Częstochowa TSKŻ Celebrates Purim
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Source: Asia Sidorowicz
On Friday, 14th March 2025, as each year, the festival of Purim was celebrated by the Częstochowa Jewish community, and its supporters, at the rooms of the Częstochowa branch of the TSKŻ (Social-Cultural Association of Jews).
A highlight of the evening was a concert of Jewish songs, “Purim Frajlach”, performed by members of the Jarmuła Band – Piotr Siekierka, Ireneusz Czubak and Paula Czubak.
The beautiful venue for the event, the TSKŻ social rooms, is in the same building as the Jewish Museum of Częstochowa,
located ul Katedralna 8, in the Częstochowa Old Town.
Częstochowa TSKŻ Celebrates Chanukkah
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Source: TSKŻ Częstochowa
As every year, Częstochowa’s Jewish community, as well as the city’s supporters of Jewish culture, took part in a celebration of Chanukkah.
The festival commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem and the subsequent re-dedication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.
The candle-lighting ceremony, a concert and refreshments were organised, in its social rooms, by the Częstochowa branch of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKŻ).
The beautiful venue for the event, the TSKŻ social rooms, is in the same building as the Jewish Museum of Częstochowa, located ul Katedralna 8, in the Częstochowa Old Town.
"A Bridge to Yesterday's World - Remembering the Jewish Residents in Today's Częstochowa"
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Sources: Małgorzata Kaim, Alon Goldman. Photographs: Juliusz Słowacki No. 1 High School in Częstochowa
The Juliusz Słowacki High School auditorium was the venue for the conclusion of the fourth year of the “Bridge to Yesterday’s World – Remembering the Jewish Residents in Today’s Częstochowa” educational project.
The competition is held at the beginning of each school year in September, the month in which the liquidation of the Częstochowa Jewish ghetto began in 1942.
The project was born four years ago during a conversation between our World Society Vice-President, Alon Goldman and Małgorzata Kaim, principal of the Juliusz Słowacki High School in Częstochowa. They discussed ways in which it would be possible to enable local youth to get to know the multicultural history of the city, to restore the memory and promote knowledge about the Jewish community that once existed in Częstochowa and to strengthen and encourage the city’s youth to live in a spirit of tolerance and dialogue with the local cultural heritage.
Together with her team of teachers, Małgorzata Kaim put the idea into practice and, in co-operation with Rafał Piorowski, head of the Częstochowa Municipal Education Department, launched the educational project as a competition amongst local high schools and elementary schools in several areas – poetry, design and multimedia.
This year’s competition attracted twenty-seven elementary schools and high schools!
1st place – Jagoda Trybuła, Primary School No. 7 in Częstochowa – tutor Beata Jarzębowska
2nd place – Julia Śledź, Primary School No. 50 in Częstochowa – tutor Joanna Gancarek
Honourable mention – Yulia Pasichnyk, School and Kindergarten Complex No. 1,
HIGH SCHOOLS:
1st place – Bartosz Bas, Mechanical and Electrical School Complex in Częstochowa – tutor Anna Szydłowska
2nd place – Sylwia Psiuk, Juliusz Słowacki No. 1 High School in Częstochowa – supervisor Agnieszka Łuczak-Wielgórka
3rd place – Jagna Lasoń, Gen. Józef Sowiński VIII General Secondary School in Częstochowa – supervisor Iwona Baranowska
2nd place – Oliwia Wojciechowska, Primary School No. 53 in Częstochowa – supervisor Anna Langier
3rd place – Filip Ślęzak – Primary School No. 38 in Częstochowa – supervisor Joanna Jamska
HIGH SCHOOLS:
1st place – Daryna Martyniuk, Gen. Władysław Anders Schools Complex in Częstochowa – supervisor Izabela Rychlewska
2nd place – Kamil Starostecki, Gen. Józef Sowiński VIII General Secondary School in Częstochowa – supervisor Iwona Skrzypczyk-Gałkowska
3rd place – Inna Huzjejeva, Gen. Władysław Anders Schools Complex in Częstochowa – supervisor Izabela Rychlewska
2nd place – Zuzanna Burzyńska, Primary School No. 31 in Częstochowa – supervisor Joanna Nicer-Woźniak
3rd place – Wiktoria Karoń, Primary School No. 38 in Częstochowa – supervisor Dariusz Lechowicz.
