An EU-funded project is building a 22 megawatt (MW) geothermal-biomass heating plant at Sieradz The project includes drilling a hole down which hot water extracted from the earth can be reinjected into the ground after being used to provide heating Local residents will thus have a reliable heat source which will reduce the use of coal-fired boilers and cut annual CO2 emissions by some 40 000 tonnes thereby bringing public health and environmental benefits the plant will lower energy production costs “The example of Sieradz shows how ecologically important and economically promising a source of geothermal energy is the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere while providing the city with a stable heat supply.” Hot water will be extracted through a production hole more than 1 500 m in depth that was drilled prior to the launch of the current project Creation of the injection hole entails drilling to a depth of almost 1 900 m a high-efficiency co-generation module is being built to support the operation of the heating plant as an energy source and will have electricity and heat production capacities of 0.9 MW and 1.1 MW respectively Almost half of Poland’s territory has underground water deposits that could potentially provide geothermal energy Local authorities are interested in investigating this potential and financial support is on offer from both EU and national funding programmes Investment in geothermal resources is increasing with a view to exploiting these resources wherever they are found Drilling of the Sieradz production hole was part of the city’s efforts to better understand the geological structure of the area and improve management of minerals and groundwater The drilling made it possible to explore and document the local thermal water resources The findings were promising – the water yield from the resources is 249 m³ per hour and the water temperature is 51.8 °C The geothermal water will be used in two ways it will pass through gasketed plate heat exchangers to transfer heat to water in the pipes of a district heating network These heat exchangers contain plates separating warm and cold fluids The water in the pipes will be heated to a maximum temperature of 52 °C while the geothermal water will be cooled to about 49-50 °C the geothermal water will supply heat to two lithium bromide absorption heat pumps each with a capacity of approximately 10 MW Total investment for the project “Construction of a geothermal-biomass heating plant in Sieradz with injection hole Sieradz GT-2” is EUR 13 411 359 with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 7 028 325 through the “Infrastructure and Environment” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period The investment falls under the priority “Low-carbon economy” Ministerstwo obsługujące ministra właściwego ds Przedsiębiorstwo Energetyki Cieplnej Sieradz sp 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 The European Commission has awarded CPK a significant 162 million PLN in financial support through the "Connecting Europe Facility" (CEF) This funding will be allocated for the design of a 155-kilometer railway section between Sieradz This section is a key part of the future "Y" route which will serve as the backbone of Poland's High-Speed Rail network a press conference was held at the Ministry of Infrastructure regarding the signing of grant agreements from the CEF for railway and port infrastructure development projects Poland will receive over 500 million euros but we are still halfway towards securing EU funding We want the final result of the railway investments to be visible to passengers Railway projects constitute the largest segment of the investments being undertaken for the development of the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) As trains are recognised as the most environmentally friendly mode of public transport they receive considerable support from European institutions CPK has secured over 500 million PLN from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for its railway initiatives The latest agreement was signed by CPK with the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) regarding railway line No The construction of this segment is expected to reduce travel time on the Warsaw-Poznań route to approximately 100 minutes It also aims to fulfill the European Commission’s goal for member states to complete the TEN-T core network by 2030 This funded section is part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridor connecting the North Sea to the Baltic Sea The planned completion date for the project is February 2027 The total eligible expenditures amount to 191 million PLN with 85% of that sum being funded by the European Union CPK will sign a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy as well as the Centre for EU Transport Projects to facilitate the implementation of the funded project The Sieradz – Kalisz – Pleszew – Poznań section which is covered by the grant agreement received today constitutes a key ‘missing link’ in the North Sea – Baltic European Transport Corridor stretching from Finland and the Baltic countries all the way to the seaports of the Netherlands and Belgium EU grants are an exceptional stimulus for the country’s development CPK has advanced railway projects in its portfolio 85 will be part of the largest long-term investment and communication programme in Central and Eastern Europe – the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) This initiative is particularly important as it aims to create