Częstochowa TSKŻ Commemorates the Events of March'68
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Source: Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska
The student rally, held at the University of Warsaw on 8th March 1968, which was brutally suppressed by the communist government headed by Władysław Gomułka, turned out to be a spark which ignited one of the most complex socio-political crises in Poland’s post-War history. This crisis resulted in the pacification of Polish intellectual life and in the forced migration of 13,000 Polish Jews, who had fallen victim to the government’s brutal antisemitic campaign.
The Częstochowa TSKŻ commemorated the 55th anniversary of this event.
On 17th March 2023, members heard Częstochowa TSKŻ chairwoman, Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska deliver a lecture on “Częstochowa Echoes of March’68”. Sitting at a common table, they listened to the history of those who left Poland with a one-way passport. Discussion included the Gdańsk Railway Station in Warsaw, which was the departure point for most of those emigrants and also learned about the plaque there, which commemorates the site. Following the lecture, members recalled their friends who had left Częstochowa at that time.
On 27th March 2023, the Częstochowa TSKŻ invited its member to a lecture by historian, Wiesław Paszkowski, on “The Origins of March’68”. The event was attended by Dr Zdzisław Wolski, a member of the Polish parliament, who spoke about his friends who had left at that time, and by Ms Jolanta Urbańska, Deputy Chairwoman of the Częstochowa City Council and special advisor to the Częstochowa Mayor on the Jewish community and on Jewish affairs.
Wiesław Paszkowski spoke about the events, moods and the political situation which resulted in the mass escape, from Poland, of persecuted Jews.
Righteous Families Honoured in Częstochowa
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Words and photographs: Alon Goldman Video: Orion TV
In Poland, each year since 2018, 24th March is commemorated as the “Day of Poles Who Saved Jews During the German Occupation”.
So it was appropriate that this day was chosen to unveil a plaque in memory of two families, who had already been honoured with the title of “Righteous Among the Nations”. The event was co-organised by the Częstochowa City Council and the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN).
The plaque, honouring the memory and deeds of the Brust and Mielczarek families, was placed on the wall of the Częstochowa House of Culture on ul. Łukasińska and was unveiled in the presence of Częstochowa Deputy Mayor, Dr Ryszard Stefaniak, Deputy Chair of the Częstochowa City Council, Jolanta Urbańska and Artur Hołubiczko, commander of the Częstochowa Straż Miejska (City Guard) and grandson of some of those honoured.
Click HERE to read the stories of rescue of both families.
Below is how Częstochowa’s Orion TV covered the event.
Częstochowa TSKŻ Celebrates Purim
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Source: Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska
Purim 5783 was celebrated by the Częstochowa TSKŻ, on 7th March 2023, in an evening which was both celebratory and joyous. All TSKŻ members received noise-makers and funny masks, while the children came in costumes.
The meeting began with the story of the beautiful and brave Queen Esther, who saved the Jewish nation from extermination. While the story was being told, everyone traditionally drowned out the name of the Amalekite Haman with stomping, noise and humming. There had to be cheerful music, and we were graced with a concert by Urszula Makosz, with the band “Hajnt iz PURIM – Today is PURIM”. We listened to Purim and Sephardic, songs in Hebrew, Polish and Ladino. The atmosphere was extremely joyful.
Following the concert, commemorative photographs were taken, followed by traditional refreshment, which included hamantashen and other delicacies. According to tradition, everyone tasted the wine, while repeating “Baruch Mordechai, Arur Haman” [“Blessed is Mordechai, cursed is Haman”].
Late in the evening, everyone left in good spirits, wishing each other “Chag Purim Sameach”!
Częstochowa Commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day
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Words: Andrew Rajcher Photographs: Częstochowa City Council
Holocaust Remembrance Day was commemorated in Częstochowa, on 27th January 2023, with the laying of wreathes and the lighting of candles at the monument on Plac Bohaterów Getta (Ghetto Heroes Square). This was once the site of the entrance to the “Small Ghetto”.
