Memorial Monuments to Częstochowa Jewry
- monuments erected in places around the world in memory of our martyrs
CZĘSTOCHOWA, POLAND
During World War II, the Warta Railway Station was located on this site on ul. Strażacka in Częstochowa. It was from here that, between 22nd September and 7th October 1942, the Germans sent 40,000 mostly Częstochowa Jews to their deaths at Treblinka.
The monument, made possible through the financial support of World Society President Sigmund Rolat, was unveiled on 20th October 2009 during the Third Reunion of the World Society of Częstochowa Jews & Their Descendants
It was created by Częstochowa landsmann and Treblinka escapee Samuel Willenberg z”l. The crack in the wall represents the Holocaust of Częstochowa Jewry with, to the right, real railway tracks representing the road to Treblinka. The Magen David on the left represents the fact that the Jewish people live on.
Directly in front of the monument (top pic) stands a transparent pillar containing the schedule of the trains heading to the Treblinka death camp. Adjacent to the monument (bottom pic) stands what is left of the Warta Railway Station building from where the trains departed.
TREBLINKA, POLAND
The Treblinka death camp is to where, during the Holocaust, most Częstochowa Jews were transported and where they perished. Today, the site also contains a symbolic cemetery containing around 17,000 memorial stones, representing the places from where the victims came. The stone size varies according to the estimated number from each place.
YAD VASHEM, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
The Valley of the Communities in Yad Vashem is a massive 2.5 acre monument excavated from the natural bedrock. Its stone walls are engraved with over 5,000 names of communities. Each name recalls a Jewish community which existed for hundreds of years. For their inhabitants, each community constituted an entire world. Today, in most cases, nothing remains but the name.
CHAMBER OF THE HOLOCAUST, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
Located on Mount Zion, this memorial was inaugurated on 30th December 1949 by the Ministry of Religion.
The museum features a large courtyard and ten exhibition rooms. The walls of the courtyard, plus several rooms and passages, are covered with tombstone-like plaques, inscribed in Hebrew, Yiddish and English, memorialising more than 2,000 Jewish communities destroyed during the Holocaust.
The plaque commemorating Częstochowa Jewry is shown bottom-left.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
This monument is located in the Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery in the Givatayim district, just east of central Tel Aviv. The cemetery is officially “closed” although burials sometimes still take place for deceased who had pre-purchased their plots. As well as this monument to our Częstochowa Jewish martyrs, it also contains monuments to other “vanished Jewish communities”.
(More information requested: When was this monument erected and by whom?)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
In the early 1980’s, Częstochowa Holocaust survivor Harry Jacobs (Jakubowicz) z”l and his daughter, Sylvia Horiniak (nee Jacobs), visited the Częstochowa Jewish Cemetery where they came across unburied human remains (bones). Harry committed himself to having these bones collected, shipped to Melbourne and, there, be given a proper and dignified Jewish burial.
Today, they rest in the Chevra Kadisha Jewish Cemetery in the Melbourne suburb of Springvale. While, to this day, their names are not known, they lie with dignity and under a matzevah which preserves their collective memory.
When Harry passed away in 1999, he was buried next the grave which, through his efforts, will remain a perpetual memorial to those who perished.
ELMONT, NY, U.S.A.
This monument is located in the Beth David Cemetery (Section B, Block 10) in Elmont, Queens (just outside of New York City). It was established by the Czenstochauer Bruder Verein (Częstochowa Relief Committee) and was dedicated on 8th June 1969.
The monument contains the ashes of victims from both the Auschwitz and Treblinka Nazi death camps.
The bottom photograph is of a plaque located on the lower part of the monument’s front side.
CHICAGO, IL, U.S.A.
This monument is located in the Waldheim Jewish Cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park. It was established in 1952 by the Chenstochower Society of Chicago.
(We have been informed that, while there are landsleit in Chicago, the Chenstochower Society of Chicago is, sadly, no longer active.)
TORONTO, CANADA
This monument is located in the Chenstochover Aid Society section of the Bathurst Lawn Memorial Park Jewish cemetery.
As shown on the reverse side of this monument (bottom pic), it was erected by the Society and was dedicated on 29th October 1978.
The archway seems to have been added later and dedicated in September 1992.
It bears the names of Częstochowa landsleit who perished during the Holocaust.
MONTREAL, CANADA
Inscribed in Hebrew, Yiddish, English and French, this monument (top left) is located in the Baron de Hirsch Jewish cemetery (Section A1, Road C) in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal. It was erected in 1966 by the Chenstochower Society of Montreal. The reverse of the monument bears the names of Częstochowa Holocaust martyrs.
In front of this memorial is a matzevah (bottom left) marking the grave of a coffin containing the ashes of Treblinka victims.
(More information requested: Is the Czenstochower Society of Montreal still active?)
PARIS, FRANCE
Inscribed in both Yiddish and French, this monument is located in the large Jewish section of the Bagneux Cemetery, just outside of central Paris.
The left-hand panel lists the surnames of Holocaust victims from Częochowa and the surrounding area. The central and right-hand panels bear the names and, in many cases, photographs of Holocaust survivors who have since passed away.
(More information requested: Who erected this monument and when? Is there a photograph of the monument’s reverse side? Who is buried in the two graves at the foot of the monument??)
PARIS, FRANCE
This monument (pic left) is in Paris, erected by the “Friends of Częstochowa” . However, we know very little else about it.
(More information requested: Was this monument REPLACED by the monument above (colour photo) or does it still exist? When was this monument erected? Is there a photograph of the monument’s reverse side? Who is buried in the two graves at the foot of the monument??)
From the Webmaster:
My sincere thanks to
ALON GOLDMAN
for the idea for this page
and for much of the material
which appears on it.
If anyone is aware of
other memorial monuments,
anywhere in the world,
which are dedicated to
the memory of our
Częstochowa Jewish martyrs,
then please send me
a photograph, together
with a few words about it,
for inclusion on this page.