a High-Speed Rail network designed for passenger trains that can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h as well as regional express trains capable of speeds up to 160 km/h The railway line connecting Sieradz and Poznań is crucial for Poland’s entire transportation system as it aligns with CPK’s priority investment which links Warsaw and Łódź with Poznań and Wrocław This project will not only integrate the new airport into Poland’s transport network but also significantly reduce travel times from the capital to Poznań and Wrocław it will free up capacity on existing railway lines for new passenger and freight traffic The entire 480-kilometer “Y” route will be constructed in stages linking Warsaw to the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) and Łódź coinciding with the opening of the airport in Baranów including the segments from Łódź to Wrocław and Sieradz to Poznań These plans aim to achieve the “Poland in 100 minutes.” goal which means connecting Warsaw to most major cities with infrastructure that allows for travel times of less than 100 minutes That he had lived to tell his story at all was little short of miraculous whose family name was originally Herszkowicz and four of his siblings were murdered in the Holocaust as were his entire extended family in Poland taken from Sieradz in 1940 to be slave labourers who was 13 at the outbreak of the second world war he met Jakob in the camp and advised him to ask for a transfer to the coalmines in Silesia – advice that probably saved Jakob’s life Mayer did not leave Auschwitz until November 1944 where he worked in an underground bunker loading ammunition on to trucks the workers began a forced march to Buchenwald “Anyone who stopped got a single bullet through the head,” said Hersh the war is virtually finished.’ That made me carry on.” Hersh came to Britain with a Jewish refugee group and lived initially in the Lake District where 300 young survivors of the camps were taken to recuperate “For the first time in five years we were treated with dignity and respect,” he said “and this by local people who didn’t really know who we were.” went initially to the US and then settled in Israel and Mayer was a frequent visitor to Israel until Jakob’s death in 2003 Mayer had grown up in a Yiddish-speaking household trained as a tailor and built a successful bespoke business was active on behalf of Jewish causes – looking after survivors and collecting money for the new state of Israel – and in 1965 married Judith Cooklin whom he had met at a Jewish social club in the city in the 1950s and 60s he said little publicly of his experiences in the war A combination of survivor guilt and the fact that the community in which he now lived had itself been traumatised by the war and wanted to resume normal life meant that much was left unsaid Hersh became an increasingly significant voice in Holocaust education He toured schools – sometimes up to three a week – giving talks on his experiences says he may have addressed 100,000 schoolchildren Many corresponded with him after his visits Hersh’s educational work was recognised with his appointment as MBE in 2013, but an award that meant even more to him had come the previous year – an honorary doctorate of education from Edge Hill University. He had had a close relationship with Edge Hill, based in Ormskirk, Lancashire, over many years, giving advice to trainee teachers on how to discuss the Holocaust with young people. Read moreBearing witness – not with anger but with compassion – had become his vocation “In spite of what he had been through,” said Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag at Hersh’s funeral “he was not bitter or negative – he was positive and faith-filled; he was wise he was inspirational … By constantly being prepared to tell the story of his experiences he was upholding the memory and the dignity of his family I met Hersh in 2005 for an article to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz “I was daydreaming – when I had a chance to daydream – that maybe I’ll get through and survive knowing by that time that not many people would I thought how wonderful it would be if I do survive whose lives were extinguished and whose voices were obliterated The perpetrators also wanted the memory of these people to be obliterated and that’s something I don’t want to happen I want their memory to be preserved for eternity.” a Military Recruitment Center (Wojskowe Centrum Rekrutacji – WCR) in the town of Sieradz began sending out calls for military exercises to civilians in the region People without former military service or particular skills received letters calling them for 30-day long drills Despite the initial statements of this particular WCR spokesman A user of Polish social site Wykop shared a brief post on a call up letter they received for military exercises from WCR in Sieradz: “As a civilian I was called to participate in military exercises for 33 days I have to partake in month of military drills According to the document I received I admitted myself to WCR in Sieradz and received mobilization card I was also informed that the drills will be concluded with official military oath I would like to remind that I am a civilian after initial military physical qualification.” Regarding the call-up of individuals with no prior military experience Lt. Col. Justyna Balik, spokeswoman for the Central Military Recruitment Center, told PAP.PL that “we want to train mainly those who have already been assigned mobilization assignments we plan for