Bemowo is rapidly transforming into one of Warsaw’s most desirable districts thanks to outstanding metro access and ROBYG’s pioneering residential projects The developer has completed over 3,600 apartments across several modern estates while investing over PLN 10 million in public infrastructure improvements The newest apartments at Metro Life and Modern City range from 28 to 83 sqm offering balconies or private gardens up to 75 sqm and come standard with Keemple Smart House systems ROBYG’s projects combine innovative technology eco-friendly solutions like solar panels and green roofs “Building new neighborhoods means creating entire ecosystems where modernity meets nature,” Joanna Chojecka Sales and Marketing Director for Warsaw and Wrocław at ROBYG Get the best of “Warsaw Business Journal”  delivered to your inbox daily Report: resources of modern office space.. Terms of Service Trademarks Privacy Policy 2018 Warsaw Business Journal You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience Martyna Łuczka is an Environmental Protection and Waste Management Coordinator at Valeo Chrzanów our site in Poland for R&D and production of automotive lighting technologies She embodied our commitment to sustainability and champions the cause every day in her work Martyna says the heart of her mission is “minimizing our environmental footprint and promoting sustainable practices in our operations.” Her initiatives in waste management have significantly reduced the site’s annual mixed waste by more than 62% a monumental achievement in sustainability efforts and she has implemented projects to increase waste recycling onsite and optimize waste management processes It’s a chance to make a meaningful difference in protecting our environment and promoting sustainability,” Martyna says she is spearheading projects aimed at improving waste reduction and promoting ecological awareness among her colleagues at Valeo Chrzanów Everyone at Valeo has a role to play in reducing our carbon footprint and it’s thanks to team members like Martyna that we are accelerating these efforts “We are not just shaping the future of mobility we are making a difference in the world,” says Martyna We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences for future visits However you may visit Cookie Settings to customize your consent it may store or retrieve information on your browser your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to The information does not usually directly identify you but it can give you a more personalized web experience you can choose not to allow some types of cookies Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies but some parts of the site will not then work These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns Other cookies are those that are being identified and have not been classified into any category as yet Poland — This village in eastern Poland is marked by two kinds of shrines — the roadside crosses dedicated to Jesus Christ and the electoral banners of President Andrzej Duda is part of Duda’s rural electoral heartland; he got 91 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election on June 28 centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski of the Civic Platform (PO) party There’s nothing to suggest any shift in opinion ahead of Sunday’s run-off election “People believe in what he’s doing He’s fulfilling his promises,” said Leszek as he was driving his tractor home from his field “He’s also a faithful Catholic Trzaskowski’s views are much more for the city people The sentiment and the division of votes is similar in many Polish villages — places that form the bedrock of support for Duda and the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party that backs him “It’s a well-thought-out move by Duda to divide Polish society.” — Filip Jatelnicki That’s not the case in Poland’s booming cities “I analyzed the electoral programs of both candidates but for me the deciding factor was PiS’s approach to the law,” said Filip Jatelnicki “They bend the law to carry out their plans.” The rural-urban division has come to define Polish politics, and will play a key role in Sunday’s vote — polls show Duda and Trzaskowski in a statistical dead heat appeals to Polish patriotism and heavy doses of social spending aimed at older and poorer voters — just the kind of people who tend to live in places like Chrzanów left-wing parties and a Christian Democratic grouping called the Polish People’s Party (often known as the Peasants’ Party) did well there In the presidential elections five years ago Duda — then an unknown challenger plucked from the back benches of the European Parliament by PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński — tirelessly crisscrossed the country tailoring his appeal to people who felt forgotten by the Civic Platform governments of Donald Tusk the former Polish prime minister and European Council president Duda was the first to propose flagship social reforms — a monthly handout of 500 złoty (€112) for children and lowering the retirement age — later picked up by his party “Eastern Poland was abandoned before We finally have money to take our kids for holidays,” said 41-year-old Piotr overseeing a team of workers laying a new pavement in Chrzanów Duda has invested huge energy in cultivating his rural base greeted by people wearing traditional outfits He’s pious and makes a show of commemorating Poland’s bloody wartime past where he’s laughed at as a “kneeling president” — for kneeling in church and before national monuments — while liberal media points out the similarity between his visits and those of old-style Communist Party chiefs where he’s seen as embodying Poland’s traditional values in contrast to the Westernized cities Instead of holding the election evening on June 28 in a big city convention center Duda was in the central Polish town of Łomża surrounded by women wearing the region’s rainbow-colored skirts Duda’s banner in Chrzanów | Mojca Radkovič for POLITICO It’s not all smiles and dances. Duda is building a big part of his campaign on attacking what he calls LGBTQ “ideology” and pledging to amend the constitution to ban the adoption of children by same-sex couples He’s darkly hinted at German interference