HIGH SCHOOLS:
1st place – Emilia Szmal, Gen. Józef Sowiński VIII General Secondary School in Częstochowa – supervisor Iwona Skrzypczyk-Gałkowska
2nd place – Natalia Kołodziej, Gen. Józef Sowiński VIII General Secondary School in Częstochowa – supervisor Iwona Skrzypczyk-Gałkowska
3rd place – Filip Gładysz, Gen. Władysław Anders School Complex in Częstochowa) – supervisor Katarzyna Micińska
The closing ceremony was held with the participation of the head of the Częstochowa Municipal Education Department of the Municipality of Częstochowa, Rafał Piotrowski, the director of the Juliusz Słowacki High School, Margolzata Kaim, the chairwoman of the TSKŻ Częstochowa Branch, Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska, Ilona Kowalska, co-writer of the script “Map of Childhood”, a cinematic poetry salon dedicated to Irit Amiel, representing the Władysław Częstochowa Biegański Public Library and Ewa Oles, Literary Secretary of the Adam Mickiewicz Theater in Częstochowa.
Organisers of the project are:
Częstochowa Municipal Education Department ,
the Juliusz Słowacki High School in Częstochowa,
the Częstochowa branch of the TSKŻ (Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland
the Częstochowa Regional Cultural Centre.
The project is held under the auspices of Mr. Alon Goldman (Chairman of Association of Częstochowa Jews in Israel)
and the Memorial and Renewal Foundation in Częstochowa
Częstochowa Jews in Israel Hold Annual Memorial Evening
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Source: Alon Goldman
The Association of Częstochowa Jews in Israel held its annual Memorial Evening on Thursday 5th December 2024 at Yitzhak Rabin Centre in Tel Aviv. The event marked the 82nd anniversary of the liquidation of the Częstochowa Ghetto and the deportation, to the Treblinka death camp, of the Jews of the city and the surrounding area.
Present were Częstochowa Holocaust Survivors fLeah Fischoff (née Petrokowska), 94, and Gabi Horowitz, 90, and about forty Second and Third Generations members.
The meeting opened with a memorial ceremony and the recitation of Kaddish for our family members who were murdered in the Holocaust.
Two lectures then followed the memorial ceremony.
Modi Givon (above), whose roots lie in the Hallberg family, is tour guide to Poland with extensive experience of over 200 trips with students and adults to Poland. He is a former Vice-Chairman of the Tour Guides to Poland organization Moti’s topic was the “Survivors of Treblinka Among the Jews of Częstochowa”.
Alon Goldman (below), Chairman of the Association of Częstochowa Jews in Israel, spoke on “The Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Częstochowa, – the Challenges and Activities”. Alon reviewed the activities which had been carried out over the years in order to preserve our Jewish heritage and the challenges which we face today.
During the lecture, the attendees were shown, among other things, the new website of the HASAG Pelcery Forced Labour Camp, created by our Częstochowa friends, Marcin Bociań and Kamil Langier. Marcin Bociań’s video was also screened. It shows a drone’s eye view on the camp’s site as it is today.
We thank Modi Givon, Tami Hanoch and Chen Fischoff for their help in organising the meeting.
The City of Częstochowa Honours Sigmund Rolat z"l
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Source: Geoffrey Rolat
“I feel that I’m at home!”, said Geoffrey Rolat, following the unveiling of a plaque in the Częstochowa Town Hall, honouring his late father, Sigmund Rolat z”l, a Holocaust survivor, prominent businessman, philanthropist and supporter of culture and education,
The unveiling, in the presence of the Mayor of Częstochowa, Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk, was also attended by Sigmund’s daughter Samantha Asulin and his grandson Henry Asulin.
