Katarzyna Łaziuk

An event to commemorate victims of the Holocaust was held on April 26, 2014 and involved teachers and students from Polish Educational Society High and Middle school as well as employees of the municipal library. A lecture by Mr.Mariusz Dzienio on the Jewish community of Mińsk and the history of the ghetto opened the event. Mr. Dzienio recounted the tragic events of 1942, but also referred to the long presence of Jews in Mińsk and their influence on the town’s social and cultural development. Among audience members was Ms. Guta Tyrangiel Benezra, who flew in from Israel to attend the ceremony. She spent her childhood and adolescence in Mińsk and was saved from the ghetto and raised by a foster family in Mińsk. Both her parents died in the Holocaust, while the fate of her sister remains unknown. Thanks  to the efforts of our special guest, the Jaszczuk family were awarded the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel. Ms. Benezra’s testimony was very moving. Another guest of honor at the celebrations was Mr. Marek Kirszenbaum, whose family originates from Mińsk. Mr. Kirszenbaum currently lives in France and is a member of an association of Mińsk residents. His attendance and presentation testified to his great interest in the shared Polish-Jewish history.

The final part of the session was a screening of a film by students and teachers from the middle and high school basing on the memoirs of Holocaust survivor Roman Kent, president of the International Auschwitz Committee. His words embody the meaning behind the efforts to organize the whole event: “We wish to pass on our memory to young people. We stand on the side of tolerance, democracy and a just world. The worst flaw of our time is indifference. Actually, we are in need of the 11^th commandment: ‘When injustice happens, when people are discriminated against or persecuted – thou shalt not remain indifferent’. Indifference is lethal. This is the essence of our work, which we wish to continue.” Let the words of gratitude expressed by the guests testify to the importance of and need for such sessions as those on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day: “The celebratory event was an extremely moving experience for all of us. It was very carefully thought out and to us demonstrates the living memory of contemporary residents of Mińsk Mazowiecki about the local Jewish community, its contribution to local life and the tragic fate it met in the Holocaust. We find it especially important that this knowledge is passed on to the youngest generation of Mińsk residents.” Barbara Schmid – Guz, Marek Kirszenbaum, Jerzy Guz.