in Polish affairs while Kaczyński and his backers in the state media accuse Trzaskowski of aiming to sell Poland out to Jewish interests “It’s a well-thought-out move by Duda to divide Polish society,” said Jatelnicki Duda is also attacking big-city elites — poking fun at the names of Warsaw and Kraków in law and comes from a traditional intellectual urban family “I want to keep developing policies … for families. Defend the family, defend the children,” he said at a rally in Stargard in northern Poland “And not to defend the elites … so that they can stay on their pedestals and be some sort of better part of Polish society.” For more polling data from across Europe visit POLITICO Poll of Polls His election-eve event was held at a hip new Warsaw shopping mall Duda’s supporters make a fuss about Trzaskowski’s more tenuous ties to the church including not sending his son for first communion and his backing for LGBTQ rights as Warsaw mayor Right-wing magazines accuse Trzaskowski of betraying traditional Polish values also 48) has learned lessons from the previous campaigns in which his party didn’t bother making much of an effort to appeal to rural voters He’s spending a lot of time in small towns and villages He’s also promising not to revoke any of the social benefits introduced by PiS and even suggests new ones But a big part of his appeal is that he’d stop PiS’s efforts to politicize the courts the media and other institutions — issues that have created years of tensions with the European Commission I dream of the country where people have strong spines and don’t give in to the oppressive power,” he said at one of his rallies adding that PiS “is seeking to get a monopoly of power.” He’s also ambivalent about Poland’s harsh abortion restrictions — something that infuriates many clerics in the powerful Roman Catholic Church In Boby, just 60 kilometers from Chrzanów, a priest even brought politics into a funeral service this week calling on parishioners to vote for “a candidate who respects God’s values.” That’s the kind of voice that has authority in Poland’s small towns and villages Local leaders say they urgently need more funds to address housing crunch and build schools warning that Warsaw’s proposed reforms are merely cosmetic The country hasn’t faced energy shortages despite the war — but power companies have taken a major hit The plan aims to rapidly find alternative sources of energy while ramping up energy savings and renewables Cristina Maza is an award-winning journalist who has reported from countries such as Cambodia She previously worked as a reporter for the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia and as a reporting fellow covering energy and cybersecurity for the Christian Science Monitor in Washington D.C She writes frequently about international affairs either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content A monument to a group of Jews slaughtered for baking bread in Nazi-occupied Poland might soon be removed, according to local media reports The owner of the property where the monument currently stands has asked local officials in the town of Chrzanow for permission to remove it allegedly because he would like to sell the property But Poland has seen an uptick in anti-Semitism recently and the removal of a monument to Jewish victims is sensitive Jews in the nearby area say the monument is an important part of their heritage and some type of commemoration should stand there Discussions are now under way about whether the monument should be replaced with a plaque Chrzanow is a small town in southern Poland with a population of around just 40,000 and today there are very few Jews living there the mayor of Chrzanow informed the Jewish community in nearby Katowice about the request to remove the monument Local officials appear to agree that the Jews killed in Chrzanow should be commemorated "Poles also have their memorial places abroad and are fighting for them like lions. Therefore, we should respect such places in our area," town councilman Kamil Bogusz told Polish media "People who died there were also Polish people," he added Poland defends march calling for ethnic cleansing of jews-muslimsThe event, which drew 60,000 marchers, was held on Saturday to celebrate the country’s Independence Day. Foreign Ministry says it condemns antisemitism. #IndependenceDay #Antisemitism https://t.co/61RUBaKmJ0 Jewish residents of Chrzanow were re-settled in a ghetto that they were prohibited from leaving Nazis began transporting Chrzanow Jews to their death camp in Auschwitz Nazis murdered seven Jews at the site of the monument for baking bread illegally "Among the hundreds of cities and towns in Poland where Jews once lived, our town of Chrzanow was one of the important centers of Jewish life. Its Jewish population was saturated with culture and learning, rich in folklore, deeply interspersed in religious life," wrote Solomon Gross in a 1989 article entitled "The Life and Destruction of a Jewish Shtetl." disastrous destruction of Polish Jewry that followed has laid waste the Jewish population of Chrzanow." Poland has experienced a wave of anti-Semitism recently, and a recent study from the University of Warsaw's Center for Research on Prejudice found that acceptance for anti-Semitic hate speech rose precipitously from 2014 to 2016 compared to previous years This was especially true among young Poles on the internet Earlier this month, 60,000 people marched in Poland's capital to commemorate the country's Independence Day and many of the attendees carried banners with white supremacist slogans and symbols Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Poland (JTA) — A monument commemorating Jews murdered in a small town in southern Poland during World War II may be removed The owner of the land on which the memorial is standing has asked the local government of Chrzanow to remove the monument It is believed that he wants to sell or lease the land In 1942, the Germans murdered seven Jews at the site in Chrzanow as punishment for illegal bread baking. The victims were: Israel Gerstner, Chaim Gerstner The mayor of the town informed the Jewish community in nearby Katowice about the request to remove the monument Members of the Chrzanow town council