The ceremony, witnessed by a large audience of the city’s citizens and American guests, featured remarks by the Mayor and by Geoffrey Rolat. This was followed by a rendition of Sigmund’s favorite song, “Jerusalem of Gold,” performed by renowned cellist Adam Klocek.
The Town Hall ceremony was followed by a festive concert at the Bronisław Huberman Częstochowa Philharmonic.
The concert, produced and conducted by Adam Klocek, featured a violin concerto by Mieczysław Weinberg, a Polish-Jewish composer, followed by Antonin Dvořák‘s Symphony No. 9 in E-minor, “From the New World.”
In his remarks before the concert, Geoffrey Rolat pointed out that the concert hall is located on the site of Częstochowa’s New Synagogue, which was destroyed by the Nazis. He said that his father had loved his family, loved Częstochowa, and that he loved great music.
Sigmund Rolat z”l was born in Częstochowa in 1930. After his parents had perished during the Holocaust, at the age of fifteen, he emigrated, eventually settling in the United States.
However, from 1967, he returned to his native city many times.. During that entire period, until his passing, he supported the city’s cultural and educational institutions, especially the city’s Jewish cultural and historical heritage. The creation of the Częstochowa Jewish Museum will always remain as a tribute to his dedication to the preservation of the history of the city’s thriving pre-war Jewish community.
Farewell Prof. Andrzej Desperak (1958-2024)
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It is with immense sadness that we learned of the passing of PROFESSOR ANDRZEJ DESPERAK, painter, graphic artist, pedagogue and long-serving professor at the Jan Długosz University of Częstochowa.
He worked together with Professor Dr. hab. Jerzy Mizgalski during the creation of our “THE JEWS OF CZĘSTOCHOWA” exhibition, which now has a permanent home in the Częstochowa Jewish Museum at ul Katedralna 18, in Częstochowa.
Professor Mizgalski writes the following in memory of his friend and colleague:
Andrzej and I still had much to discuss. We understood each other so well. We inspired and supported each other in implementing our ideas. The permanent exhibition “The Jews of Częstochowa” is a work of soul and a message about the past as a warning for the future. Sigmund Rolat z”l fully accepted this message.
We pursued this goal in such a way as to appeal to contemporary viewers – not only via the artifacts, but also through the composition of the exhibition space. We did this so that post-WW2 generations would understand the warnings of racist genocide, fierce hatred between nations, irreparable material losses and broken links in multi-generational family lines.
For us, working on the exhibition was not only a challenge and the implementation of an ordered project, but it was also an in-depth study of history and many other fields, using techniques and means of artistic expression.
Andrzej, I received the news of your passing with disbelief. We did not have time to finish our many discussions. It saddens me that I am currently unable to personally be present as you leave your hard-working, creative and beautiful earthly journey.
Farewell Andrzej.
Jerzy.
.
Israel Searching for Heirs to Częstochowa Holocaust Victims' Property
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Source: Alon Goldman
Before World War II, one of the ways that Diaspora Jews could support the Zionist vision and Israel was by purchasing shares in Jewish Colonial Trust Limited (JCT), the parent company of the Anglo-Palestine Bank (the predecessor of Bank Leumi), which was founded by Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl in 1899, with the aim of serving as a financial instrument of the Zionist movement.
The website of the General Custodian of Israel contains a list of abandoned shareholdings belonging to Holocaust victims, including those from Częstochowa.
At the request of World Society Vice-President Alon Goldman, the General Custodian has compiled a listing of all the names of property owners (securities and deposits) linked to Częstochowa (spelt in different forms).
Click HERE to view the listing.
