אירועי שנת ה-70 לפוגרום קילצה
בשבוע של ה-3 ביולי, 2016, החלו אירועים לציון 70 שנים לפוגרום.
נפתחה תערוכה חדשה ביוזמת מכון "יאן קרסקי" בקומה הראשונה בבניין בפלאנטי 7.
התערוכה כוללת מסמכים חשובים, תמונות ועדויות בוידאו.
בטקס הפתיחה, נכחו ראש העיר והבישוף של קילצה.
ביום השנה לפוגרום, ה-4 ביולי, ביקר בתערוכה נשיא פולין יחד עם הרב הראשי לפולין.
יום קודם לכן, יזמה הכנסיה האוונגליסטית המקומית, התומכת רבות בישראל, כנס זיכרון ואזכרה לזכר חללי הפוגרום.
בטקס נטלו חלק נציגי ארגוננו ובראשם יעקב קוטליצקי, אשר נשא דברים בשם קהילתנו.
להלן תמצית תיאור האירועים באנגלית עם קישורים:
I have just returned from Kielce after taking part in the numerous events related to the commemoration of the 70thanniversary of the pogrom. There have been many more people this year despite the rain and the bad weather. You can see photos in the link below.
The events started on Saturday July 2, 2016 noon time with the opening of a new exhibition of the pogrom set up by the Jan Karski Institute on the 1st floor of the house at Planty 7/9. The exhibition is very moving and includes very interesting and important documents, photos video testimonies and films. In the opening ceremony took place among other the Mayor of Kielce and the Bishop of Kielce. On July 4, the president of Poland visited the exhibition together with the Chief Rabbi of Poland and spent almost 20 minutes there instead of the 5 minutes planned. A special report can be found in the following link: http://www.jankarski.org.pl/aktualnoci/item/673-prezydent-andrzej-duda-zwiedzil-wystawe-wspomnijcie-na-minione-dni
On Sunday morning at 10:00 the Church of the Wieczerniks (an evangelistic group in Kielce very active in supporting Israel) had an international conference in support of Israel and fighting anti-Semitism. The ceremony took place at the exact place of the previous Ludwikow metal factory from where a big group of murderers marched from Ludwikow factory to the house at Planty 7 at noon time of the day of the pogrom to join the mob and murdering many of the victims and injuring many of the wounded. Following the conference at 11:00 the participants exited the gate of the former Ludwikow factory and marched to the location of the Menora (about 2 Km) following the route of the murderers but this time it was a “March of Life”. More information can be found in the Wieczerniks’ web site: http://www.wieczernik.pl/
At 12:00 the March of Life joined the March and the events of the Jan Karski Institute that included a very intensive program starting at 12:00 at the Menora where various speeches were held including by the ambassador of Israel, then the participants (about 250-300 people) marched to the building of the previous synagogue where few more speeches and prayers (also mutual with Christian priests) took place. From there the march moved to the house at Planty 7/9 where a letter of the Polish Prime Minister was read by Andrzej Bialek (See:http://www.jankarski.org.pl/aktualnoci/item/676-list-premier-beaty-szydlo-w-70-rocznice-pogromu). Then an actor read the speech that Rabbi Kahanah held at the open grave of the victims during the funeral in 1946 , which reflected the emotions of the Jews that time. Then Bogdan had his main speech, the names of the victims were mentioned and written on the pavement by youngsters, followed by more prays. Many flowers & candles were placed at the wall of the building by representatives of the participating groups. See: http://www.jankarski.org.pl/aktualnoci/item/674-przemowienie-bogdana-bialka-w-70-rocznice-pogromu-kieleckiego
At 15:00 we gathered at the cemetery for the final ceremony at the grave of the victims. The number of participants was about 100+. At the cemetery I was the only speaker. I held my speech in Hebrew and Bogdan read the translation to Polish. An English translation was given to those who were interested. Please find attached a copy of English translation.
After the speech the chief Rabbi of Poland held a short speech and ended with El Male Rachamim and Kadish.
On Saturday evening there was a special screening of the film “Bogdan’s Journey” or by its Polish name “ Przy Planty 7/9”. This screening in Kielce was very special not only because it was in Kielce but because in the audience were myself, the son of Jiuta Hartman and the daughter, son in law and grandchildren of Miriam Guterman .
On Monday evening there was a concert of the composition „Lament serca”. Kielcom in memoriam specially written by the world know composer Jerzy Maksymiuk to commemorate the Liquidation of the Kielce Ghetto and the Kielce Pogrom. The composition was played by one of the best orchestras in :Poland and the conductor was the composer himself Jerzy Maksymiuk.
The full program is described in details in the following link.
A somewhat surprising was the visit of the President of Poland that decided to make a personal commemorating ceremony on Monday July 4. Due to security issues, only the Chief Rabbi of Poland was invited and the former Israeli ambassador to Poland Prof. Shevah Weiss. The President visited the house at Planty 7/9 and the new exhibition of the pogrom, then visited the cemetery for a personal service with the Rabbi of Poland.