Participants in the ceremony included representatives of the Częstochowa City Council, the World Society of Częstochowa Jews and Their Descendants, the Częstochowa Museum, the Częstochowa branch of the Social-Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKŻ), as well as local residents of Częstochowa.
Willenberg Exhibition Opens in Częstochowa
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Words and photographs: Andrew Rajcher
Coinciding with the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the exhibition, “Samuel Willenberg – a Hero of Two Nations”, opened in Częstochowa’s Town Hall on Thursday evening, 26th January 2023.
Sponsored by the Częstochowa Museum and the Częstochowa branch of the Social-Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKŻ), the exhibition will remain open until 12th February 2023.
Webmaster’s note: I was very proud to attend this event as Samuel “Samek” Willenberg z”l went to school with my mother, Dora Rajcher z”l (nee Moszkowicz) and Samuel’s father, Perec Willenberg z”l, was my mother’s art teacher. During numerous trips to Israel, I was always invited into the Willenberg home and have many happy memories of those occasions.
Webmaster Visits Częstochowa Jewish Cemetery
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Words and photographs: Andrew Rajcher
On the morning of Thursday 26th January 2023, together with Prof. Jerzy Mizgalski, our Webmaster, Andrew Rajcher, visited the Częstochowa Jewish Cemetery.
As can be seen from the photographs below, it has been a long time since so much of our cemetery has been so accessible.
“I have been regularly visiting this cemetery since 1997 and I can’t remember when it has been in such a great condition”, said Andrew.
Of course, so much of the credit must go to our World Society Vice-President, Alon Goldman, who each year, together with many, many volunteers, works hard to bring our cemetery into the condition shown in the photographs. We owe all these people an immense debt of gratitude.
Częstochowa Annual Memorial Meeting in Israel
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Words and photographs: Alon Goldman
Around seventy first, second and third generations attended the Annual Memorial Meeting of the Association of Częstochowa Jews in Israel, held on 10th November 2022 in Tel Aviv. The emotional meeting marked the 80th anniversary of the Częstochowa ghetto.
The Kaddish memorial prayer was recited by Stephen Glazer, a third generation descendant of the Potasiewicz Częstochowa family, many of whom perished in the Holocaust. This was followed by an interesting lecture by committee member and Poland tour guide, Modi Givon. His topic was “Treblinka and Auschwitz and What is In-Between”.
Association Chairman Alon Goldman then presented an overview of the organisation’s activities, over the past year,
aimed at preserving the Jewish heritage of Częstochowa.
Finally, the Israeli premiere of Krzysztof Kasprzak’s 2019 film “Czestochowa in the Second World War, in the Years 1939-1945” was screened.
At the end of the event, elections were conducted for members of the committee of the Association of Częstochowa Jews in Israel. The results were:
Chairman: Alon Goldman
Treasurer: Tamar Hanoch
Committee: Pnina Paritsky, Galit Perlmutter, Chen Fischhoff
Audit Committee: Michael Chen, Stephen Glaser
80th Anniversary of Deportation of Częstochowa Jews
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Words: Alon Goldman Photos: Agencja Wyborcza.pl
During the ghetto clearance, about 2,000 ghetto Jews were shot and buried in mass graves on ul. Kavia. Only about 5,000 people survived the “selections” and remained as forced labourers at the HASAG munitions factory.
Marking the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the deportations an emotional ceremony was held on the square of the Częstochowa Jews memorial monument.
Dozens of local high school students, with their banners and flags, the Straż Miejska, dignitaries and guests participated in the ceremony. Attendees also included the son, daughter and six grandchildren of Częstochowa-born author and poet Irit Amiel (Irena Librowicz) z”l, who came from Israel.
The ceremony led by Ms Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska, Chair of the Częstochowa branch of the TSKŻ. Speakers included Deputy Mayor of Częstochowa,
Students from the Częstochowa’s Juliusz Słowacki Liceum and Biała Orła Elementary School sang and performed memorial pieces.
