Words: Alon Goldman, The Matzevah Foundation Photos: Asia Sidorowicz

A ceremony was held, at the Częstochowa Jewish Cemetery, to consecrate the three restored mass graves of Częstochowa Jewish intelligentsia who were murdered by the Nazis, at the cemetery, during Purim, on 20th March 1943.

To learn more about the circumstances surrounding these murders, click HERE.

Words: Alon Goldman Pictures: Krzysztof Strauss

This week, the clean-up work at the Częstochowa Jewish Cemetery continued with aid from the Nissenbaum Family Foundation.

Responding to a request from World Society Vice-President Alon Goldman, a team of skilled workers from the Foundation spent two days working at our Cemetery – and they worked wonders!

The Nissenbaum Family Foundation was founded in 1983, with the aim of saving Jewish testimonies and heritage in Poland. It was the first foundation established in Poland after World War II and, for years, its activities have been focused on the restoration and protection of Jewish cemeteries throughout Poland.

We sincerely thank Gidon Nissenbaum and Wojciech Łygaś
for their positive response to our request to lend us such an important helping hand.

The next work week will take place between 12th-16th June 2023. During that week, Alon Goldman will be assisted by Pastor Steven Reece and volunteers from the MATZEVAH Foundation from the USA, Pawel Kulig and volunteers from the Guardians of Remembrance Foundation from Lodz, our friends the volunteers of Fundacja Chrześcijańska Adullam of Częstochowa and students from Częstochowa high schools.

Source:: Alon Goldman

This year’s first concentrated cleaning work at the Częstochowa Jewish cemetery took place on 22nd-25th May 2023.  The work was a joint operation involving the Association of Częstochowa Jews in Israel, the City of Częstochowa and the city’s Education Department, a collaboration which began in June 2022.

Around one  hundred students, from four Częstochowa high schools participated in the concentrated work : General Anders High School,  Jan Kochanowski High School, K. Puławski Mechanics and Electrical High School and the Automotive Professions High School.

The purpose of the project and the involvement of the students was not only to clean the cemetery, but also to allow the youth of Częstochowa to learn about Częstochowa’s multicultural history and the contribution of the city’s Jewish community in the life of the city and its development over the years.  As part of the project, the students also received a lecture on the subject from the historian Wiesław Paszkowski.

This week of work could not have come to fruition without the efforts of several dear friends of the World Society: Rafał Piotrowski – head of the Education Department of the City of Częstochowa, Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska – Chair of the Częstochowa branch of the TSKŻ, Cr. Jolanta Urbańska – Deputy Chair of the Częstochowa City Council and advisor to the Mayor on Jewish community issues, Elżbieta Ferenc – Director of the Adullam Foundation of Częstochowa; Iwona Brzezowska  – Principal of General Anders High School and Robert Kamela of the Adullam Foundation from Częstochowa.

Our sincere thanks to all the students and teachers who took part in this activity. 
Your involvement is greatly appreciated and is not to be taken for granted.

The next work week will take place between 12th-16th June 2023. This week, Alon Goldman will be assisted by Pastor Steven Reece and volunteers from the MATZEVAH Foundation from the USA, Pawel Kulig and volunteers from the Guardians of Remembrance Foundation from Lodz, our friends the volunteers of Fundacja Chrześcijańska Adullam of Częstochowa and students from Częstochowa high schools.

Source: czestochowanaszemiasto.pl

Source: Izabela Sobańska-Klekowska & Jolanta Urbańska

The Częstochowa branch of the TSKŻ commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
by organising a ceremony at the Częstochowa Jewish Memorial.

Members of the Częstochowa TSKŻ were joined, in the ceremony, by representatives of local government, other organisations and schools, as well as members of the Częstochowa community.

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.

Words and photographs: Alon Goldman Video: Orion TV

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”!

Words: Andrew Rajcher Photographs: Częstochowa City Council

Words and photographs: Andrew Rajcher