Meeting of Poles Who Care for Jewish Heritage

The Associated Press runs an article reporting on the first conference of (non-Jewish) Poles who care for Jewish heritage, which was held this week in Zdunska Wola, Poland. The filmmaker Menachem Daum attended and said it was a great meeting -- lots of people in attendance. It's wonderful to hear that these people, who long have worked in isolation, are getting recognition. I look forward to staying in touch with some of them and following continued progress. It is particularly important and even urgent that their work be supported, as resources to maintain cemeteries and other Jewish heritage sites are so strapped. In Warsaw a couple of weeks ago, I met with Monika Krawczyk, the CEO of the Foundation for the Preservation of Poland's Jewish Heritage, and she painted a very pessimistic picture -- time is really running out to save some synagogues.


Catholic Poles take initiative to save Jewish cemeteries

By The Associated Press

Tags: Poland, Roman Catholic

About 30 Roman Catholic Poles have taken it upon themselves to preserve what they see as a unique and important aspect of their nation's history - the crooked and crumbling markers in Poland's neglected Jewish cemeteries.

Kamila Klauzinska, 35, has helped lead the grassroots efforts of a group of Poles who believe that preserving the nation's roughly 1,400 Jewish cemeteries is important to remembering and preserving a shared past.

"It's our common heritage, so how can we not try to save it?" Klauzinska said at a meeting this week of some 30 people involved in similar community efforts across the eastern European nation.

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