On 5 December, the 74th anniversary of the establishment of the “Żegota” Council to Aid Jews was celebrated at POLIN Museum with a meeting of young people with Elżbieta Ficowska, who told them the story of her rescue from the Holocaust. The event was accompanied by the unveiling of the new version of www.sprawiedliwi.org.pl – the website of the Museum’s “The Polish Righteous – Restoring Forgotten History” project. This project is dedicated to Poles who saved Jews during the Holocaust. Among the participants of the event there were Righteous Among the Nations, as well as Dr Mateusz Szpytma, Vice President of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN).
A meeting of a Holocaust Survivor
POLIN Museum hosts an educational event aimed at young people on each anniversary of the foundation of “Żegota”. In the years 2012-2014, the honorary guest at the function was the late Władysław Bartoszewski. Since 2015, young people have been meeting with Elżbieta Ficowska, who was rescued by members of “Żegota” as a child. She was carried out of the Warsaw Ghetto in a box with a silver teaspoon engraved with her name and date of birth. Last year, Mrs Ficowska donated a replica of her extraordinary, priceless keepsake to POLIN Museum. Read more.
This year’s meeting was preceded by a lecture given by POLIN Museum historian Krzysztof Persak on topics related to the circumstances of the establishment of “Żegota” and its activities, plus a screening of the film Łyżeczka życia (“Teaspoon of Life”), directed by Michał Nekanda-Trepka, which tells the story of Elżbieta Ficowska’s rescue.
”When I was six months old, short before that terrible July 1942, I was taken out of the ghetto to the “Aryan side” on a cart carrying bricks,” she said when she was interviewed by Klara Jackl and Zofia Mioduszewska. She paid particular attention to the high moral standards displayed by the Righteous and their courage in face of the challenges of the modern world.
Updated “Polish Righteous” website online
The 74th anniversary of “Żegota” proved to be an appropriate occasion for unveiling the new, updated portal www.sprawiedliwi.org.pl, the website of the POLIN Museum’s “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” project, which is dedicated to Poles who rescued Jews during the Holocaust.
Launched in 2007 by the Jewish Historical Institute Association in Poland, the website publishes the stories, faces and voices of the Righteous on the Internet. Almost 1,000 stories of rescue have been published so far. The portal's database contains several thousand records. This year, the website has received a fundamental facelift.
According to POLIN Museum Deputy Director Jolanta Gumula, “Our website is now more interactive, with improved design and architecture, as well as a new functionality – an advanced search engine, allowing for our collection of almost 1,000 stories of help to be browsed by surname of Righteous or Rescued, by date and place of birth or death, as well as by place and type of aid provided to Jews.”
The symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on the stage of the POLIN Museum auditorium, the ribbon being cut by Jolanta Gumula, Elżbieta Ficowska and Józef Walaszczyk, a Righteous Among the Nations and Vice-Chairman of the Polish Righteous Association.
“Our stories have been told at the POLIN Museum for a long time now and will continue to be present here. We are happy that they are displayed with the use of modern mass media“, he said on behalf of the Association, which this year celebrated its 30th anniversary at the POLIN Museum. Read more.
The event concluded with the participants of the meeting laying flowers at the “Żegota” monument, located in front of the entrance to the Museum, near the Ghetto Heroes Monument.
The event was organised by the “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” project and the POLIN Museum’s Education Centre in cooperation with March of the Living Canada.
“Żegota”
Established on 4 December 1942, “Żegota” was set up through the Polish Government-in Exile. It was the only European public organisation founded for the purpose of saving Jews, operating in the underground. It continued the work of the Temporary Committee to Aid Jews, operating by the Government Delegation for Poland. Its staff comprised members of left-wing and democratic political parties, Polish and Jewish organisations, as well as individuals from intelligentsia and Catholic circles. “Żegota” provided primarily financial support, hiding places and false documents. Several thousand people were assisted in this manner, including children hiding with Polish families or within orphanages.
The “Polish Righteous” website receives financial support from Tomek Ulatowski, Carmit and Ygal Ozechov.
The “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” project receives financial support from Norway Grants and EOG Grants through Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.
www.eeagrants.org, www.norwaygrants.org
Find out more about the "Jewish Cultural Heritage" project
The patron of “Polish Righteous” website:
