Festive Fundraising Event for the Righteous in Kraków

Mateusz Szczepaniak, 16 November 2016
A festive fundraising event took place in Kraków on 18th September 2016 in honour of the Righteous Among the Nations and aimed at ensuring support of them financially. Those who took part included representatives from the academic, arts and business worlds, as well as members of the Polish Association of the Righteous and the Kraków Jewish Community. Both the Righteous and the Rescued told their stories during the event.

This charity event was organised by the Jewish Initiative for the Righteous and the "SIMKHA Dom – Poles for Israel”. Anyone who registered online and bought a symbolic brick was entitled to take part in the event.

"We want the Righteous to be aware that there are those who care about them in the same way that they looked after those in their care. We want them to feels that their deeds are recognised, that their sacrifice had a deeper meaning", said Jakub Rympel, event organiser.

The festive lunch and concert took place at the Industrial restaurant in Kraków, near Oskar Schindler's factory, a Righteous Among the Nations who saved his Jewish slave labourers from extermination. A Rescued present at the event, Bronisława Horowitz-Karakulska, provided, for auction in support of the Righteous, an extraordinary piece of memorabilia  – a small gold chain given to her by her parents on her eighteenth birthday.

The most important part of the event was meeting the Righteous who included Mirosława Gruszczyńska, Witold Lisowski, Maria Nowak, Janina Rościszewska and Czesława Żak, as well as children of the Righteous who did not receive that title - Józef Jarosz and Eugeniusz Janczarski. These heroes described the saving of Jews by their families and stressed their connection to the Jewish community in Poland today.

"We have constant contact with the children of the Holocaust. We celebrate Jewish holidays with them and we attend academic conferences. We are just like one family", said Righteous Witold Lisowski.

At the end of the event, these witnesses to history were invited to tour Kraków by carriage. During that time, the charity auction took place, all proceeds going towards the financial support of the Righteous.

Patrons of the event was Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich, who was represented by Kraków Rabbi  Eliezer Gurary, and the Children of the Holocaust Association.