are now discussing how to commemorate the murders should the monument ultimately be removed including asking whoever builds on the land to put a memorial plaque on the building which arises in place of the monument “Poles also have their memorial places abroad and are fighting for them like lions. Therefore, we should respect such places in our area. People who died there were also Polish people,” said town councilman Kamil Bogusz in an interview with the newspaper Przełom I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Developer Columbus Energy and Ukraine-based energy investor DTEK have agreed terms for a 133MW/532MWh BESS project in Poland one of several to have won long-term capacity market contracts in the last 18 months DTEK renewable investment arm DRI has signed a preliminary agreement with Columbus to acquire the battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Chrzanów commune with the transaction expected to close in mid-May Columbus will continue to oversee the development process until the project reaches ready-to-build (RTB) status which is expected this year and will result in an additional bonus payment from DTEK which has both power generation and retail utility businesses The 2023 capacity market auction, for delivery in 2028, saw the amount of BESS awarded capacity jump ten-fold to around 1.7GW, with Portugal-based developer and IPP Greenvolt win 70% of this before it was acquired by private equity firm KKR The 2022 auction saw a higher clearing price of PLN 406.35/kW (US$101) versus PLN 244.9/kW (US$61) in 2023 Around the time of the 2023 auction, research firm LCP Delta wrote that Poland would lead BESS deployments in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region with around 9GW of projects awarded grid connections This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page (AP) - A 92-year-old Holocaust survivor A 92-year-old Holocaust survivor was struck and killed by a car while crossing a street in Oregon.was struck and killed by a car while crossing a street in Oregon who survived three years in Nazi concentration camps was struck Tuesday in Hillsboro and died at a hospital Wiener wrote an autobiography called "From a Name to a Number" and spoke to thousands of Oregon school children about his experiences His father was murdered by the Germans when Wiener was 13 The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education says Wiener returned to his hometown in 1945 and found 123 relatives had perished Report a typo When the German army entered Poland in 1939 Esther Reicher was only 11 years old was away serving as a chaplain in the Polish army older sister and little brother were caught by the tightening grip of the Nazi war machine Esther was the only member of her family to survive Leo was about to be shipped out to what he knew would be certain death He bravely told the commanding officer that he wouldn't leave without his wife a beautiful young girl was in the next cell thereby escaping death.David Sherman | JCRCPlayListenPortraits of strength: Minnesota's Holocaust survivorsGo Deeper.CloseCreate an account or log in to save stories We have added it to a list of your favorite stories But it was a small group of Twin Cities senior citizens who taught him lessons on power and grace Sherman said a call out to local synagogues found people willing to tell their stories Curators Laura Zelle and Susie Greenberg brought on writer Lili Chester MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all 2018): Laura Zelle's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story Dress that Chana Hoffman's mother sewed for her during the war Chana Hoffman standing with her mother Regina (left) Poland was five years old when World War II broke out The Hoffmans hid there during every Aktion but one day Isidore didn't manage to reach the hiding place in time and he was arrested Chana and her mother Regina were caught in a roundup but managed to escape the ghetto who had worked as a laundress in their home before the war begging her to let us come in and rest from our running She capitulated and let us in… Mother said: "Just let me leave the child with you and I'll go away." "Then Mother parted from me… Mother wanted to take me in her arms and hug me before she left "Keep her safe for me and when it's all over I'll come back and get her." In the last few years we had grown very close Our relationship was much more than one of mother and daughter Mother would share everything with me and ask my advice I  was wearing the  dress that mother had sewn and embroidered for me and later on I was so glad that I had it because it has remained with me until today and is the only thing I have to remember her by." After the war Chana learned that Regina had reached the Sosnowitz ghetto but she was deported from there to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she was murdered Chana learned that her father had tried to escape and jumped from the German truck as it passed through his hometown of Trzebinia In 1947 Chana tried to immigrate to Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine) aboard the ship "Lo Tafchidunu" but the ship was intercepted by the British and redirected to Cyprus Yad Vashem Artifacts CollectionDonated by Chana (Hoffman) Aloni The Yad Vashem website had recently undergone a major upgrade The page you are looking for has apparently been moved We are therefore redirecting you to what we hope will be a useful landing page For any questions/clarifications/problems, please contact: webmaster@yadvashem.org.il Our weekly email is chockful of interesting and relevant insights into Jewish history My grandfather insisted on being buried in his Auschwitz uniform While the sepia photograph of my father’s Bar Mitzvah in Berlin 1938 was prominently displayed in our living room I knew my father’s parents and brother were in the photo along with my father who was wearing a wool blazer That changed in 2016 when I started writing the story of my father who survived several concentration camps including Auschwitz and passed away in 2008 I picked up the photograph that was still in my mother’s living room and saw details I had not noticed before hoping to know her as the Mutti my father adored I was disheartened and