Końskie
Maria Skłodowska-Curie High School No 2
Maria Skłodowska-Curie High School No 2
There is not much left after the Jewish community that before the war had constituted 60% of Końskie population. There is only a trace after mezuzah left in a door frame and the Talmud Tora building next to the bathroom shop. A supermarket was erected at the place where the synagogue used to stand, the mazevot from the cemetery at Końskie were used during the war as building material. It therefore comes as no surprise that to the question whether there was a synagogue in their town students would simply respond „I do not know”. However a lot has changed as a result of workshops led by Forum for Dialogue educators. “If someone asks me today what a synagogue, mikvah, cheder are, I will proudly be able to give an answer to such question”, said Agnieszka, a participant in the School of Dialogue program.
In Końskie, there was not only a synagogue, a mikvah or a cheder, but also 8 houses of prayer, a butchery, a Jewish cemetery and many workshops owned by the Jews. They started to settle in Końskie from the 16th century. They were merchants and artisans. Two manufactures of hardware owned by Hochber and Kronenblum were built in the 19th century, many blacksmith workshops were also created.
Hassidism, Zionist and social movements had developed in the town. When Poland regained its independence after the Great War, there were social, cultural and political organizations functioning in the town. A newspaper Konsker Cajtung was being published. In 1939, the town was taken by the Germans. Already in September that year, fifty residents (both Jewish and non-Jewish Poles) were killed. The synagogue was burnt in the same period. Judenrat was established as well as Jewish police unit with 30 men. In the Spring of 1940, a ghetto was set up in Końskie. Around 7,500 people were living in it. Between November 1942 and January 1943, there were three liquidations organized. About 300 Jews survived the war. After the war several families still lived in the city, but they soon emigrated.
“To see with my own eyes places that I pass by every day in the historical context made me realize how ignorant I was when it comes to local history”, said one of the participants after the workshops. The students had virtually no knowledge of their town’s Jewish past prior to the workshops, but they were able to uncover lots of information relatively quickly.
They found books devoted to their region, but even more helpful were interviews they conducted with older members of the local community, especially with their parents and grandparents. One of the students even discovered that his uncle had been awarded the Righteous Among the Nations title by Yad Vashem. Thanks to those conversations, the tour they organized was filled with personal stories and anecdotes that probably would get lost in any official history. The students also contacted a local historian, Mr. Wójcicki, the author of a website devoted to Końskie history (konskie.org.pl). They became so interested in the Jewish history of their town that they decided to petition the local authorities to commemorate the Końskie Jewish community with plaques put up around the town.
To share their acquired knowledge with others, high school students organized a walking tour following the footsteps of Jews from Końskie, and recorded the entire event. Their tour was so well-publicized within the school community, that it was attended by students from the entire school, which meant that a new group of participants set off from the starting point every 15 minutes. What is more, the students invited the town’s Tourist Information Center to help the project by opening their office to the public and screening a film tied in with the tour.
The very tour wasn’t just a presentation of Jewish history of Końskie, but tried to move its participants back in time by treating them with a real challah or by producing the meticulously prepared maps and photographs of old Końskie that helped visualize what is no longer there to see.
The tour comprised the Jewish cemetery, the ghetto territory and places where Cheder, shoemaker workshop and synagogue used to stand. The tour participant learned the basics about the Jewish customs and Jewish culture, but also Jewish burial traditions and everyday life of the Jewish community. They also looked at the old photographs, tried a traditional challah and watched a silent movie depicting a pre-war life in a shtetl.
The commitment and creativity of the students were recognized – the high school students from Końskie received a distinction at the 2011 School of Dialogue Gala. One of the School of Dialogue workshops was filmed by AFP – the French Press Agency and the video with article went viral copied by websites and Jewish media all around the world.
This project is fantastic! First, it showed us that stereotypes are memory’s worst enemies. Second, it showed us that there is little difference between us and Jews. Third, the project helped me learn more about Jews. Finally, now I know that Jews were important for my national and local history, a fact that should not be forgotten.
Daniel, workshop participant
During the workshops we learned many interesting things about our town and its former Jewish inhabitants. In fact, the best thing about them was that we discovered all the information on our own by researching online, in various books and also by interviewing people who remembered the Jews from Końskie
Sara, workshop participant
School:
Maria Skłodowska-Curie High School No 2
Honorable mention:
Honorable mention at 2011 School of Dialogue Gala
Students:
students from different grades
Teacher:
Anna Janos
Expert:
Krzysztof Woźniak
Educators:
Anna Desponds, Stanisław Niemojewski
Project co-financed from the funds granted by Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture.
In appreciation to Friends of the Forum for supporting the School of Dialogue educational program.
