Rural Poland and the Lost Jewish Communities

The last day in Poland has finally come. I think it’s always important to finish strong. As I stated earlier, it can be argued that rural Poland is the real Poland. It’s where most Poles live and there’s plenty of history and sights to see. But first, there was some work to complete in the Brzesko Jewish Cemetery. I had more bushes and weeds to chop away. Over the past few days, we did so much work. We cleared up a large portion of the cemetery, uncovered plenty of tombstones, and hopefully played a role in getting the town interested in preserving the cemetery and in doing so aiding in the preservation of the town’s Jewish memory. It might not have been much but you have to start somewhere.
We finally left Brzesko to head back to Warsaw. But, we decided to make some stops along the way. We decided to stop at two towns that used to be shtetls. For those who don’t know, shtetls are towns that used to have a large majority of the population be Jewish. The two towns we visited were Pinczow and Chmielnik. These two towns had their old synagogues turned into museums - at least the ones that survived the war. Prior to 1939, Chmielnik had a population of about ten thousand people, 8,000 of whom were Jewish. Today, the town has 4,000 people. None of whom are Jewish. Pinczow has a very similar story. Most fled, were shot, deported, or taken to Treblinka. After the war, few came back but were encouraged to leave. Those who survived, more than likely left to Israel. What was inspiring though was how many of the townspeople today are working to preserve the memory of the town’s Jewish past even though they know they will not come back. They’re doing the most they can, preserving the memory of those who would otherwise be there today. While of course, many Jews lived in Warsaw and Krakow, several still lived in shtetl communities out in the rural heart of Poland. Today, not many even live in all of Poland.
We made one more stop before Warsaw. There’s a city in Poland called Kielce which was the site for the beginning of the major catalyst of Jews emigrating from Poland. When you can, look up the Kielce Pogrom. What’s disturbing was that it was Poles who killed Jews based on a blood libel in 1946. In Kielce, there are monuments to the Jewish community and the massacre that hurt the community. The monuments are worth seeing if you ever get the chance and are passing through Kielce. I’m not sure what else there is to do in Kielce though.
After Kielce we finally make it to Warsaw to finish off a long trip. We had a farewell dinner with the Taube Foundation. When you are in Poland, you have to ask them for a tour. They are fantastic and you will learn so much about Polish Jewish history. After dinner, it was time to go to bed and get ready for the next leg of the journey. Next stop: Prague.
~Noah Goldman