confused why she appeared pensive and sad and there were reasons for her to be worried In the photo he is standing straight and smiling Looking back on 25 years of memories and images of my grandfather whether it was a joyous occasion or a Sunday get-together with his two sons and four grandchildren there was never another time I saw him smiling I imagine they had no idea this would be the last family portrait and only remaining picture of all four Bachners All I knew was that he was a Holocaust survivor an injury sustained when a New York City bus hit him in the 1950s The only comments I remember him saying to me were “There’s room for improvement” when I showed him my Hebrew School report card and “It could be better” the time I baked Pillsbury Poppin’ Fresh Cinnamon Rolls His childhood in Poland and his life in Berlin before the war were never discussed and the “H” word was never mentioned Rabbi Fabian Schoenfeld of Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills told the mourners Abraham’s final request was to be buried in his Auschwitz uniform The Rabbi explained that initially he did not understand the request and reminded Abraham as an observant Jew he should be buried in the traditional shroud Abraham insisted that at his time of judgment he wanted the Almighty to look at whatever sins he had committed and weigh them against the years of torture and starvation he had endured during the Holocaust I did not know my grandfather kept his uniform or understand why he wanted to be buried with it but unlike my aunt and uncle who let it be known they thought the uniform should have been saved for posterity I knew the uniform belonged with my grandfather I continued to wonder the reasons behind my grandfather’s request It was clearly significant enough that Holocaust scholar and educator Yaffa Eliach included it as a chapter in her book founder of WAGRO told the story at the Yom HaShoah commemoration at Temple Emanuel in Manhattan in 1981 it was not until recently when I gained an understanding of my grandfather and his request My trip to Poland in 2018 was a turning point in my relationship with my grandfather the city he was born in and where he and his family returned to in 1939 when forced out of Germany I stood outside the house they lived in and were later dragged out of during the roundups to Auschwitz I said Kaddish and left a stone at the grave of his father who died in a fire in 1898 when my grandfather was three years old and at the grave of his grandfather It was not until I stood outside the gates to Auschwitz that I realized when the war ended my grandfather was 50 years old and had been in labor and concentration camps for five years Everything shifted for me as I came to understand and love him as the strong and brave person he had to be in order to survive I also realized my grandfather’s request to be buried along with the uniform was his way of telling us he knew he was not the best version of who he had been before the Holocaust I continued researching my family’s history and recently found a new document I never imagined it would be a picture of my grandfather in 1945 still wearing the uniform he wore in Auschwitz It is hard to believe the picture of him at my father’s Bar Mitzvah was taken only seven years earlier All the life was sucked out of him and he appears “broken.” The contrast between the two photographs serves as reminder of the enormity of what he endured. Abraham Bachner survived the Holocaust Thank you for signing up for the aish.com free newsletter Valeo has been present in Poland since 1996 The first Valeo production site was established in Zielonki in which the first cooler was manufactured in 1996 the Group started producing Thermal Systems which led to the development of the first factory in Skawina This was the first step to develop business in Poland a Sales and Distribution Center in Warsaw and a Shared Services Center in Skawina for areas such as: Finance/Accounting All manufacturing sites are located in the southern part of the country three of which are in the Małopolska province while two of them are in the Silesia province we strive to create a workplace based on ethics Our employees and their well-being are at the heart of our business and we believe in creating respectful and inclusive workplaces based on these values We develop the technology for tomorrow’s automobile – what about your development where more than 2,000 workers are employed The site designs and manufactures the latest generation of innovative Thermal Systems which also focuses on CO2 emission reduction The factory operates with robots to improve production processes and ergonomics at work The collaborative robots can work with people as they can raise loads up to 50 kg and work with speeds up to 10 m/s The Research and Development center in Skawina is involved in projects for many countries around the world The achievements of our employees have already been awarded several times among other international PACE Awards for the most innovative products in the automotive industry Considering current experience Valeo Thermal Systems plant in Skawina has taken an important step by updating its sustainable development assessment in terms of environmental issues and impact on affected communities Presented information is published to meet standards of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises part of the Visibility Systems Business Group in “Little Skawina” – a small building located in today’s Shared Services Center the business was transferred to Zielonki near Kraków in order to return to the newly built factory in Skawina in 2003 it is one of the largest Valeo plants in the world in this business Including a cobot and robots that improve performance and relieve employees of the most difficult tasks autonomous AGV trains ensures no downtime and delivery of components on time throughout the plant The Research and Development Center develops new products for leading car concerns on the market International patents are created based on innovative solutions by our Engineers is the most recent and the biggest Valeo production site in Poland The factory produces rear and head lamps for passenger cars using advanced LED technologies including: multi-component and multi-color injection The plant has a fully equipped measuring laboratory with a unique tunnel for photometric tests Along with the development and expansion of the plant a Research and Development Center was established Valeo Electric and Electronic Systems in Czechowice-Dziedzice Valeo Electric and Electronic Systems Plant in Czechowice-Dziedzice is engaged in the production of starters exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and innovative electric generators for hybrid vehicles as well as the regeneration of alternators dual mass flywheels and compressors for car air-conditioning The company was founded in 2001 as a result of acquiring Sylea company Valeo Service Eastern Europe is a company focused on retail and services it distributes 14 Valeo product lines (including power transmissions parking sensors) in the automotive spare parts markets in twelve countries: Poland It offers a range of 24,000 product numbers adapted to the profile of the car park of each country The company has a headquarter in Warsaw as well as a warehouse and Tech’Care Training Centre in Strykow near Lodz It employs a total of approximately 80 people The site provides the most complete and innovative range of high voltage powertrain systems for all types of electric vehicles (hybrid The site focuses on production and Research & Development activities It’s part of the worldwide electric vehicles revolution „It seems that I am writing for the last time” I am not allowed to go out and I am going crazy at home The city is waiting with bated breath and waiting is the worst thing of all I am trying to push these thoughts of tomorrow out of my mind.. If you could say: you die only once.. because in spite of all these atrocities a fourteen-year-old resident of Będzin whose diary hidden under the floor was found after the war Rutka was mistaken only a little bit: the Germans began the final liquidation of the ghetto a few months later The last 12 thousand Jews from Bedzin including Rutka with her mother and brother were transferred to the then KL Auschwitz and murdered there About 2 thousand Jews were shot dead on the city streets.25th August will mark the 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the Bedzin Ghetto The Jewish settlement in Bedzin dates back to the Middle Ages social and political heyday of the Jews from Bedzin takes place in the late nineteenth century they constitute almost 80% of the city’s population Even through during the interwar period their number continues to increase the proportion are changing rapidly: in 1931 less than every second citizen of the city consisting of 48,000 people is a Jew A year preceding the war in Bedzin lived almost 23,000 people.  German troops occupied Bedzin on the fourth day of the war Terror immediately broke out on the streets On 9th September the Germans set the synagogue on fire at the time of the service The Jews who were running away from the fire That same night 30 random residents were arrested The next they they were shot dead having been accusing of setting the synagogue on fire Since the beginning of the occupation the Jews living in the area of the center of Bedzin were being resettled to outlying districts the boundaries of the ghetto were not marked until October 1942 All Jews were to live in two poor neighbourhoods: Kamionka and Mała Środula guarded by the Jewish police was never surrounded by a wall or fence the Germans began mass deportations of the Jews in Bedzin to Auschwitz The largest deportation took place on 12th August of the same year: all Jewish people were gathered at the city’s two football pitches and after selection which lasted several hours over five thousand people able to work were sent to their deaths considered to be useful for the German industry was to be sent to a labor camp But she managed to escape by jumping from the first floor of the barrack in which she was waiting for the transport „I have surely seen enough misery that even a pen cannot describe Young children lying on the grass wet from the rain [...] I saw myself when a soldier snatched a several-month-old baby from its mother’s hands and with all his strength I am writing about it as if nothing had happened as if I were some experienced military person accustomed to atrocity you can go crazy if you remember it all” the Germans began the final liquidation of the Bedzin Ghetto because they encountered armed resistance of the Jewish Fighting Organization operating in the area of the Bedzin and Sosnowiec Ghettos The organisation was established in mid-1942 residing at the time in Zagłębie persuaded former officer Józef Kozuch to transform his vocational training courses into self-defence groups Among the initiators of the uprising were also: Józef’s brother a member of the commanding team of the Jewish Fighting Organization all Jewish fighters participating in it were killed Future generations may repeat the mistakes of their predecessors if the victims of totalitarianism are not sufficiently memorialized That is why we created in Bedzin a sundial and open-air spectacle „Bedzin 2013–1943” to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the tragedy of the Bedzin Ghetto This is the reason why we wish to invite everyone to this memorable ceremony Hadley Freeman’s gripping family biography of persecution and escape offers lessons for our own time Deep inside her paternal grandmother’s closet, behind the leather handbags, the elegant dresses wrapped in dry-cleaner plastic, all giving off a whiff of Guerlain face powder mixed with Chanel perfume, the Guardian writer Hadley Freeman discovered a shoebox covered in years of dust Its contents deflected her from the fashion piece she had been intending to write about her unsettling and ever out of place in the America where they all lived documents and mysterious fragments the shoebox contained set her off on a quest It grew into a capacious family story that moves from Poland to France to America and brings to vivid life some of the worst Freeman is a determined and eloquent detective has translations of documents done and travels often with her father to the sites of ancestral life As she roots around in a past that moves from persecution and the extreme poverty of a Jewish family