a small group of people without experience to take part in the exercises – up to a maximum of 3,000 – with qualifications that are attractive for the army” The qualifications attractive to the Polish Armed Forces include medical staff exceptions which allow self-employed people carers and single parents to appeal their call-up In one of our previous editorials we mentioned Polish ambitions to build 250,000-strong Armed Forces One of the first stages was the introduction of volunteer military service lasting 12 months with the possibility of choosing a full-time position in the military after completing the course Territorial Defense Forces have been also steadily rising in numbers In a statement marking the formation of the new 1st Legion’s Infantry Division, the Polish Ministry of Defense said: The Ministry of National Defense consistently takes steps to increase the number of Polish soldiers by simplified recruitment and expanding the possibility of taking up service such as the Voluntary Basic Military Service for which 16,000 volunteers applied last year.” the latest purchases of the Ministry of Defense in heavy equipment show that the ambitions are huge but manpower is lacking there is no way to reach the desired levels of recruits in a state with only 38 million citizens Under the new “Act on the Defense of the Motherland,” civilians can be called for military drills and be moved to active reserve personnel which allows them to mobilize for further drills during the year Some speculate that this might be the way to fill up the ranks sanctioned by law While this may seem a bit of a ‘dirty trick’ to some of the public conscription and mandatory military service has not been ended by the Polish government Tags: , , , Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) presented an investor variant for the High Speed Railway (HSR) section between Poznań It will be part of the Warsaw-Łódź-Wrocław/Poznań railway "Y” line which is going to shorten travel by train between the capital of Wielkopolska and Warsaw by over an hour The investment is part of the EU's TEN-T core network CPK selected the recommended route for the new Sieradz-Poznań railway line from four different variants based on numerous analyses The length of the High Speed Railway section between Poznań and Sieradz is 155 km (in total over 220 km including connecting lines) Most of this section of the CPK railway ‘spoke’ no 9 is located in the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship (except for the area around Sieradz The High-Speed Railway being built by CPK is a civilisational leap for Polish infrastructure the Wielkopolska region joins the beneficiaries of the CPK railway projects This line should have been operational today but unfortunately 12 years ago the preparations for the construction of the “Y” shaped line following the voice of residents and local authorities the experts replaced proposed variant with new one which is a combination of the socially and environmentally most favoured three different variants is the optimal solution for the section between Poznań and Sieradz and was developed as a result of consultations with residents and local authorities It involves the least number of conflicts with residential buildings it interferes the least with areas of natural value and is the most favourable in terms of conflicts with water intakes and monuments the train journey between Warsaw and Poznań should take about two hours (today such a journey takes more than three hours) we should be able to reach Kalisz from the capital in around 1 hour 25 minutes (instead of around 3 hours as at present) Travel times from Poznań are also going to be reduced: to Kalisz in about 35 minutes (from approx 1.5 hours) and to Łódź in about 1 hour 10 minutes (now approx Passengers should be able to reach CPK from Poznań in about 1 hour and 40 minutes Trains on this line are able to reach speeds of up to 250 km/h This means that it should be possible to increase the parameters of this railway line in the future without having to rebuild the track the opening of the Sieradz-Poznań section should take place after the opening of stage I of the CPK airport and the Warsaw-Łódź HSR line CPK has already prepared routes for a 140 km HSR section between Warsaw and Łódź and a 200 km route between Łódź and Wrocław Design is already underway for both of these sections The Sieradz-Poznań section is the third CPK investor variant for the ‘Y’ line and the fifth in total (the others being the Łętownia-Rzeszów section in the Podkarpacie region and the Katowice-Ostrava section in Śląsk) The planned Warsaw – Łódź – Sieradz – Wrocław/Poznań line is part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) CPK received more than PLN 108 million in grants under the CEF Reflow Connecting Europe Facility to carry out the design of the CPK tunnel in Łódź and feasibility studies for the sections: Warsaw-Łódź the CPK junction and the Sieradz-Poznań section funding for the development of these projects The CPK railway programme envisages the construction of 2,000 km in new lines and is a response to more than 30 years of almost total downtime in this field The assumption is that the journey from most of the largest Polish cities to CPK and Warsaw should take a maximum of 2.5 hours The High-Speed Railway Network is part of the railway component of the CPK transport hub project in Poland First section of Warsaw – Łódź route: 2028 Biuro Projektów Kolejowych i Usług Inwestycyjnych The new high-speed railway (HSR) network in Poland will be