granite pillar commemorating the scores of victims of the bloody pogrom that took place in June 1906 and two massacres that took place in 1905. An article on the web site of the Museum of Jewish Heritage called the 1906 pogrom “a violent reprisal against the labor movement by Russian authorities in the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905 to 1906.” At the time, the city was in the Russian Empire and Jews made up a large majority of the local population.
Thanks to the US nonprofit Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund, the pillar has been beautifully restored, and an inauguration ceremony will take place on August 11.
In this long-read article on the 118th anniversary the pogrom, the cemetery’s historian Dr. Heidi M. Szpek takes us on a deep dive into the history of the monument, the fruit of nearly 20 years of research. She has discovered who planned and erected the pillar and — almost — resolves the mystery of just when it was installed. She also provides a timeline of its history.