Anyone, who believes that he/she may be the rightful heir of any of these registered property owners, should contact the General Custodian according to the following instructions:
Instructions in Hebrew: https://www.gov.il/he/service/returning_abandoned_asset
Instructions in English: https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/unit/lrup/en/application-form.pdf
If, following this publication, you were able to receive any unexpected inheritance, we would greatly appreciate you donating some amount to our continuing maintenance and restoration of our Częstochowa Jewish cemetery:
Częstochowa Commemorates Ghetto Liquidation
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Source: Text – Alon Goldman, Photographs – Łukasz Kolewiński
A ceremony took place at the Częstochowa Jewish Cemetery, on Friday 20th September, marking the 82nd anniversary of the liquidation of the Częstochowa ghetto, resulting in the deportation, of about 40,000 of the ghetto’s Jews, in six transports, to their deaths in the German death camp in Treblinka.
The event was moderated by Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska, Chair of the Częstochowa branch of the TSKŻ. Participants included Częstochowa Deputy Mayor Dr. Ryszard Stefaniak, Częstochowa City Councillors, members of the local military and security forces, members of the local Jewish community and friends. Students of Słowacki High School also presented a performance of several songs.
World Society Vice-President, Alon Goldman (below left), noted that we are slowly saying goodbye to the Survivor First Generation and, soon, there will be no one to tell, firsthand, what happened. He said that the obligation to preserve the memory is now passed to the Holocaust Second and Third Generations, and we must not allow anyone to forget the tragedy and what our families went through.
Częstochowa Deputy Mayor, Dr. Ryszard Stefaniak (above right), also emphasised the importance and duty of remembrance of the Holocaust victims, Jewish citizens of the city.
He said, “Częstochowa remembers, because Jewish citizens constituted a very important part of the citizens of our city. They were a people of culture, science, philanthropists, whose economic activists left permanent traces here. Fairness obliges us to remember those who died, in a sense, for their homeland. The ceremonies, commemorating the liquidation of the Częstochowa ghetto, are living lessons in the city’s identity and an important element in building historical consciousness. Thanks to them, the younger generations can learn about the tragic events that happened in the city – so delegations of Czestochowa schools participate in these ceremonies. The commemoration anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto is not only an act of remembrance, but also a commitment to ensure that similar tragedies do not happen again.”
“Kaddish” was then recited by Alon Goldman.
Farewell Piotr Stasiak z"l (1947-2024)
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Photographs: Asia Sidorowicz
It is with immense sadness, and a degree of shock, that we learned of the sudden passing of PIOTR STASIAK z”l, a significant member of our World Society.
Piotr passed away on Saturday 14th September 2024.
Piotr was Sigmund Rolat’s cousin and, for many years, his “right-hand man” in Poland. Anyone, who attended any of the World Society’s five reunions, will have met and got to know him.
Piotr was also active in Beit Polska and Beit Warszawa – the Reform Judaism synagogue and organisation in Poland. Piotr was a Past President of this movement.
He was a kind, caring man and friend – he will be sadly missed by many in Poland and around the world.
Baruch Dayan ha’Emet.
In the presence of many friends and members of the community,
Piotr’s funeral took place at the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery, ul Okopowa,
on Friday 20th September 2024 at 11:00am.
New Website About HASAG Pelcery
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Local Częstochowa historians and filmmakers, Marcin Bocain and Kamil Langier, have launched a new website dedicated to the history of the HASAG Pelcery, the Nazi forced labour in Częstochowa, where are parents, grandparents and other ancestors worked as slaves in this Hugo Schneider AG munitions factory.
The website, in both in Polish and English, not only contains general information about the camp, but also the prisoners and their lives there, an interactive map of the camp buildings and pictures of objects which Marcin and Kamil have found on the former site of the camp and which have been donated by others.
The website work is a “work in progress”. In the future, additional pages will be added to the site, including a “Search Engine for forced workers” feature.
Both Marcin and Kamil have created this site out of their love of history. They believe that the history of HASAG Pelcery needs to be preserved as a vital component in telling the story of the fate of Częstochowa’s Jewish citizens in World War II.
To view this amazing website, click HERE.