developed by Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) The HSR network will be developed as part of the CPK project a megaproject of the government of Poland to create a planned comprehensive transportation hub between Warsaw and Lodz The CPK project plan includes the development of a new airport Preparatory construction work for the HSR project is scheduled to begin at the end of 2023 The project is expected to be implemented in phases until 2040 major construction work on the Warsaw–Łódź section will commence in 2024 The first section of the Warsaw – Łódź HSR is expected to begin operations by 2028 around the same time as the launch of the first stage of the CPK Airport The HSR railway programme aims to construct 2,000km of new lines It is expected to reduce travel time between Warsaw and other major Polish cities to under 2.5 hours The project will include the development of 12 railway routes including ten spokes connecting Warsaw and CPK with different regions of the country The project, along with Rail Baltica and Visegrad Group countries’ (V4) HSR will play a critical role in the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) The design speed of the Polish HSR lines is 350km/h Trains operating on the lines will achieve an operating speed of 250km/h Spoke 1 comprises the CK – Płock – Włocławek – Grudziądz – Tczew – Tricity (Central Trunk Line North) – Lębork – Słupsk and Włocławek – Toruń – Bydgoszcz – Piła – Szczecinek – Białogard – Kołobrzeg lines The CPK – Warsaw – Zielonka – Tłuszcz – Czyżew – Białystok – Kuźnica Białystok – Ełk – Suwałki – Trakiszki and Tłuszcz – Ostrołęka – Łomża – Pisz – Orzysz – Giżycko lines constitute Spoke 3 The CPK – Warsaw – Otwock – Lublin – Trawniki – Chełm and Trawniki – Krasnystaw – Zamość – Tomaszów Lubelski – Bełżec lines form Spoke 5 Spoke 6 comprises the CPK – Grójec – Warka – Radom – Iłża – Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski – Stalowa Wola – Łętownia – Rzeszów – Sanok and Rzeszów – Jasło – Krosno lines The CPK – CMK – Węzeł Małopolsko-Śląski (WMŚ – Lesser Poland-Silesia Hub) – Kraków – Podłęże – Nowy Sącz/Chabówka WMŚ – Czechowicz-Dziedzice – Jastrzębie Zdrój and Central Trunk Line – Opoczno – Końskie – Kielce – Busko Zdrój – Tarnów – Nowy Sącz – Muszyna constitute Spoke 7 Spoke 8 includes the CPK – Skierniewice – Częstochowa – Opole – Nysa – Kłodzko line Spoke 9 consists of the CPK – Łódź – Sieradz – Wieruszów – Wrocław – Świdnica – Wałbrzych – Lubawka Sieradz – Kalisz – Poznań – Szczecin – Szczecin Goleniów – Leszno – Głogów – Zielona Góra and Poznań – Zbąszynek – Gorzów Wielkopolski lines The final spoke (Spoke 10) includes the CPK – Warsaw – Sochaczew – Kutno – Konin – Swarzędz – Poznań line The CPK programme will also include connections to the border areas of the Czech Republic A Y-shaped line connecting Poland’s major cities It includes a 140km-long section between Warsaw and Łódź and a 200km-long section between Łódź and Wrocław The Warsaw-Łódź section is part of Spoke 9 and Poznań forms the third CPK investor variant for the Y line The length of the Poznań-Sieradz section is 155km with most of the section located in the Wielkopolskie-Voivodeship region The 4km HSR tunnel in Łódź is at an advanced stage compared to other CPK investments The Katowice-Ostrava section is an important part of the TEN-T project The optimum route selected for the section will reduce environmental impact and enable the construction of new railway stations in Żory Północne and Mszana an intermodal terminal in Wodzisław Śląski and additional sections for enhanced connectivity The design for the first section of the HSR project in Poland began in November 2022 More than 400km of the railway spokes were in the design stage as of June 2023 Feasibility studies are either prepared or currently in progress for 1,500km of the HSR lines The Warsaw to Łódź HSR line will cost approximately 350m zlotys ($86.27m). CPK received about 290m zlotys in funding from the European Union (EU) under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) in June 2023 CPK secured about 110m zlotys (approximately $27m) from CEF to construct an HSR tunnel in Łódź and undertake feasibility studies for the Warsaw – Łódź – Sieradz – Poznań sections A consortium led by IDOM was appointed to undertake the technical-economic-environmental study of the Warsaw-Łódź high-speed line in August 2021 The design of the Warsaw-Łódź section will be implemented in three parts The first task involves designing the section from Warsaw to line 11 located behind the planned CPK transport hub The contract for the task was awarded to a consortium comprising Biuro Projektów Metroprojekt and Sud Architekt Polska The second task focuses on the section between CPK and Łódź The design contract for the second task was secured by a consortium comprising Egis Poland The third task aims to develop the global system for the mobile communications railway (GSM-R) radio communication network along the entire section Biuro Projektów Kolejowych i Usług Inwestycyjnych and FONON were contracted to provide the design of the GSM-R network A South Korean consortium comprising Korea National Railway (KNR) and Dohwa Engineering secured the design contract worth 134m zlotys for the Katowice-Ostrava cross-border section in June 2023 Egis is responsible for designing the Łódź-Sieradz line while the Sieradz-Kępno section is being designed by a consortium of BBF and IDOM The MGGP and Voessing Polska consortium was contracted for the design of the Kępno-Czernica Wrocławska section while the