Nov 8, 2019 | History, Society The All Saints’ holiday is a time of mourning and reflection in Poland in the town of Grybów – whose Jewish population was wiped out in the Holocaust – it was followed by the reopening of the newly restored Jewish cemetery The driving force behind the renovation and remembrance of the Jewish heritage in the area came from a surprising source “Did you expect that so many people would come?” Barry Kerster asked me as the Jewish cemetery in Grybów – a town of 6,000 residents surrounded by the Low Beskid mountains that mark the border between Poland and Slovakia – filled up with families of Holocaust survivors About 450 people were there on Sunday to commemorate the 1,774 Jews from Grybów murdered by the Germans and buried in mass graves one third of the town’s population had been Jewish and the cemetery are all that is left to remind of the former Jewish presence But now the victims finally have names again all placed on a monument unveiled in the cemetery last Sunday whose grandmother was born in Grybów and whose parents were both Holocaust survivors – his mother among the prisoners liberated from Auschwitz and his father managing to escape a train to the Treblinka extermination camp and join the partisans Barry had travelled from Connecticut to be there on Sunday That this commemoration of Barry’s family and the other Jews of Grybów took place at all was in large part thanks to Dariusz Popiela a Polish Olympic athlete who has led efforts to efforts to restore the Jewish heritage of the region who raised funds for and organised the restoration of the cemetery The history of local minorities is his passion And it is difficult to believe that he only has 24 hours in his day As a professional athlete – who competed in the canoe slalom at the Beijing Olympics and is a double European champion – he starts every day with a training session in the water and organising commemorations and charity activities One might well wonder how Dariusz’s involvement came about thanks to the efforts of Dariusz and others there is a monument with the names of Jews from Krościenko who were murdered there many of which were uncovered by Dariusz himself by combing the archives His reply is to the point: “For the victims,” he says adding that: “It is so natural – there is nothing extraordinary about it; that’s what being human is about.” “Exactly one year ago I was standing in front of the closed gate of the cemetery And I heard prayers from the Catholic cemetery and I was so sad that no one was praying here And yesterday I saw so many people coming though this gate and that was it The most powerful moment for Dariusz was when all 1,774 names of the murdered Grybów Jews were read as well as the speech of the honorary consul of Germany in Kraków are aware of our historical responsibility,” said Gross live under one roof of the European Union and share the same values We must ensure the safety of Jews living in Europe My mother took a photo here,” said Esther Gilboa from Israel the German occupiers created a ghetto in Grybów that housed Jews from the town and surrounding area executing over 350 Jews and burying them in mass graves The remainder were forced to walk to the ghetto in Nowy Sącz which was itself liquidated a few days later Those who still survived were transported to the Bełżec extermination camp Among the 1,774 names on the new monument in Grybów cemetery are those of 500 children Gail Blauner had come to Grybów from New York with her sister Dalia and brother Sidney stopping to knock at the door of the house where their father He survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the Soviet Union where he ended up first in a Siberian labour camp then in a Polish division operating under the Red Army “He wanted to come back to Poland one day,” said Gail he would have celebrated his 100th birthday on the day of the ceremony Howard Unger and Lorie Unger-Aronovitz first visited Grybów 15 years ago with their father Simon Simon lost his whole family in the Holocaust Howard and Lorie walked the same streets as before “There is something in Judaism called tikkun olam which is defined by acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world Tikkun olam is the reason we are here today – because of the acts of kindness by Dariusz Jolanta and many others [in the team behind the cemetery restoration] It is remarkable for us to all witness and be part of what has been accomplished,” said Howard in his speech during the ceremony our spouses and our children are grateful to be here today and for the opportunity to offer these few words.” Many people from the local community were involved in organising the ceremony Information about the event was posted on the website of the Catholic church parish the priest advertised the ceremony during Sunday Mass The cemetery was tidied and cleaned by children from local schools But who was responsible for finding the families of Grybów’s Jews who has been called a guardian of Grybów’s collective memory has been working on the project for the last nine years Numerous people have him to thank for their knowledge of their family stories as parents who survived the Holocaust often did not talk too much about the past “Much of the population of Grybów was made up of members of the Jewish faith and they remain a significant part of the history of this town,” Howard continued in his speech “I am overwhelmed that you are honouring and remembering that past I believe this healing and reconciliation is important to continuing to build the bond between the Poland of today and the many Polish descendants like myself who recognise their Polish heritage Thank you for helping to repair the world – for your tikkun olam.” said after the ceremony that it was very touching to see children taking part Families of survivors gathered together on the evening before the ceremony They made a special Jewish toast: “L’chaim” one wants to believe that life wins in the end Poles and Jews need more stories like this experienced one of the worst crises of recent decades And the reason is history: something that should bring us closer together has been used to divide us again while there are populists and nationalists for whom history and collective memory are tools to achieve political goals there are also people like Dariusz and his team reminding us of how even (or perhaps especially) the most tragic history can bring people together , , , , , Apr 30, 2025 | , , , That response will include “large Polish and NATO exercises in Poland” Apr 29, 2025 | , , , Those employed in Poland work on average the third-longest hours in the European Union Apr 28, 2025 | , , , , Westinghouse and Bechtel were first chosen in 2022 as partners on the 192 billion zloty ($51 billion) project please consider helping us to continue and expand it [email protected] Copyright © 2025 Notes From Poland | Design jurko studio | Code by 2sides.pl Senior Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Weronika Strzyżyńska is currently studying journalism at Goldsmiths as a Scott Trust Bursary recipient She  has written on issues immigration and Brexit for New Statesman and Prospect Agnieszka Wądołowska is managing editor of Notes from Poland She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and assistant professor of history at the Pedagogical University of Krakow He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications The Independent and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland.He is also Senior Lecturer in Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge Stanley has spent more than ten years living in Poland He founded Notes from Poland in 2014 as a blog dedicated to personal impressions 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