Sources: Alon Goldman

During 13th-15th July 2026, a group of students from the United States, as part of the Bennett and Robin Greenspan L’dor V’dor Legacy Program, came to help clean up our Jewish Cemetery in Częstochowa.

The group was led by Dr. Paul Radensky of the Jewish genealogical organization JewishGen, Dr. Dan Oren of the Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland, Rev. Dr. Steven Reece and Dr. Jerry Ann Carlsberg, in collaboration with the Association of Czestochowa Jews in Israel, the Fundacja Chrześcijańska Adullam and the Fundacja Pamięć i Odnowa w Częstochowie.

A major project for our entire group, which numbered eight students, four tour guides and two additional volunteers, was to transfer countless branches and trunks of felled trees, which had been cut down by students and volunteers earlier this year, to the wood-chipper, which that had been brought in to reduce the volume of vegetation accumulated in the cemetery.

Under the remote guidance of Alon Goldman, from Israel, and led by one of our archaeologically- minded students, the team took great care in meticulously sorting and removing the debris that covered a mass grave near the entrance to the cemetery
This is the completely destroyed mass grave of the five victims of the pogrom in Częstochowa on 28th May 1919. 

Above the photograph of the tombstone erected for the victims of the 1919 pogrom as found in a Yizkor Book

Below: (left) the location of the remains of the tombstone as found by Alon Goldman two years ago and
the borders of the grave after it was uncovered by the students.

Among these tasks was cleaning several tombstones, including those of Chaim Dow Ber Sztencel and Michał Besserglik.

In order to better familiarize themselves with the history of Częstochowa Jews, one day the group visited the Częstochowa Jewish Museum, which was opened especially for them. There, they were guided by historian Wiesław Paszkowski.

The work in the cemetery left a great impression on the young students
and turned them into ambassadors for the preservation of Poland’s Jewish heritage.