Dydnia
High School
in Dydnia
High School
in Dydnia
Podkarpacie is a true treasure of multiculturalism of the former Republic of Poland, therefore the School of Dialogue program had to be present in this region. This time the program arrived to the town of Dydnia. Dydnia is located in the Podkarpackie Province, in the Brzozowski District, in the Dydnia Commune, located in the Dynowskie Foothills, 15 km from the town of Brzozów. The town has around 1500 inhabitants. A creek called Świnka flows through it. The Municipal Cultural Centre and Public Library are located in the fire station building, where local folk artists (sculptures, painters, musicians) can perform their activity. The music school in Dydnia has been operating since 2012, there is also a volunteer firefighters orchestra. Because the town is located in the Dynowskie Foothills, agrotourism is developing well. The town has a neo-Gothic church and a wooden presbytery from 1917 built in the Zakopane style and a granary from the 19th century. There is also a classicistic manor house from the 19th century renovated in the 1960s with granary. The whole municipality boasts chapels and roadside figures from the nineteenth and twentieth century, beautiful wooden churches (former Orthodox churches), e.g. in Krzywe, Obarzym, or an Orthodox church, e.g. in Ulucz. The Icon Trail, leading from Sanok through Hłomcza and Łodzina, runs through the area of the Dydnia commune. On the other hand, the Wooden Architecture Trail, marked out a few years ago, runs through the villages known for their valuable wooden temples: the church in Jabłonka, the presbytery in Dydnia, the church in Obarzyma up to the church in Ulucz on the Dębnik hill.
The first mention of the town dates back to 1361, and according to records from 1881, there were 165 houses in the town and a small Jewish minority. In the 15th century, in addition to the Roman Catholic parish, there was also an Orthodox church. Unfortunately, there is very little information about the history of Jews in Dydnia itself, more is known about Brzozów or the whole municipality. In the 18th century, the Jewish settlement was prohibited. At that time, out of 111 houses, only two were owned by Jews. It was dictated by the activity of the owners, who introduced sanctions against the Jewish population, e.g. prohibiting trade, organization of festivities and weddings on Christian holidays, hiring Christians to work for Jews. The example of the latter is a case of a Jew from Domaradz who was ordered by Bishop Sierakowski to give a stone of wax for the church. In January 2017, many towns and cities commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, including Dydnia where program focused on the municipality rather the town.
That is why Dydnia is yet another place where the implementation of the School of Dialogue program was a challenge because of the almost non-existent history of the Jewish settlement, lack of sources and difficulty with access to it. Young people involved in the project had to show a great deal of creativity and openness to the wider history of the community and the region. After the first workshop, the participants, i.e. about 26 students of second and third year of high school, could verify their knowledge about the Jewish community in Poland. They did not ask many questions, they had very little knowledge about the subject, but already on the first day of the workshop they deepened their knowledge, and on the second they could already use what they had learned. Students proved to be curious, and some of them wanted to learn more about certain issues. It was however difficult for them to organize a walking tour in Dydnia as there was no Jewish settlement in the town. Apart from a non-existing inn, which, as it turned out, was located on the property owned today by the school principal, there are no other traces of the Jewish community in the town. The school principal also told the students and Forum educators that several families from Dydnia hid Jews or Jewish families during the war. The place nearest school, directly connected to the Jews of Podkarpackie Province, is the Jewish cemetery in Krzywe, around 4 km from the town.
Taking all this into account, the students decided to explore the area and prepare a touring trip. In addition, they wanted to prepare an exhibition or a location-based game. The idea of a meeting/exhibition was focused around old photographs they wanted to find before the trip. The tour was organized on December 12, 2017, and while preparing to it, the young people were discovering the local Jewish history by interviewing and talking to residents. The students took the trip participants to the following places: Krzemienna, Temeszów, Jabłonna, Krzywe, Grabówka, Majerówka, Końskie and Obarzym. All were connected to the pre-war period as well as to the WWII. Around 30 students from seven grade took part in the trip, the number of participants was limited by the number of seats in the bus. At the forefront of the project there were several pupils who were interested in the topic and discovering history and were therefore looking for information. From the group participating in the project, there were several girls who developed a great interest in the subject and discovering the local history. They got even their parents involved in the project.
The school principal was very supportive and also interested by the subject, she was very open to work with young people. She was the one who made a real contribution to the organization of the school bus for the trip. There were however many challenges in order to organize the trip: the students had no experience in this type of undertaking, they were only learning on how to work in a team, they had difficult access to information about Polish/Jewish history, they had to make a presentation in towns and villages located in distance from each other. Taking into account the circumstances, they managed very well with the project from the beginning to the end, with the support of the school (organizing a bus). The students also acknowledge the help of the municipality. They even came up with an idea to create a bike tour “Traces of the Jewish community in the Dydnia region” and would like to put a commemorative plaque placing in the memory of Jews executed in Krzywe. It is important that the results of the research on the local Polish/Jewish history made by the students are very interesting and encourage further exploration of the subject. The trip had several stops which included buildings and institutions connected with the local Jewish community, mainly inns, but also houses. From the testimonies of the witnesses the students found out that some of the inns, also served for social purposes, e.g. canteen for children or meeting place. Some of the locations were connected with the history of World War II: execution sites and hiding places of the Jewish families. One interesting stop of the trio was the town of Krzywe, where Germans shot several Jewish families. The students underlined that the manner of commemoration of this execution site in not appropriate, as there is a Catholic cross placed on the site.One of the pupils decided to learn more about it. Although the students did not find any old photographs, they achieved a lot by collecting information about individual families and indicating places that are not included in descriptions of local history.
The students living in a given location had to prepare presentation about the given place or the surroundings. The participant s of the trip, students of the seven grade, were very satisfied with the tour. Each participant received a leaflet with the route, a set of basic information about Jewish culture and religion, enriched with photos. The students also made a film from the trip, which included testimonies of the participants who gave their positive feedback about the whole project. The School of Dialogue is a game changer regarding attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices:
„Before the first meeting I was a little nervous, and I did not have a positive attitude towards Jews or other people. But the story of one girl and the entire nation made me realize that they just like us”. – a workshop participant.
Moreover, it is the beginning of intergenerational dialogue:
“I am very happy because we were able to talk to elderly people who knew a lot, it was a very interesting and good experience. (…) I am satisfied with the results of this project, because you can really learn a lot about other people, their problems, their past and experiences. (…) It is because of this project that I was able to learn about things that were very shocking to me. – Victoria.
And what is important, the project allows discovering the everyday history, the history of our ancestors and getting to know people, who turn out to be closer to us than we think:
“I liked the fact that I got to know the lives of people, not only Jews, but also ordinary people who knew them” – a workshop participant.
School:
Junior High School in Dydnia
Students:
class II and III
Educators:
Ewelina Bartosik, Basia Rostek
In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this educational program. Through recovering the assets of the victims of the Holocaust, the Claims Conference enables organizations around the world to provide education about the Shoah and to preserve the memory of those who perished.
In appreciation to Friends of the Forum for supporting the School of Dialogue educational program.
