“I couldn’t have done otherwise” says Józef Kalina in the film “Aftermath” (Pokłosie). He couldn’t have done otherwise, although his neighbors deemed him a lunatic, his wife left him and as time went on, he had to pay an increasingly higher price for his deeds. “I couldn’t have done otherwise” is a statement that could be uttered by many individuals who became involved in remembering about local Jews, caring for the Jewish cemeteries, addressing the painful past, taking on the responsibility to remember.

We wanted to talk to individuals who stumbled upon this subject matter and have not been able to not do something about it ever since: they maintain Jewish cemeteries not caring what others will say; they run cultural institutions, although this is not always a walk in the park and everyone considers them to be crazy. They force themselves and others to remember about the tragic events, even when they are intimidated or shunned. But their work also brings satisfaction, words of gratitude and a sense of fulfillment. For all these reasons, a special screening of “Aftermath” was organized on February 21, 2013 in Państwomiasto café club. It was followed by panel discussion with Bogdan Białek (chair of Jan Karski Society from Kielce), Witold Dąbrowski (deputy director of Grodzka Gate Center – NN Theater in Lublin) and Grzegorz Kamiński (teacher from Toszek in Gliwice region).

Already in the 1980s, Bogdan Białek started discussing the Kielce pogrom. In 1981, he resigned from his post as delegate to the regional “Solidarity” convention to protest against anti-Semitic remarks of some of the other delegates.

Thanks to his intervention, local authorities were responsible for commemorative ceremony on the 50th anniversary of the Kielce pogrom. The society Białek established works to have Kielce citizens actively engage in the Polish-Jewish dialogue. For Witold Dąbrowski the story began in 1992, when NN Theater (established in 1990) obtained new headquarters in the ruined building of Grodzka Gate. Beyond the gate extends the empty space of the destroyed Jewish district. NN theater founders realized that it is their duty to care for the non-existent Jewish Lublin. Today, through unique exhibitions as well as education and artistic initiatives Grodzka Gate – NN Theater tries to remind the local population of Lublin’s Jewish inhabitants. Ten years ago, Toszek teacher Grzegorz Kamiński and a group of students from the local elementary school cleaned the Jewish cemetery in Wielowieś, where Kamiński worked. Since that time, Kamiński and local youth (school students, archers and scouts) maintain all Jewish cemeteries in Wielowieś, Toszek, Pyskowice, Sośniowice – in all of the Gliwice country. On November 9, 2012, Kamiński unveiled a plaque commemorating the Toszek synagogue.

In reference to the film, but first and foremost to our guests’ work, we asked where this sense of responsibility comes from. What is the price to pay, what are the gains? What are the joys and sorrows connected to activism in the “J-letter topic”?