It was hot on Sunday in Łódź, Poland, but a dedicated group of volunteers — mainly high school kids — worked enthusiastically to clear part of the vast Jewish cemetery of undergrowth and saplings.
It was one of the regular clean-up sessions organized by the Guardians of Remembrance (Strażnicy Pamięci) Association, which works to preserve the Jewish cultural and historic heritage of Łódź — in particular the cemetery, which sprawls over more than 40 hectares.
The Association’s Chair, Paweł Kulig, received the 2020 POLIN Award presented annually by the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw to “individuals, organizations and institutions which are actively engaged in the preservation of the memory of the history of Polish Jews.”
Also in 2020 he received the Preserving Memory Award, granted each year to non-Jewish Poles who care for Jewish culture, heritage, and memory.
We post regularly about the many volunteer Jewish cemetery clean-up initiatives that take place around Europe — including several round-ups a year. So it was a rewarding experience to go to one of these actions!
Here are some photos and a video. In the video, Kasia Jelen from the Guardians of Remembrance Association describes the initiative.
The clean-up was taking place in the Ghetto Field section of the cemetery, where people who died in the WW2 Łódź Ghetto are buried.
Read about Pawel Kulig winning the 2020 POLIN Award
Read about Kulig receiving the Preserving Memory Award