The 67th anniversary of the Kielce pogrom

, 16 November 2016
This Thursday, July 4th, 2013, Kielce will stage ceremonies in memory of the 67th anniversary of the Kielce pogrom. The event has been organised by Jan Karski Association. The programme includes a debate about the pogrom, which will be attended by recognised scholars from Poland and Israel. Additionally, a memorial reconciliation march and an awarding ceremony of righteous medals will be held.

According to Bogdan Białek, the President of Jan Karski Association, this year’s edition is inextricably linked with members of the Righteous Among the Nations.

Programme:

10.30 – Muzeum Dialogu Kultur, branch of the National Museum in Kielce

 

‘Co się stało w Kielcach po wojnie’ – debate (What happened in Kielce after the war)

Speakers:

Prof. Joanna Tokarska-Bakir (University of Warsaw)

Prof. Bożena Szaynok (University of Warsaw)

Dr Marcin Zaremba (University of Warsaw)

Zuzanna Radzik (Forum for Dialogue Among Nations)

Closing speeches:

Prof. Haim Y. Knobler (Israeli-Polish Mental Health Association, IPTZP)

Prof. Jacek Bomba (Jagiellonian University, Polsko-Izraelskie Towarzystwo Zdrowia Psychicznego)

15.00 conference hall, Kielce City Hall,  Rynek 1 Street

The ceremony of awarding Righteous medals to the late Marianna and Józef Walczyński, a married couple who risked the lives of the entire family while hiding five Jews, including Manna’s father Bekier. Manna Bekier is the current President of the New York Association of Kielce Jews. She will attend the ceremony.

16.00 Menorah monument (al. IX Wieków Kielc) – memorial and reconciliation march

Jerzy Maksymiuk will play ‘Heart Lamentation’  

Another stop during the March will be the former synagogue, in the vicinity of which the first monument in Polish history was built in memory of those who rescued Jews. The monument, which was built in 1996, bears a plaque with names of people from Kielce and surrounding villages who have been awarded the title of the Righteous Among the Nations. Another plaque bears the names of the late Marianna and Józef Walczyński from Piekoszów, near Kielce. Medals from the Vir Bonus Association will be presented here.

Afterwards, march participants will walk to 7 Planty Street to the tenement house which witnessed the infamous pogrom in 1946. Names of the victims will be read, and flower wreaths will be placed by the house. The last place on the route of the march will be a Jewish cemetery and the graves of the victims.