in the southwestern corner of Poland to interwar immigrant life in the then unglamorous Marais district of Paris to the turbulence and death of the war years and beyond the members of her great and grandparental family take on memorable individuality What is fascinating to note is that it is some of the forebears she likes least who emerge as distinct heroes who shares her own interest in fashion and the arts soon after the family’s arrival in Paris from Poland Name-change is a necessary survival tactic for all Jewish immigrants who looked after the family of five from the age of 13 when the first world war took their scholarly and rather frail father to the front line and against the odds returned him his lungs so damaged that he died a few years later Freeman’s grandmother Sala/Sara is the baby who is the first in the family to leave their small town near Auschwitz for Paris The young Hadley with her great uncle Photograph: Courtesy of Hadley FreemanIt is “tough-like-a-bullet” Alex – the man who in the author’s own childhood boasted of his grand and seemingly improbable connections to Picasso and other greats – who leaves behind the surprise of a memoir in French unearthed in his sister Sara’s Miami apartment the memoir gives life to a Stetl (Jewish town) never spoken of in the author’s hearing It is from its pages that Freeman culls striking first-hand descriptions of the Chrzanow pogrom organised by locals that took place on the night of 5 November 1918 The child Alex remembers hearing the assailants before seeing them: “a savage screaming crowd … attacking animals From their distorted snouts came cries of a horrible hatred.” They bludgeon Jews and destroy Jewish shops and synagogues “Something in me died in the face of this inhuman explosion of savagery,” he writes The town’s Jews were left trembling and destitute Freeman’s passion at the barbarity and injustice of antisemitism echoes Alex’s own as well as an ungovernable alt-right virtual sphere underlines the repetitive and irrational nature of an antisemitic blight often cynically spread by exploitative leaders The tropes of prejudice slide over into the treatment of immigrants urgently to learn the lessons of this tragic history it is the particularities of individual trajectories the way luck and fate deal so singularly with her family Too little is known of the lives of Jewish immigrants in interwar France – an early destination for many from eastern Europe and subsequently from Germany Paris had the third-largest Jewish community in the world Alex Maguy’s rise from the impoverished first stop of the Marais and its tailoring establishments to the dizzying world of fashion and couture is as riveting as that of a Balzacian hero making his way from the provinces to the summit of Paris a patriotic Alex joined the French Foreign Legion and so oversubscribed by refugees from the Spanish civil war that it was difficult to get in and fought bravely in the Norwegian Campaign one of the biggest battles since the Nazi invasion of Poland When his division joined the Free French in Britain he chose to immerse himself in the fray once more and return to Paris to help his relatives The country was now at the mercy of the Nazis and the anti-Jewish laws they and their French collaborators had put in place Freeman follows her family through the ordeal of the occupation and its antisemitic regime: the roundups the horror of French detention camps and deportation and the tragic ruptures that death but also survival can bring As for her grandmother Sara’s American odyssey engineered by Alex to save his elegant little sister (like him she adored Paris) from deportation and probable death you will have to read this heartfelt book to engage with it House of Glass signals the precariousness of the condition both Jews and immigrants suffer into our own time Yet the story Freeman tells is above all a tribute to human bravery and endurance against the odds Lisa Appignanesi is the author of Everyday Madness House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family is published by HarperCollins (£16.99). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Halberstam served as the rabbi of Nowy Sącz for nearly half a century transforming it into a thriving center of religious and intellectual life and the United States visit his grave at the Jewish cemetery on Rybacka Street This year’s commemoration carries particular significance as it coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover (Pesach) 25 Nisan: R'Chaim Halberstam, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz (1793-1876). Founder of the Sanzer Chasidim. Talmid of R'Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz. He was considered one of the foremost authorities and leaders of his time & receieved questions from around the globe. pic.twitter.com/vGeAYmquVo Chaim Halberstam was the founding rabbi of the Sanz (Nowy Sącz) dynasty of Hasidic Judaism His descendants went on to lead Jewish communities in other southern Polish towns [🇬🇧 below] Dziś po zmroku rozpocznie się wielki jorcait (rocznica śmierci) cadyka Chaima Halberstama The tradition of pilgrimage to his grave - interrupted by World War II and the communist era - was revived several decades ago and continues to grow Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardA sisterhood forged by the HolocaustTheir bond forged in the shared horror of Nazi crimes and murdered family Five women sat in a sunny dining room at Lions Gate a continuing care community for seniors in Voorhees Their connection showed in their body language and Tillie Hershenberg are sisters by choice they are bound by that inescapable shared history they looked ahead - and also looked back to a shared past "I go to sleep with the memories and I wake up with them," says Geldner The only survivor of her Polish Jewish family and sisters were forced into the ghetto in Chrzanow Geldner has had other sorrows over the years and admittedly has lost her capacity for unqualified trust wears the little ring that was the sole possession Geldner had left after everything else was gone "I hid that ring under straw and checked on it every single day," Geldner says And now it's on the hand of somebody I love." In her passion for teaching the lessons