Double events at the Jewish cemetery - autumn guided tour and clean-up

We spent entire Thursday of 17.10.2024 at the Jewish cemetery in our town. Two schools from the town and the municipality, namely Primary School No. 2 in Mszana Dolna and Primary School No. 2 in Mszana Górna, together with our Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation, took care of the memory and order at the Mszana necropolis this day.

Before noon, we gave a guided tour to a group of pupils, teachers, and the Headmistress, from Primary School No. 2 in Mszana Dolna. The participants were acquainted with the uniqueness of the Jewish cemetery and the customs oassociated with remembering the dead in Judaism. It was also an opportunity to remind about the contribution that Jewish citizens had to the history, culture and economy of our town. Our guests learned about the types of tombstones, their symbolism, and the patterns of matzevot inscriptions. They found out why Jewish places of worship cover their heads, why an ordinary (or perhaps extraordinary?) pebble is an expression of remembrance, and why animal symbols can be found on graves, what do a broken candle, candles in general, or tree on a Jewish gravestone mean.

We also remembered some of those who rest in the cemetery, including the Holocaust victims buried and commemorated there. We emphasised the shared responsibility to keep the memory alive and to care for the monument that this cemetery is. At the end, we recited Psalm 23 and the formula ‘tancev’, as the Jewish ‘rest in peace’. The students received monographs about the Mszana Jewish cemetery published by us. We would like to thank Mrs Bogumila Cieżak, Headmaster, who, together with a group of teachers, personally brought her students to this important memorial site.

And then, in the early afternoon, the cleaning of the cemetery began. The main force were pupils from Primary School No. 2 in Mszana Górna, with the Headmaster, Ewelina Płachczyńska-Struś, and Ms Marta Malarz. There were also our regular volunteers from the slightly older generation.

The biggest challenge was the piles of leaves, which were raked and bagged; these were later collected by the municipal services, for which we express our gratitude.

This year's edition of the educational project ‘The Story of the Jewish Cemetery in Mszana Dolna’ is coming to an end. All that remains is an online training course on the rules of behaviour in Jewish cemeteries.

On 25.10.2024 at 5 p.m. there will be an official conclusion of the project, combined with the vernissage of art works created during the painting workshops and another dose of knowledge about Jewish customs connected with remembering the dead.

The events of the project are under the Honorary Patronage of Mayor Agnieszka Orzeł.

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the programme of the National Heritage Institute - Together for Heritage