Conference: ‘Holocaust of the Jews in Mszana Dolna and the region’.

The region naturally links human destinies: in life, but also in death. People move, meet, merge, marry within a closer or farther area. This cobweb of human fates made us realise the need to show the Holocaust in the perspective of the entire region, which linked human life and death at that terrible time.

The inhabitants of Mszana bonded, moved, lived and died not only in their hometown, but also in the surrounding area: Rabka, Zakopane, Limanowa, Nowy Sącz, Tymbark, Krakow, Tarnów.  And vice versa: in mass executions in Mszana Dolna were killed only were the inhabitants of the town and municipality of Mszana Dolna, but also those of Dobra, Tymbark, Skrzydlna, Rabka, Raba, Zembrzyce, Wadowice, Łódź and even Vienna or Berlin. That is why this year, on the occasion of the 82nd Anniversary of the Holocaust in Mszana Dolna, we decided to commemorate them all and those places that were connected with the Jews of Mszana Dolna by life and death. In the nearer and farther surroundings, as well as throughout the Podhale region.

Local researchers and activists involved in the subject of the Holocaust and the commemoration of Jewish communities in their small homelands neighbouring Mszana Dolna have been invited to collaborate in the preparation of the conference.

The topic of the Holocaust in Mszana Dolna itself and its immediate surroundings, i.e. the area encompassing the former Jewish ‘district municipality’ (the town of Mszana Dolna, Dobra, Skrzydlna, Niedźwiedź and Mszana Dolna 2, i.e. the Mszana Dolna municipality), was prepared by the team of the Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation: Urszula Antosz-Rekucka, Rachela Antosz-Rekucka, and Jakub Antosz-Rekucki.

This municipality had a population of 1150 before the outbreak of the Second World War. Quite a number of refugees also arrived in Mszana from Łódź, Zakopane, Nowy Targ and the surrounding area, about 20 families from Kraków, also from Bielsko Biała, Zembrzyce - several hundred people in total. Most of them shared the fate of the local Jews, perishing in several smaller and one mass execution in August 1942. Only a small percentage of the Jews of Mszana perished in death camps, and individuals also survived these camps.

The general issues and the process of the Holocaust in Mszana Dolna were discussed by the founder and president of the Sztetl Mszana Dolna Foundation, Urszula Antosz-Rekucka, who has been researching this topic for over 20 years.

The extensive presentation included the historical context of the history of the Jews in Mszana Dolna, with archival materials, as well as a discussion of the successive stages of the Holocaust, memorial sites and the concern for memory in our town.

Christians of Jewish origin, who perished with the entire Jewish community on 19.08.1942 at the so-called Pańskie, were also mentioned. The demographic cross-section of the Victims was discussed (1/3 were minors, most were women, elderly and children, as the men were still used to work for the Third Reich - they died later elsewhere).

The profiles of Mszana's Righteous Among the Nations, Stefania and Józef Wacławik, and a group of a few Holocaust survivors connected with Mszana Dolna were also briefly presented.

The fact of the extermination of the small Roma community living in the town before World War II was also mentioned.

Jagiellonian University doctoral students: Rachela Antosz-Rekucka and Jakub Antosz-Rekucki, presented the story of the life and death of the Jews from Skrzydlna and Dobra, who - forcibly resettled to Mszana Dolna - were largely killed right here, in a mass execution. 

The final topic was complemented by a presentation of excerpts from the memoirs of one of the surviving Jews from Dobra, Lejb Gatterer, by his daughter Ruth, who was the guest of honour at the conference.

In the second conference panel, presentations were given by Narcyz Listkowski and Michał Rapta from the Rabka History team, who commemorate the Jewish community in this town. Moreover, Michał Rapta is the co-author of the book ‘Mroczne tajemnice willi Tereska’ (The Dark Mysteries of Villa Tereska), which has just had its second edition and was available after the conference.

The time of the Holocaust, the persecution and extermination of the Jewish population, their survival strategies and the post-war murders of Jews in Podhale, were presented by Dr Karolina Panz, a researcher at the Holocaust Research Centre of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Of great interest was the little-known theme of smuggling activities during the occupation in the Podhale region, thanks to which - in addition to ordinary contraband and shady dealings of the underworld - entire Jewish families were rescued by moving them to Slovakia or Hungary. The doctor has published a separate study on the subject, the results of which she shared with the audience gathered in the Mszana Dolna Municipal Library.

The speeches were accompanied by multimedia presentations, archival photographs and other materials, and even short films prepared by the speakers. The large audience gathered at the conference received all the speeches with great interest. 

The extermination in Mszana Dolna was primarily one mass and several smaller in number executions. Approximately 1,200 people died in them. Most of them in the mass murder on 19.08.1942, which has become a symbolic date of the Holocaust in our town and we celebrate the anniversary on this very date, despite the fact that the Holocaust Victims, murdered in other places and at other times, are still buried in at least 2 mass graves: in Ogrodowa Street and in the Jewish cemetery, and a small part of the community died in the Nazi death camps in Auschwitz Birkenau, Treblinka, Bełżec, Buchenwald.

The conference took place in the Municipal Library in Mszana Dolna on 18.08.2024 from 12:00 to 15:00.

During the break and after the conference, participants were provided with a meal, prepared in cooperation with the Senior+ Club in Mszana Dolna.

The speeches were broadcast on the FB profile of Sztetl Mszana Dolna, and their recording will be available on the @sztetlmszanadolna channel on YouTube.

The event was held under the Honorary Patronage of the Town Mayor Agnieszka Orzeł.

Subsidised by the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Repression