Commemoration of Jews from Szczebrzeszyn – Victims of the Holocaust
Our intention is to commemorate over two thousand victims of the Holocaust, Jewish residents of Szczebrzeszyn and Jews brought to the town from various parts of Europe, who are buried in four unmarked and unsecured mass graves located in the Jewish cemetery.
We will conduct research, find witness accounts, analyze aerial photos from the war, and examine the area with GPR. Mass graves, in cooperation with the Rabbinical Commission for Cemeteries and the Zapomniane Foundation, will be entered into the official register, their boundaries will be marked, and the sites will be secured. Near them we will place a monument commemorating all the victims with their names mentioned.
As accompanying activities, we will organize:
- Social clean-up at the cemetery with the residents of Szczebrzeszyn
- We will equip the cemetery with educational boards in Polish, English and Hebrew.
- Memorial trips for city residents to the extermination camp in Bełżec.
- Tours for residents around the Jewish Szczebrzeszyn.
- Publication of the audiobook of the book "Shebreshin" by Philip Bibel.
- Art workshops for children and teenagers "The Art of Being Together".
- A lecture presenting the issue of transgenerational trauma.
- Kaddish concert.
- A joint dinner for guests, descendants of Szczebrzeszyn Jews and residents of Szczebrzeszyn.
The idea behind our activities is to commemorate the Jewish inhabitants of Szczebrzeszyn and stimulate the local community to take action, drawing attention to the hole in the city's social fabric caused by the Holocaust.
The project will culminate in a ceremony at the cemetery to crown the work. We want to organize a symbolic burial of the victims, so we will conduct it with dignity and in a solemn manner with the participation of the descendants of Szczebrzeg Jews, the rabbi, representatives of other denominations, the local community and guests, reading out the names of over 2,000 victims.
The living close the eyes of the dead,
the dead open the eyes of the living,
a cry flies up the chimney
mixed with the playful howling of the wind.
Witold Dąbrowski
Cooperation:
Fundacja Ochrony Dziedzictwa Żydowskiego
Fundacja Zapomniane
Fundacja Ośrodka Karta
Komisja Rabiniczna ds. cmentarzy