Kaddish at the Catholic cemetery in Bandin
And you made the pillars of kindness and truth (Genesis 37:29)
By: Shimshon Yashvitz
World War II broke out on September 1, 1939. Already in its first days, the Germans settled in the cities of Zaglambia and Benin. They restricted the steps of the city’s Jews and imposed economic decrees, supervision of trade and a curfew according to the decision of the German commander. On September 9, 1939, on the night of Shabbat (Nazvim Willech), the night when they begin to say “Selihot” poetry, when the Great Synagogue was full of worshipers, the Germans burned the Synagogue with its occupants and the nearby neighborhood.
That night, a series of hostilities under the cruel hand of the Germans swept the city and another event took place which was relegated to the margins of history and did not receive expression until these days. That night the Germans captured 40 of the city’s residents – Jews and Poles.
They were dragged to the city center area and near the district offices were executed by shooting.
The Germans put the bodies of the murdered on a truck that drove them to the Catholic cemetery. There they ordered the undertaker to tell the man what happened that night.
The 40 murdered were buried in a mass grave in their clothes without a purification procedure.
During my visit to Poland in 2017, Karolina showed me the place where the execution took place. Today, on the wall of a bank office that stands there (on Saczewsiego Street) there is a memorial plaque for 40 of the city’s residents “Jews and Poles“…
When I was interested in where the murdered were buried, Carolina replied that she did not know if anyone at all remembers and knows their burial place.
With the help of our friend Janos Gimborski, we found the mass grave the next day in the Catholic cemetery. I would like to point out – this is the only grave in the entire Catholic cemetery that does not have a cross on it, perhaps out of respect for those 17 Jews buried there with the murdered Poles. On the occasion of commemorating the 80th anniversary of the start of the war and these events, it was decided this year for the first time, in coordination with the priest of the church in Bandin, to hold a ceremony of honor and remembrance for the murdered who are buried in the mass grave. The ceremony was attended by members of the organization’s delegation that went to Zegalambia in July 2019.
Embroider new ties
By: Rachel Zetner in bass
On our last trip to Zaglambia which took place at the end of July, we met with the director of the museum from Dombrova Gornice Mr. Arkadiusz Rybak and the curator of the museum – Magda Cyankiewicz and we exchanged impressions. Until now, the visit to the Dombrova Museum was not included in the travel plan of our expeditions to Zaglambia, but thanks to the meetings we had in Dombrova during the last visit, in the visit we will make next year to Zaglambia, we will also add a visit to the museum in Dombrova to the travel plan.
The people of the museum are interested in receiving from us documents, information, photos and everything that can enrich the display in the museum on the Jewish subject and the Jewish residents in particular, who were a very important part of the existence of a city. It is recommended to visit the museum’s website: www.muzeum-dabrowa.pl
Anyone interested in contacting the museum, receiving material from them and even transferring material to them, is invited to write to muzeum miejskie “sztygarka”
legionow polskich 69 41-300 dabrowa gornicza
or by email to Magda: [email protected]
Strengthening ties with our friends in Poland
On every official visit to Zagalambia, we make sure to host our good friends and officials in Zagalambia for a celebratory dinner. This year we held the celebratory dinner on the last evening of the visit, with the participation of mayors and deputy mayors in the Zaglambia region, and of course our good friends in Poland who for many years have been mobilized for this important work and contribute greatly to the preservation of the Jewish heritage in the cities of Zaglambia.
This year, thanks to the efforts of our friends in Poland, we expanded the circle of mayors who honored us with their presence, we were all very excited by the important meeting, the event was crowned a great success, and as a result, new and welcome connections were forged in the cities of the region.
For more impressions from the trip click here
