Renovation of the monument for the victims of Kielce Pogrom

The Kielce Jewish Community in Israel and the Jan Karski Organization in Poland are cooperating in a joint initiative to renovate the monument of the pogrom victims’ and the 43 children’s gravestone in Kielce’s Jewish cemetery. The project also involves the municipality of Kielce, and Rabbi Michael Schudrich – Chief Rabbi of Poland.

The new monument was designed by Marek Cecula, an internationally recognized Israeli artist who was born in Kielce. The monument is planned to be publically unveiled in a ceremony on July 4, 2010 (64^th anniversary of the Pogrom).

The monument represents the shattered dreams of the pogrom victims to immigrate to the state of Israel, and the feelings and state of mind among the Jewish people and survivors who came back to Kielce after the holocaust in order to continue their lives.

On its right section, the monument displays the names of the pogrom victims in Hebrew.
On its left section, the story of pogrom translated into four languages. The middle section of the monument is composed of black granite stone with a Star of David, representing the shock and impact of the pogrom on the Jewish people.

An appropriate biblical verse will be printed below the granite stone. In addition, a natural stone from the mountains of Jerusalem will be placed on the monument to represent the victims’ desire to reach the state of Israel and start new lives. Since they couldn’t achieve that goal, at least the stone from Jerusalem is near them. Placing the stone on the monument also represents the Jewish tradition of placing a stone when visiting a grave as a sign of sorrow.

We hope to achieve significant involvement and attendance of people from Israel during the ceremony and encourage anyone who’s interested to participate. We also seek generous people who can financially support the complicated efforts and help us carry out this important project.

About Jan Karski Organization

Jan Karski Organization in Poland is headed by Mr. Bogdan Bialek and invests efforts to expose anti-Semitism and encourage tolerance and cooperation between Polish and Jewish people by performing various activities. Mr. Bialek actively works to preserve the historical facts and holocaust memorial among the citizens of Kielce and Poland. The cooperation between the Kielce Jewish Community and Jan Karski Organization are very active and ongoing.

Welcome to the Kielce Jewish Community Website

This site has been established as an additional effort to preserve the memorial of the Jewish community that used to exist in Kielce, and has been exterminated by the Nazi regime during World War 2.

The site provides historical facts, testimonies, bibliographical sources, articles and media related to the life of the Jewish community in Kielce and its surroundings.

In addition, we hope that this site will constitute a connection and focal point for the sons, daughters, grandchildren and future generations of the survivors and remainings of the Kielce Jewish Community around the world.

Please note: The site is currently under construction, and avilable in its Hebrew version only.