Events

80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Ostrowiec Jewish Ghetto Ceremony- October 2022

The city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski in cooperation with the Jews of Ostrowiec Memorial Project commemorated  this year the 80th anniversary of the liquidation of the Ostrowiec Jewish Ghetto and the tragic end of the Jewish Community of Ostrowiec, exterminated by the Nazi murderers.

While the events leading to the liquidation of the Ghetto and deportation to Treblinka began on October 11, 1942, this year the city honored  the day with a special event according to the Hebrew Calendar since October 11 this year was a Jewish Holiday of “Sukkot”.

On October 11, 1942, under the German occupation of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, over 10,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes and gather in the Rynek (market square). The employed ones were sent to the labour office located on the Florian Square, near the City Council, while the non-employed remained in the Rynek.  Old people and children were shot on the spot, children shot in front of their parents, and parents in the presence of their children; sick people in the hospital were shot lying in their beds.

Later the non-employed Jews were brought to the courtyard of the Polish elementary school in Sienkiewicza Street and left there in the open for a couple days  without a water or food.  They were later marched to the train station and sent to their deaths in cattle train transports to the Treblinka death camp.

The main commemoration event was held on Wednesday October 26, 2022 :

Venue: Ostrowiecki Browar Kultury (multifunctional room)

The event included testimonies by descendants of Jews from Ostrowiec including testimony and presentation of a film by Avi Borenstein, representative of the Jews of Ostrowiec Memorial Project. A symbolic memorial service was held and later a speech by Bogdan Białek, director of the Jan Karski Association.  performance by .

The participants of the event were later  invited to visit the exhibitions in the Art Exhibition Bureau - "I Am My Family" by Rafael Goldchain and "ZAAM" by Marek Cecuła, which began by a singing performance by Ryfka Foremniak.

Below you can view the full event in 3 parts. Some of the speakers spoke only in Polish.

Part 1/3

The film "Deportation Then and Now"  that was produced just in time for the event was viewed by the audience. It describes sites of where deportation took place in the town. The Polish text version can be seen here, and an English version will be available later this year.