Honouring Another Częstochowa Righteous Among the Nations
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Source: Alon Goldman, Israeli Embassy in Poland, Marcin Bocian
Years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust, the Yad Vashem Institute has posthumously awarded the title of “Righteous Among the Nations” to Father Bolesław Wróblewski, a Częstochowa priest who, during the Holocaust, saved Jewish children in Częstochowa.
In a moving ceremony in Częstochowa’s Old Town Hall, , attended by the Mayor of Częstochowa, Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk, the Archbishop of Częstochowa, Dr. Wacław Depo, members of the city’s Jewish community and guests, Bosmat Baruch, Deputy Ambassador of Israel to Poland, presented the Yad Vashem Certificate and Medal to Bolesław Majewski, 93, the priest’s nephew.
This presentation took place many years after the application was submitted to Yad Vashem by Miriam Rothschild (nee Rubin) and six years after our World Society Vice-President, Alon Goldman, learned of the application, and began to take action on the matter.
As he was unable to be present at the event, World Society Vice-President, Alon Goldman wrote the following, which was read by Krzysztof Strauss:
It is never too late to do the right thing!
On behalf of the Jewish people, the State of Israel, Yad Vashem, and the descendants of the Jews of Częstochowa, today, we stand in awe and deep gratitude honouring the work of a man who chose good – even when evil ruled the world.
Father Bolesław Wróblewski, with rare courage and a strong moral spirit, risked his life to save Jewish children in the Holocaust. Through acts of kindness, compassion and courage, he gave them shelter, hope and life – when many others chose to remain silent or hide their faces.
I first heard the name of Priest Wróblewski and the story of his rescue efforts in the Holocaust in 2018. When I began to investigate, I discovered that, since 2007, Yad Vashem has had an open file with a recommendation 
to award him the title of “Righteous Among the Nations”, a recommendation given by Miriam Rothschild (née Rubin). Yad Vashem had difficulty in accepting the testimony and relying solely on Miriam’s recollections since, at the time, Miriam was a three-year-old girl, and what does such little girl remember?
Miriam family’s roots are deeply rooted in Polish soil in Radomsko and Częstochowa. Her parents, Moshe Alexander Rubin of Radomsko and Deborah of the Schlesinger/Silberszcz family from Częstochowa, were married in the Częstochowa ghetto in 1940.
Miriam was born in Częstochowa on 2nd March 1942. During the liquidation of the “Big Ghetto” in September 1942, in a wicker basket with a note containing her personal details and with the help of a family friend, little Miriam was delivered to a children’s home at ul. Kazimierza 1, which was run by the “Convent of the Sisters of the Handmaids of Częstochowa” and the responsibility of the Father Bolesław Wróblewski.
Miriam was there until 11 December 1944. A month before the liberation of Częstochowa, she was adopted by the Dobosz family from Elbląg near Gdańsk.
Miriam’s mother did not survive the Holocaust. She was shot by the Germans during the liquidation of the “Small Ghetto” Her father, who survived the HASAG forced labor camp in Częstochowa, rushed to the children’s home on the first day following liberation and asked to have Miriam returned to him.
At the children’s home, they gave him the information that was written in the documents (incorrect information) and, beyond that, were not willing to help him reclaim his daughter. Moshe, Miriam’s father, did not give up. For over two years, he continued to search for his little daughter until May 1947, when he wrote to his wife, a childhood friend whom he married after the War, “My dear, the sun has risen again”, after he had managed to find Miriam and reach an agreement with her adoptive parents to return her to him.
On 13 May 1947, Miriam’s father and his little daughter appeared at the offices of the “Koordinatsia” (a Jewish organization which worked to return Jewish children to their parents), where they filled out a card and photographed Miriam. (pic left)
According to what I have been told, Father Wrobelwski saved many children during the Holocaust but, over all the years, no list or additional testimony from survivors has been found about his work.
During my search for testimony, I met Father Jan Związęk, who simply told me, “You will not find such a list. Such a list meant a death sentence in the Holocaust for anyone in who possessed it and for anyone listed on it.”
I continued searching around the world and came across Lucy Nisker in Canada and Dr. Zilberschatz in Haifa, who were with Miriam in the children’s home. However, they were unable to assist with the testimony.
In my search in the archives of the Ghetto Fighters Museum in Israel, I was surprised to find Miriam’s coordination card, written in Yiddish and containing the name of Father Wroblewski, a card filled out by a coordination activist and Miriam’s father, two adult,s who mention the priest as the girl’s saviour.
And so, without being able to discover any more names of children saved by the priest, approval was received to award the title of “Righteous Among the Nations” to Father Wróblewski.
What he did is a candle of remembrance for humanity in a dark period and, today, he joins the ranks of “Righteous Among the Nations” – those unique individuals, who illuminated the face of humanity with precious light.
May the legacy of Father Wróblewski be living testimony for us and for future generations that, even in the most difficult moments, it is up to man to choose – and to save.
Yes, It is never too late to do the right thing!
Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Ryszard Stefaniak, Deputy Mayor of Czestochowa for the partnership, assistance and hosting of the ceremony in Częstochowa, Mr. Aleksander Czyżewski from the Embassy of Israel in Poland for the organization and taking care of all the details, and the Director of the Czestochowa Museum, Ms. Katarzyna Ozimek, for directing the ceremony.
Below, thanks to Marcin Bocian, is a video of the event (with English subtitles):
Plaque Unveiling at the Site of the Former Częstochowa Jewish High School
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Source: Alon Goldman, Asia Sidorowicz, Marcin Bocian
Today, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the entrance to the former Częstochowa Jewish Gymnazjum (High School), now the home of the C. K. Norwid IX Comprehensive High School.
Thank-you to the high school director, Krzysztof Wachowiak, for his positive response and to our friend, Marcin Bocian, for his support and assistance in everything related to the preparation and installation of the plaque.
The English text (also in Polish and Hebrew) on the plaque reads:
This building housed the Częstochowa Jewish Gymazjum (High School). It was built between 1935 and 1937 at the initiative of the Jewish High Schools Association and was the pride of the Częstochowa Jewish community.
It was open to students for only one year.
In 1939, the German occupation authorities took over the building and converted it into the “Employment Office (Arbeitsamt)” and an early Temporary Detention Camp for residents of Częstochowa and the surrounding area, who were sent to the German Reich as forced labourers after they had been caught.
Częstochowa TSKŻ Commemorates 82nd Anniversary of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
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Source: Alon Goldman
The Częstochowa branch of the TSKŻ commemorated the 82nd anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
by organising a ceremony at the Częstochowa Jewish Memorial.
Members of the Częstochowa TSKŻ were joined, in the ceremony, by representatives of the Częstochowa City Council,
descendants of Righteous Among the Nations, school directors and students and members of the local Częstochowa community.
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:
