A Proud, Independent Man - the Story of the Priest Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel

KJ, 16 November 2016
In the next few days, the Wydawnictwo Czarne publishing house will publish Dariusz Rosiak’s A Proud, Independent Man – the Story of the Priest Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel (Człowiek o twardym karku. Historia księdza Romualda Jakuba Wekslera-Waszkinela). It is the story of a clergyman struggling with two identities – Christian and Jewish – and who has roots in two homelands – Poland and Israel.

Dariusz Rosiak, a reporter, describes the unusual fate of this Catholic priest who, twelve years after his ordination, discovered that he is a Jew. From that time, he has lived at the crossroads of two cultures and religions.

Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel was born into a Jewish family in March 1943 in the Święciany ghetto near Vilna. His parents, Sonia and Jakub Weksler, decided to save their child by giving him over into the care of Poles. They left the one month-old infant on the verandah of the home of friends, the Waszkinel family. For a long time, his adoptive parents never spoke to Jakub about his origins. He only discovered the truth when hewas 35 years old. 

An interview with Rev. Weksler-Waszkinel, conducted in 2009, as part of The Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History  (Polscy Sprawiedliwi – Przywracanie pamięci) project,  can been seen HERE.