of the havoc wrought by hate Geldner lectured to children in the Philadelphia schools when she lived in the city before her move to Lions Gate several years ago a survivor of Mateszalka Ghetto in Hungary and then Auschwitz concentration camp One of five sisters who all survived the Holocaust Weiss can painstakingly recount most of her story almost without flinching - until she gets to the part about her 1944 encounter with Josef Mengele the Nazi physician/torturer known as "the Angel of Death." Just as she and three of her sisters were about to be loaded onto a cattle car bound for Auschwitz who examined each girl to be sure she was healthy enough to provide slave labor Weiss isn't sure what gave her the courage but she approached Mengele and begged him to change his mind "To even approach this monster could have been a death sentence," she says but offered all five immediate extermination A sympathetic woman guard saw the despair of the sisters and let Rosalie escape from where she was being held Weiss remembers leaning over and pinching her little sister's cheeks so she would look healthy Weiss is the most religiously observant of the women Each woman around that Lions Gate table has memories that sometimes stay protectively buried a senior services social worker at the Samost Jewish Family and Children's Service an arm of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey notes that aging presents unique challenges to Holocaust survivors "Life events like death and illness often trigger memories of wartime experiences," notes Cedar whose agency offers individual counseling and runs a social club called Cafe Europa at the local Jewish Community Center as a gathering place for survivors assistant director of senior services at Samost also suggest that most survivors are fervently patriotic about the United States director of community relations at Lions Gate Davidow has taken an interest in aging survivors particularly in the unique sisterhood among these residents "When you listen to their survival stories you begin to understand what strength and determination they have and why their time together now means so much," she says and show a fierce and touching loyalty to each other." began to recall her own Holocaust experience including living in the ghetto of Chrzanow now her Lions Gate neighbor and dear friend Bloch was sent to various concentration camps in her late teens Her memory of what she called her worst moment brought tears when they came and took him away," she says Both couples established homes in Northeast Philadelphia all of these women are widows who agree that the sweetest reward of this stage of life comes from the families they have created - the children and great-grandchildren who validate their survival by their very existence The grand total of descendants: an affirming 43 Contributing to that impressive total are Langsam there is no hope of forgetting the wartime chapter of her life and I will pray for good things in this new year." who survived the Lodz ghetto in Poland and Auschwitz perhaps best sums up a survivor's feelings as the Jewish New Year begins at sundown Wednesday "I shouldn't have been alive to have had a husband Even though Langsam questions God about the loss of her parents and three siblings "My heart has been broken in half - one half mourns for all that was lost," she says "The other half rejoices for all that is now." CA Immo exits non-core market Serbia with the sale of the 19,600 sqm office building Sava Business Center in Belgrade Both the sales price and the buyer are subject to confidentiality As the PBSA sector finally takes off in Poland it is now increasingly attracting international operators and investors Eurobuild CEE spoke to Xior's investment manager about why it has such confidence in the Polish market Residential developer Develia has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire all the shares in Bouygues Immobilier Polska the Polish subsidiary of Bouygues Immobilier ESA logistika has leased 15,000 sqm in Prologis Park Piotrków GLP has completed the development of its Wrocław V Logistics Centre and has received a BREEAM rating of Outstanding Panattoni has secured EUR 40 mln in financing from BNP Paribas for the development of Panattoni Park Sosnowiec IV Newgate Investment (NGI) and Redkom Development are developing a large retail park in Bydgoszcz Deutsche Hypo – NORD/LB Real Estate Finance has provided a five-year green loan to Olivia Seven for the refinancing of the Olivia Prime A office building in Gdańsk-Oliwa communications and security company Motorola Solutions has signed a five-year lease renewal 18,000 sqm at the Green Office complex in Kraków’s Podgórze district Falling interest rates and easing monetary policy across the eurozone and CEEi are boosting investor confidence in the region’s commercial real estate market reveals Colliers in its ‘Beyond Real Estate | Economy’ report Panattoni is to build the Panattoni Park Mainz Süd in Erbes-Büdesheim bei Alzey Axi Immo has presented its latest report “Warsaw Office Market – Q1 2025 The market opened in 2025 on a steady footing with a notable increase in leasing activity and a modest decline in vacancy landlords continue to focus on upgrading existing assets and prioritizing quality over quantity Convenience store chain Żabka has officially opened a new logistics centre in Kąty Wrocławskie The first stage of the development will serve 1,500 stores in the Wrocław area Romanian Post has leased over 5,000 sqm of logistics space in CTPark Bucharest to serve as its temporary regional courier and logistics hub for Bucharest JLL has announced the sale and leaseback of two properties by a manufacturing company in a deal worth over PLN 1 bln Warehouse developer CTP is adding 2,000 sqm to its Clubco coworking development in Brno pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has extended an investment facility to PineBridge Benson Elliot for the Diuna Office Park in Warsaw The hotel market in Bucharest continued its recovery in 2024 while the ADR has finally surpassed the milestone of EUR 100 Torus has announced its All.inn students’ residence concept that is soon to appear on ul BIG Poland has acquired the Multishop Suwałki retail park comprising 