Concluding the educational project on the Jewish cemetery in Mszana Dolna

On 20 October 2023 we concluded this year’s edition of the educational project “The Story of the Jewish Cemetery in Mszana Dolna” at the Municipal Library in Mszana Dolna. The event was connected with the opening of the exhibition of photographs taken during the workshops with Agnieszka Traczewska, which had taken place on 31 August 2023, and with the promotion of the 2nd edition of the monograph on the Jewish cemetery in Mszana Dolna by Urszula Antosz-Rekucka and Jolanta Kruszniewska. But the most important part was going through all of this year’s activities taking care of the Mszana’s Jewish necropolis: establishing a group of volunteers who worked tidying up the cemetery while also learning its history, to code of conduct, and the symbolics of grave inscriptions. The 2nd important issue was starting the renovation of the first four matzevot and securing funds for further renovation works. The audience saw a presentation showing the story of the cemetery and the activities undertaken to preserve it. During the 2nd part of the meeting, the audience listened to the fascinating stories of Agnieszka Traczewska, who documents the Chassidic life in Poland and beyond. Their important element were Jewish funeral customs, the deep concern for bodies of the deceased and their dignified burial. In this context we were forced to mention the current issue of the cruel and bloody aggression of Hamas terrorists against the Israeli population. The participants honoured the innocent victims and expressed their solidarity with the attacked civilians with a minute of silence. During the meeting, a candle was lit in the memory of those murdered. In that way the concern for the past inhabitants of our time combined with present-day solidarity and pain.

The project’s conclusion is also an occasion to thank some volunteers for their outstanding commitment, for which they received diplomas from the Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation: Jadwiga Józefiak, Marta Jasek, Tomek Krawczyk, Kamil Stróżyński, Antek Pankiewicz, Mszana Dolna’s deputy mayor Michał Grzeszczuk, and teachers from the primary school in Mszana Górna, Ewelina Płachczyńska-Struś and Marta Malarz with their students from grades 6th to 8th.

The photograph exhibition, which will be open throughout the next week and then again in December, features the selected works by Anita Borkowska, Zofia Domagalska, Jadwiga Józefiak, Marta Jasek, Małgorzata Podgórni, Rachela Antosz-Rekuckiej, Antek Pankiewicz, Jacek Radiowski, Tomek Krawczyka, Henryk Musiał, Dariusza Ptak, and Marian Krzymiński.

Every participant received an exhibition folder and a copy of the 2nd edition of the monograph The Jewish Cemetery in Mszana Dolna.

We would like to express our gratitude for participation and support for out activities to the member of the Limanowa Poviat Counil: Agnieszka Orzeł and Grzegorz Wójcik, and for the foolproof support of our mayor, Anna Pękała, who endorsed the project with Honorary Patronage, as well as to all tireless participants of our mettings. We would also like to thank the Municipal Library and the Senior+ senior citizen club from Mszana Dolna for co-organizing the events.

Co-funded with the funds of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage within the framework of “Together for heritage,” a program of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland (grant acquisiton: Marek Rekucki)