Marcin Mikołajczyk

My interest in the legacy of Polish Jews is a natural consequence of my educational activities in the area of my region’s history. As I was conducting classes on the history of Łomża, I realized that young people know almost nothing about the Jewish community that lived in our town before the war. They were completely surprised when I told them that the first evidence of the Jewish community in Łomża date back to the 15^th century and that during the period between the world wars Jews constituted a significant part of our town’s population. Unfortunately, the history of the Jews of Łomża is completely unknown to most people. This is why, through my activism, I try to bring back the memory of Łomża’s multicultural traditions. I work at High School no. 3 in Łomża, where I teach history and social studies. I am interested in the multiculturalism of Podlasie – in all its manifestations. Additionally, the fact that my school is located in the old Jewish hospital building cannot be overestimated as, in my opinion, it creates a natural bridge between the past and the need to commemorate Jewish inhabitants of Łomża.

My initiatives aim at restoring the memory of Jewish citizens of my town. For this reason, I created a guidebook, which makes it easier to find places connected to Jews in Łomża. I think that both younger and older generations that participate in the tours of “Jewish Łomża”, have the opportunity to get acquainted with the legacy of Łomża’s Jews, and to learn about Jewish customs and culture. I feel that this allows them to confront the numerous stereotypes about Jews, which they hear about in their daily lives and in public discourse. I hope that my initiatives will allow my students to build tolerant attitudes based on expertise knowledge in the area of multiculturalism and understanding human rights.

Activism