Sigmund Rolat Honoured With Huberman Award
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Sources: Gazeta Wyborcza, Częstochowa edition, City of Częstochowa
2022 has been designated, by the Częstochowa Philharmonic, as the “Year of Bronisław Huberman”, marking Huberman’s 140th birthday and the 75th anniversary of the death of the world-famous Jewish violinist, who came from Częstochowa and is the patron of the Philharmonic. Celebrations are held under the patronage of the Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, the Israeli Ambassador to Poland and the Mayor of Częstochowa.
To mark these anniversaries, the Philharmonic decided to establish the Bronisław Huberman European Award, which would be presented to people of political, cultural and social merit in creating a community amongst the peoples of Europe, as well between Europe and the USA – something of which Huberman was an ardent supporter.
“The obvious candidate for receiving the first statuette seemed to be the long-time sponsor of the concerts by violin players during the Huberman International Violin Festival and an intermediary in building Polish-American contacts, Sigmund Rolat, who comes from our city”, explained Adam Klocek, Philharmonic Director.
As well as funding the exhibition “The Jews of Częstochowa”, Sigmund is also Chairman of the American Committee supporting the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Thanks to him, stars such as Joshua Bell, Midori, Vadim Repin and Shlomo Mintz have performed at the Częstochowa Philharmonic.
Presentation of the Bronisław Huberman European Award was performed in New York by the Mayor of Częstochowa, Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk, together with the Philharmonic Director, Adam Klocki, and the Deputy Chairman of the Częstochowa City Council, Łukasz Kot.
Sigmund thanked the municipal authorities and the Philharmonic board and affirmed his further contribution towards building Częstochowa’s music culture. The meeting was also attended by other representatives of the World Society of Częstochowa Jews and their Descendants of which Sigmund is President.
"Czenstochower Yizkerbuch" - a Yizkor Book Like No Other
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Sources: Mark W. Kiel
Chonon Kiel z”l (1908-1998), formerly Kielczygłowski, was born to a merchant family in Częstochowa. During the war, his family dispersed. Chonon fled to the Soviet-occupied sector of Poland, but was deported to a gulag. When he was freed from the gulag in 1942, Częstochowa Jewry was being annihilated. He married before the war and had a daughter, Ruth. Her mother, Sarka, was murdered in Auschwitz, while Ruth survived in a convent.
Having survived the war, he married his deceased wife’s sister, Liza and, together with his daughter, settled permanently in New York, where his son, Mark, was born in 1948.
Chonon was truly multi-talented. He was best known as a Yiddish poet and lecturer. As an artist, he worked in numerous media. He illustrated journals and designed covers for his colleague’s books.
In the Yizkerbukh, the text and iconography become an instrument of eternal remembrance. He executed the tome in watercolour, pastel, crayon, magic marker, pencil, and pen and ink.
As Survivors began to die, some families insisted that the names of the recently departed, as well as those who had died before the war, be included – along with those who had perished in the Holocaust. Although this was contrary to Kiel’s initial vision of the book as a strictly Holocaust memorial, he was flexible and acceded to their wishes.
The illustrations, as illuminated manuscripts do, shift the experience of remembering to a complementary aesthetic experience through a symbolism readily recognisable to the Survivors.
For the Survivors, the words are primary and are the whole point of Yizkor. But, as the Survivor generation fades, for others, those who have no personal connection to the names, the illustrations take the forefront.
Nevertheless, the recurrent words of the translated Hebrew and Yiddish texts serve as a powerful reminder of the book’s original purpose.
With the artist’s guidance, Survivors found their authentic voice reflected in the traditional pictorial and textual vocabulary of the book.
For Chonon Kiel, creating the Yizkerbukh was not only a labour of love, but also, undoubtedly, a catharsis, a relief from the pain and longing that was always with him over the loss of his beloved Czenstochow.
“CZENSTOCHOWER YIZKERBUKH”
HAS BEEN PUBLISHED, IN LIMITED EDITION (125 pages),
BY THE AUTHOR’S SON, MARK W. KIEL.
COPIES CAN BE PURCHASED BY EMAILING MARK: rwmk@aol.com