Łowicz
J.Chełmoński High School No 1
J.Chełmoński High School No 1
The region of Łowicz stretches in the east of Łódź – a fertile, agricultural land known for its monuments and rich folklore. Łowicz, one of the oldest towns in Poland, is the capital of this region. It once was a center of property of the Archdiocese of Gniezno. Jews lived here for centuries, and even though in the 16th century they were prohibited to settle in the city, they were, however, allowed to stay in Łowicz during fairs. The biggest influx of the Jewish population was noted in the 19th century, when the quarter inhabited mostly by Jews was established. The Jews of Łowicz were mainly active in trade, craft and hired labor. They were members of the guilds of Cracow tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, upholsterers and furriers. The Jewish institutions included a synagogue, a Jewish elementary school and cheders.
In 1939, the Germans burned down the synagogue, thus marking the beginning of the end of the Jews of Łowicz. During the German occupation, a ghetto was established in Łowicz, and the matzevot from the Jewish cemetery were used by the Germans to pave the bottom of the Bzura river. In February 1941 the deportation of Jews from the Ghetto of Łowicz to the Warsaw Ghetto began. Only approximately a hundred Jews from Łowicz survived the World War 2. Some of them settled in other cities, others migrated abroad. Today, only the remains of the cemetery and traces left by a mezuzah on a door jamb in some of the old tenement houses remind about the existence of the Jewish community.
Students from Józef Chełmoński High School No 1 also remind others about life of Jews from their town. In the fall, they participated in the School of Dialogue workshops. Some students already knew quite a lot about the history of the local Jews, others developed a sincere interest during the workshops. By the end of the workshops, they came up with a work plan of a tour following the footsteps of Jews of Łowicz. They divided the responsibilities and set out to work. They gathered a lot of interesting information by themselves and a few of them even went to the Town Archives. A meeting with the historian Jakub Petelewicz turned out to be very helpful. Students also visited the Chamber of Memory of the Jews of Łowicz, with a rich collection of Jewish objects and studied books. They collected family stories connected to the fate of Jews during the war. The final outcome exceeded the expectations of the educators.
The tour of sites connected to the Jewish community of Łowicz even caught the interest of the local tour guides. Students prepared maps of the ghetto in Łowicz and a plan of the Jewish cemetery. They talked vividly and with great detail about the history of the Jewish community, the trade and Jewish craft, schools and the synagogue They explained the symbols on the Jewish headstones and recalled the fate of the Jews after the liquidation of the ghetto. They illustrated their stories with archive photos of the pre-war Łowicz. They tried to show what was still left after the former neighbors. Even though students ended their presentation with a sad statement: “For many years the Jews of Łowicz stayed hidden behind the wall of oblivion. Killed by the Germans, they also disappeared from the memory of the inhabitants of Łowicz”, their work has certainly contributed to bringing back this collective memory.
School
J. Chełmoński High School No 1
Students:
2nd year students
Teacher:
Joanna Skoneczna-Sałuda
Expert:
Jakub Petelewicz
Educators:
Ewa Stokłuska, Anna Witek
Program co-financed from the funds granted by The Rothschild Foundation Europe.
In appreciation to Friends of the Forum for supporting the School of Dialogue educational program.
