Dariusz Popiela
Lider Dialogu w Nowym Sączu
Lider Dialogu w Nowym Sączu
“People, Not Numbers in Czarny Dunajec” is the next initiative of commemoration of the Holocaust victims with their names marked on the memorial, led by an Olympic in slalom canoeing. In recent years, similar unveiling ceremonies were held in Krościenko and Grybów. With the support of the Scholarship for Local Projects, granted in 2020, a commemoration of Jewish residents of Czarny Dunajec and victims of the local labor camp will be organized. The concept behind the project is to underline the scale of the Shoah by marking the first and last names and age of the victims, and by that, raising awareness and empathy towards those who perished. As a result, the projects will bring the public closer to the anonymous victims, who so far were only described by a number or as Jews.
The first stage of the project will consist of maintenance works at the cemetery, including its fence. Next, a memorial with names of several hundred of victims, as well as a matzeva of memory, will be placed to mark the mass grave. Educational plaques will also be installed at the cemetery with information about the history of the cemetery, the memorial site, and the Shoah in the region and life before the war. Before the works at the cemetery start, different educational activities will be organized, which will include workshops in schools, open meetings with the local community and a visit of young people to the Museum-Memorial Site in Bełżec. Students will also participate in cleaning up the cemetery, and selected schools will take care of the memorial and the cemetery after the project is completed.
Project financed by the Ledor Wador Foundation.
