Krasnystaw

They owned mills and bakeries, there was also a Jewish bookshop. There was also a grain depot and beer bottling plant that had Jewish owners. Bund, Zionists and Aguda all had their supporters in Krasnystaw. Trade unions and a number of associations were active in the town. Up until World War II, the town was bustling with Jewish life, which flourished and blossomed.

The ghetto, which was established in 1940, imprisoned around 2 thousand Jews from the town and surrounding area. Some of its residents were sent to Sobibór death camp via the ghetto in nearby Izbica. A few others ended up in Majdanek; those who stayed in Krasnystaw were deported to Bełżec death camp in October 1942.

The only material testimony to this history in topography of present-day Krasnystaw is the presence of a few buildings connected to the town’s prewar Jewish life: that of the synagogue at number 3 of Czysta Street, which had been restructured many times; and the area of the Jewish cemetery at Rejowiecka Street, right next to a forest known as Borek. A few crumbling headstones still stand at the overgrown graveyard. Unfortunately, there is no fence of memorial plaque marking this site.

fot. Jolanta Goździk, Karolina Jastrzębska-Mitzner

In the course of the spring edition of School of Dialogue, students of the local junior hugh school in Zakręcie along with Forum for Dialogue educators explored the Jewish history of Krasnystaw. They studied old photographs, discussed the bases of Judaism and the different holidays connected to it, the meaning of multiculturalism and stereotypes. Students studied the time of World War II and how it impacted their local Jewish community and the present-day identity of Jews in Israel, the United States and Poland. After a few days of group work, students began to prepare a walking tour of their own design for local elementary school students.

The tour was held in the middle of the week – a Wednesday – on June 8, 2016. The meeting point was pl. 3 Maja, where students provided an overview of prewar Krasnystaw, describing the small tenement houses, shops and the square itself, where Jewish and Christian children played together and how this whole story ultimately ended. From the square, they led their group on a tour of “Jewish Cultural Sites in Krasnystaw”.

Under the Binder family house, students talked about the family, their professions and what happened to them after the war broke out. They also quoted the testimony of the Binders’ daughter Miriam, a Holocaust survivor, and testimonies of Wiesława and Alicja Niewidziajło, whose family hid the Binders during the war.

On Czysta Street, under the building of the former synagogue, students explained what a synagogue is and who is a rabbi. They described the Krasnystaw synagogue as it once looked, how it was built and which original elements can still be seen on the building. They supplemented their story with archival photographs.

On Zamkowa, students pointed out where the rabbi’s house once stood and where Jewish shops used to line the street.

They sketched the biography of the local rabbi, whose name was Naftali Czerwony Kamień and who lived near the synagogue. Students also quoted one of the local residents, who wrote in his memoirs about Krasnystaw’s Jewish shopkeepers.

At Zaułek Nadrzeczny Street, tour organizers talked about the castle and mikveh both standing on the same street. They explained what a mikveh is, who used it and how it looked before the war. At Grobla Street, students showed where the gate of the ghetto would have been and explained what the ghetto was. They recounted the history of Krasnystaw’s closed Jewish district, supplementing it with reminiscences of Jews who were placed there after the war. They explained what happened to Jews of Krasnystaw during the Holocaust.

At Partyzantów Street, students pointed out the former cheder building, explaining immediately what a cheder is, who learned there and how many cheders were in Krasnystaw altogether.

At each stop, the group would be shown photos of the site before World War II or right afterwards. Everything was explained in simple language, so that elementary school students would understand.

For the final part of the walk, students had prepared a game to cement their guests’ knowledge of Jewish and Christian holidays. Can someone spot the differences and the similarities? Tour participants were treated to matzoh and asked about their impressions. At the very end, a poster was created by everyone involved, allowing anyone to sign their name and state what they feel after the tour.

To read more about Krasnystaw visit Virtual Shtetl:

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.