13,000 sqm of retail space The company now owns nine fully commercialized retail parks in Poland Slate Asset Management has sold three OBI retail stores to the Lindner Group from Germany Cushman & Wakefield has conducted a survey the findings of which are presented in the report From Shopping to Experiences: A Customer’s View on Shopping Centres and Retail Parks Cushman & Wakefield notes that despite evolving shopping trends both retail formats continue to hold strong appeal Multi Poland has taken on the management of the Galeria Przymorze shopping centre in Gdańsk The store offers lifestyle and sporting clothing and is to open this spring According to the "Quo Vadis E-commerce" report released by Cushman & Wakefield the online commerce continues to be a growth driver for the industrial & logistics real estate sector generating significant opportunities for developers and investors the investor behind the Projekt Góraszka shopping and entertainment complex in Wiązowna on Warsaw’s eastern outskirts has obtained a building permit for a mixed-use development Poznan-based company Scallier is opening another facility under the Funshop Park brand in Romania According to the latest report “At a Glance: Modern Retail Market in Poland Q4 2024” from BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland Poland’s retail market experienced record growth in 2024 Cushman &Wakefield has summarised the situation on the Polish retail market Over half a mln sqm of new retail space came on stream last year marking the highest new supply level in Poland since 2015 This robust development activity occurred amid rising demand from new retailers and improving consumer sentiment which boosted retail sales A new retail park with a total area of 24,000 sqm is set to be developed in Otwock under the name Świderek The investment will be led by Redkom Development Empik has opened a flagship store in the revitalised former Cepelia pavilion in the centre of Warsaw the modernist building has regained its former glory and once again impresses with its original appearance and modern interior Trei Real Estate Poland has opened its 40th Vendo Park The investment was created in Wrocław and has 5,000 sqm Vendo Park Wrocław is the first facility under this banner in the capital of Lower Silesia The retail park was built on a plot of approx An 800 sqm Biedronka grocery store is to open on the ground floor of the Moje Bielany residential complex which is being developed by CeMat A/S at ul Wólczyńska 121 in Warsaw’s Bielany district Spring has very much sprung and everywhere is bathed in the first warm sunshine of the year I have in the back of my mind the terrifying fo .. The Polish warehouse market has finally stabilised after the post-pandemic boom but new challenges and opportunities are on the horizon for the sector UBM Development has been given the go-ahead for the first wooden office building in Poland: Timber Park in Poleczki Business Park in Warsaw The office market in Warsaw is currently experiencing a period of stability in terms of supply and take-up Recent data on overall tenant activity indicates that clients in the cap .. Receive all the latest information from the world of real estate by e-mail the construction of the Aura residential building designed by Robert Konieczny's office KWK Promes According to a report by research company Spectis “Construction companies in Poland 2025-2030” the total revenues of the 300 leading construction gro .. The Globalworth Foundation has provided the authorities in Bucharest with office space for a Covid vaccination centre Panattoni BTS and Commercecon together support the establishment of the second Centaurus Foundation centre in Poland to help horses and other animals intends to focus on operations in other reg .. Six class A office buildings in the PRO Portfolio which is jointly owned by PineBridge Benson Elliot and Sharow Capital have been granted BREEAM In-U .. Who won this year's 14th edition of the Eurobuild Awards The jury and guests gathered at the Double Tree by Hilton hotel in Warsaw chose this year's .. Enjoy the last set of recordings with comments straight from this year's MIPIM we asked experts from our home country for their input will take place on 9-10 April 2025 at the Norblin Factory Event Hall in W .. we invite you to hot episode of the "Eye to eye" podcast The UN Nansen Refugee Award award will go to Poland for the first time According to the office of the UNHCR High Commissioner this year's regional wi .. Czech developer CTP has been granted a EUR 200 mln loan from the European Investment Bank for the roll-out of its large-scale solar panel installation .. while the ADR has finally surpassed the milestone .. Jarosław Szanajca plans to resign from the position of president of the management board of Dom Development at the end of the year and join the superv .. The Polish and Danish governments have entered preliminary discussions for the construction of a tunnel between Szczecin and Copenhagen underneath the .. Viterra has moved into its ​​new 1,500 sqm offices in Olivia Prime part of the Olivia Centre business complex in Gdańsk Panattoni has acquired two properties near Gothenburg The brownfield sites will be replaced by a modern 43,000 sqm facility Contemporary cities are grappling with the challenge of fostering dynamic growth while alleviating environmental pressures Colliers has taken over the management of the Studio B office building located in the Warsaw Wola district The property is owned by Stena Real Estate .. The University of Warsaw has signed a contract with the general contractor for a project at ul The new building will house the faculti .. Velis Real Estate Tech is officially changing its name to Singu adopting the title of its property management product the construction of the Panattoni Park Unterfranken has officially started und zwar an der Ecke der ulica Jozefa Pilsudskiego und ulica Oswiecimska (Josef-Pilsudski-Straße und Auschwitzer Straße) Diese Aufnahme von 2012 stammt von Google Street View; man erkennt die markante gebäudeform und links noch den Baum der auf dem historischen Foto von 1942 noch ganz klein war 2013 wurde das Haus renoviert und die Fassade weiß gestrichen Vielen Dank an SPIEGEL ONLINE-Leser Dietmar Pontow