With this little project we hope to preserve the past and shape the future of our small hometown, Sokolka, in the secluded north-eastern part of Poland, where Christian, Muslim, Orthodox and Jewish cultures used to live through good and bad together.
We plan to:
- restore the old Jewish cemetry from under bushes and trees which have almost completely covered it
- hire professionals to decipher the tombstones (and give the database over to the local museum)
- organize awareness workshops at local schools.
Ewa, a local teacher, is the leader on point 1.
Ola, the local museum keeper, is focusing on point 2.
Gosia (me) is getting this crowdfunding going and taking care of point 3.
Once we have something concrete and visible, we'll preserve it and then talk, talk and talk about it to kids in Sokolka so that they won't fall prey to fearing foreigners and to xenophobia.
Do you know this video?
AN OPEN WORLD BEGINS WITH AN OPEN MIND
This is what we are hoping for.
We are pretty good when it comes to point 1.
With a little budgetary support from the town's mayor and a few volunteers we are cleaning the cemetry from the bushes and small trees (all in accordance with the Judaism laws).
Not only 1,000 tombstones are hardly visible, the Jewish past is not mentioned in the town's touristic folders or at schools. I figure after the war everybody rightfully wanted to forget about all the atrocities and move on with their lives. And so... the Jewish neighbours, for many different reasons, stayed in oblivion.
As for point 2)...
We need finacial support to hire professionals who can decipher the names of real people on the tombstones, our long-gone neighbours. The database will be held at the Jewish Historical Institute and the local museum.
So we can get to point 3)
Once the past is preservered we'd like to shape the future and organize workshops for kids from local schools.
Short personal story
1 year ago I realised I knew nothing about the history of my hometown. It was a pretty shameful moment.
It turned out that neither me, an almost 40-years old, nor my nephews or nieces, knew about the fact, that only 80 years ago 50% of the town was Jewish. How come?
How come 3,000 people left nothing behind???
Well, there's still one thing left behind and it's the cemetry, as I found out from Ewa and Ola, the local freaks on the topic, whom I met by a "concidence".
As you can see, my ignorance was bottomless. I had never heard about it from my parents, friends or teachers... Never heard or never listened? ; )
Honestly? I'm not passionate about the Jewish culture. I visited Israel for the first time only last year too. Loved the country, the food, the sun etc. But I'm not passionate about it. I am though about my little son, and the world he's going to live in.
I want it to be safe, filled with love, compassion and understanding rather than with fear.
So I'd like to do something about that ignorance, my own too, which to me is one of the reasons of xenophobia. And little towns are great at developing it, aren't they? So that it won't become life-threatening again.
Ola, Ewa and Gosia, we want to do something about it and break the cycle. Especially with all what you hear in media about the fear of foreigners, muslims, refugees etc.
We are fundraising to ultimately make teenagers of our hometown, Sokolka, aware that Jews were a huge part of it before they died in the Nazi German camps. To preserve the past and shape the future. So they know we are all the same in our differences and so that the fear of the others diminishes with knowledge and awareness. We all share home, we share the past and we share the DNA.
Rewards
- Everybody who supports us will receive a photograph of the tombstone with the name of the neighbour deciphered and now saved (via email).
- Once the project finishes, we will organize an exhibition in the local museum. In its brochure, we'd like to let everyone know you supported and helped preserved the past of Sokolka.
- If we reach the stretch target and are able to organize workhops with kids we'll be thrilled to thank you on the events' facebook pages and also int he opening speeches.
- To bring you closer to our hometown we'd like to also share with you an extraordinary movie (image and sound only). It's a documentary about the north-east of Poland - the most pictoresque attempt to show the magic and mystism of the region where people of 4 religions still live together, home of the oldest forrest in Europe, misty meadows and starry sky. It's image and music only. Watch trailer here - CzastkaPodlasia.pl
- And last but not least - there are pajaki (pah-yonk-ee) - traditional Polish chandeliers made from rye straw and paper. Their history dates back to the mid-18th century. Made by country women as decorations for their homes especially for Christmas, Easter, as well as for weddings and christenings. Suspended from a ceiling in a main room, amongst colourful paper cut-outs, paintings and paper flowers they became a popular decoration in polish village houses. They were a symbol of harvest and happiness in New Year. Check the website of Karolina Merska- pajaki maker
Additionals
Full campaign video here.
Want to see how beautiful our region is? Visit this page or watch here.
Beautiful pictures of the region thanks to the courtesy of Bornglobals
Pictures of the regional varia thanks to the Polin Museum of the History of the Polish Jews and the Land of Sokolka Museum.