Wyszków
School Complex No 3
in Wyszków
School Complex No 3
in Wyszków
The School of Dialogue could not be missing in the town where Mordechaj Anielewicz, one of the most famous leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, came from. It was therefore all the more welcomed to receive school’s application in the project and see the motivation of students, teachers and the school principal. The town in question is Wyszków located in the Mazowieckie Province, fifty-nine kilometers from Warsaw. It has about 27 thousand inhabitants. The first mentions of the town date back to the 13th century.
Jews began to settle in Wyszków in the second half of the 18th century. Until the 1820s there was no Jewish community in Wyszków, so the Jews from Wyszków belonged to the communities in Węgrów, Ostrów, Nasielsk, Maków. In the 19th century Jews lived mainly on Poprzeczna Street in the western part of the town. At that time there was already a synagogue, cemetery, cheder, mikvah in the town; the kehilla also paid its own rabbi. The Jews from Wyszków were mainly engaged in trade, craftsmanship and inn lease. In the 19th century they started to invest in small industry. Let’s close our eyes for a moment and imagine this 19th century town. The owners of two soda water factories, three ice cream parlours and a plant producing carts were Jewish. Some Jews made a living by processing forest products. In the 19th century, Hasidism gained popularity in Wyszków. Most of the Hasidim from Wyszków were supporters of the Tzadik from Radzymin.
In 1919 anti-Semitic incidents took place in the town. During the Bolshevik offensive in 1920, some left-wing Jewish activists took the side of the Bolsheviks and became involved in the activities of the Revolutionary Committee and the militia. Because the Polish army was approaching the town, two hundred Jews decided to flee. After the town is captured by the Polish army, that whole group of Jews was brought back to Wyszków. They were kept in Senators Garden, where they were beaten by soldiers and militia, and forced to carry out heavy work. More anti-Semitic incidents occurred in the 1930s. In 1937 Jews constituted 48% of the population of Wyszków. In 1939, after the German occupation of the town, about a thousand Jews were murdered. The elderly were shot and 77 Jews and 8 Poles were gathered in one of the barns and the building was set on fire. Some Jews managed to flee and found refuge on the territory of the USSR, in Dobre near Minsk Mazowiecki and Jadov. After the end of World War II, the Jewish community in Wyszków was not reborn.
Neither the building of the former brick synagogue at the corner of Kościuszko and Wąska Streets nor the wooden synagogue at Strażacka Street have survived to our times. The Jewish cemetery is located at the end of Łączna Street. Most of the matzevot were used during the war to strengthen the banks of the Struga river and pave the square in front of the Gestapo headquarters on Zakolejowa Street. After the war the area of the cemetery was used by the inhabitants as a field. In the 1990s, thanks to the efforts of the Jewish Historical Institute and descendants of Wyszkow Jews, the area was fenced and a memorial was erected on site.
The story behind what is left or disappeared inspired the students to explore the local history and create interesting events for the project. 25 students got took part in the workshops and in the project. They did not only broaden their knowledge about the history and culture of Polish Jews, but above all they managed to apply it in practice and learned new, useful skills.
The walking tour was organized on December 19, 2017 and was planned in the form of a location-based game. The students of LEB class 3 were responsible for its preparation and organization, and were helped by their teacher Mr. Robert Szulęcki. The participants of the walking tour were from the second grade of high and their teachers Mr. Adam Mickiewicz and Mr. Krzysztof Ostrowski. As planned, the participants met at 9:00 a.m. with the organizers in one of the classrooms. The students were divided into three groups of several people, who had to choose their leaders and come up with the name of their team. The teams of “Białe róże” (White Roses), “Mandarynki” (Tangerines) and “Obwarzanki” (Precels) were ready for the game. They were introduced to the rules of the game, its main goal and the planned route. The groups were to be awarded with points for each task that determined the final result. The theme of the game regarded Jews who once lived in Wyszków and its surroundings, and the groups were set to follow the traces of the Jewish community in the town.
The game was very well planned logistically, and the groups started at different moment in order for them to perform the given at each stop without being disturbed. After the departure of the first group, the organizers asked the remaining group to draw a map of pre-war Wyszków. In the meantime, two people from the second and third group were asked questions about it to check their level of knowledge. The participants admitted that they had no idea about such a large Jewish presence in Wyszków and did not know who Mordechaj Anielewicz was. They added that the project and the walking tour itself seemed very interesting.
The first stop of the tour was the Municipal Library and an exhibition about Jews displayed there. The content of the exhibition and its visual aspect prepared by Mr. Mirosław Powierzy was very good. The students of LEB class were also involved in its implementation. After listening to interesting facts about Jewish life in Wyszków, the groups were asked to retain the information. Four people from a group were selected for a special task, which consisted in making a poem based on the facts heard a moment ago. After completing these two tasks, they went to the next stop, the place where the synagogue was located before the war. When they arrived to the spot, they were introduced to its history of this place and its former function. After listening to all the information, the group was asked to solve more puzzles and riddles. The group worked very well together and acquired information provided to them.
The next stop of the location-based game was the monument to Mordechai Anielewicz, which is located near the place where the leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lived before the war. The participants listened to his story and facts from his life. Then they answered the questions and solved logical riddles, referring to Jews. After the task was completed, the groups went to the former marketplace in Wyszków. In the past, the majority of sellers were Jews. Then they headed for the Jewish cemetery in Wyszków, which was the last stop of the tour.
After a quite demanding route, the participants reached their destination. At this stop they were introduced to the history of the Jewish cemetery, established at the beginning of the 19th century and destroyed at the end of the first half of the 20th century. Students learned the facts and were presented to the commemorative plaques and matzevot that were preserved. This time they had to find Jewish symbols placed on tombstones.
The participants could learn about the meaning of the individual signs they noticed, and then answered the questions.
After the last task, the groups went back to school. When they arrived, they were greeted with latkes, potato pancakes – prepared by the students of LEB class – popular among the Jewish population, as well as hot tea and challah with lemon curd. When the tour participants, students and their teacher were enjoying the refreshments, the organizers counted the points. Shortly after, Mr. Robert Szulęcki summed up the location-based game. Then deputy principal, Adam Mickiewicz, spoke about the importance of Jews in the history of Wyszków. The third group, “Precels” won the competition. The winners received books about the history of Wyszków. At the end, a film was shown in which Bolesław Wolski, the son of Stanisław Wolski, the pre-war mayor of Wyszków, in which he talks about the life in Wyszków during the war. He mentioned the history of Jews living in Wyszków, how they were treated and what difficulties they were faced with. He also presented the circumstances in which his parents rescued two girls of Jewish origin. The film made a very good impression on the participants of the project. They could hear about the history of Jews from the perspective of a witness. This broadened their knowledge on the subject.
In the course of the project, the students searched for information and support from a wide range of sources, both on the Internet and in the local library, as well as from local historians. They were creative and documented their efforts by publishing articles on the school’s website and in the local press and school radio. In addition, photographs from the walking tour were used in a presentation about the event.
School:
School Complex No 3 in Wyszków
Students:
High School class III
Educators:
Katarzyna Niewczas, Katarzyna Czajkowska-Łukasiewicz
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.