design contract for the Czernica Wrocławska-Wrocław section was awarded to Systra a multinational engineering and consulting group in the mobility sector The Sieradz-Poznań railway line is expected to cut the travel time between Warsaw and Poznań to around two hours down from its current duration of more than three Once the Sieradz-Poznań section is operational the journey from Warsaw to Kalisz is anticipated to take about one hour and 25 minutes The route between Warsaw and Łódź will reduce travel time between the two cities to 45 minutes from the current 90 minutes The Katowice-Ostrava railway line is expected to provide rapid connections to major cities in central and southern Europe It will reduce travel times from Rybnik to Katowice by about 25 minutes and that from Wodzisław Śląski to Katowice to 40 minutes Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Francine Wolfisz is the Features Editor for Jewish News project organiser Reason explains that the idea came about after visiting the Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum for the first time and realising that one of the video testimonies showed a familiar face who worked at the National Portrait Gallery suggested creating a portrait of Halter and it wasn’t long before Reason enlisted the help of her neighbour and put them in touch with both the Holocaust Survivors’ Centre and  ’45 Aid Society they swiftly progressed to 30 and then 100 – “adding one more for luck” visitors would find themselves staring into the life-like sized faces of more than a hundred men and women who had witnessed the barbarity of the Nazi regime and “The reasons behind doing this are clear and obvious in that the book is a reminder to everyone to look and see what these people had to endure,” he explains “This is what human beings did to other human beings Given the nationalisation and protectionism currently existing it is not a far reach to think something like this can happen again.”   Writtle wanted to tell the stories of the survivors through the power of the lens and suggested the portraits should relate their individual contributions to British society he realised all that was needed was a much simpler approach for a more powerful message He explains: “I chose black to symbolise the horror of the Holocaust and used the light as a symbol of their survival.”  he fixed a single light high up and over the shoulder of his subject while three reflectors surrounded his camera lens The resulting effect was that the survivor could neither see him nor his assistant during the shoot allowing him to capture even the smallest moment of contemplation I chose black to symbolise the horror of the Holocaust and used the light as a symbol of their survival “You would see them start to go off into their own mind lost in their thoughts – and that’s when I would take the picture,” adds Writtle Mostly the survivors would remain quiet throughout the shoot preparing themselves to speak about their experiences afterwards “But sometimes there would be occasions when the survivors would talk and that was when there would be tears behind the camera,” reveals Writtle “I still can’t believe people would do that to people.”  One survivor’s story that has stayed with Writtle is that of Eva Clarke “I remember she walked in and I remarked that she didn’t look old enough to be a survivor She looked at me and said: ‘It’s funny you should say that Her mother weighed just six stone and was on the back of a cart going up to the gas chamber She then went into labour and had to give birth on the back of this cart while other prisoners attempted to cover her the guards would have shot her and the baby Having had the privilege of meeting so many Holocaust survivors Writtle acknowledges they have a “special stoicism” someone who is just like you and me – and that really was quite powerful to me because it shows the Holocaust could happen to anyone The truth of our past – the history of the Holocaust – must be taught for the sake of concord among people and for the building of a better Auschwitz-Birkenau and Stuffhof concentration camps They had three children and seven grandchildren taught architecture and opened his own practice in London and Cambridge Mala Helfgott was born on 24 September 1930 in Poland and held with her family in Piotrkow ghetto until 1942 when she was smuggled out to live with a Christian family She was returned to the ghetto at the end of the year but her mother and sister were murdered soon afterwards Mala was transferred first to a labour camp she went to Britain and was reunited with her brother Ben She married architect Maurice Tribich and the couple have a son and daughter and three grandchildren Commemorate the past in order to learn the lessons of history; encourage responsibility to promote respect and tolerance for all Eva (née Nathan) was born in April 1945 in Mauthausen concentration camp who was shot just months before on a death march near Auschwitz They were liberated a month later and she arrived in Britain in 1948 where she had a happy childhood in Cardiff with her mother and stepfather Eva worked in further education for 20 years Words can never convey the abomination that took place unlike that of millions of others whose existence was obliterated Anita Lasker was born on 17 July 1925 in Breslau where she survived as a cellist in the camp orchestra they were transferred to Bergen-Belsen and were liberated on 15 April 1945 She became a professional musician and married the late Peter Wallfisch We have a duty never to forget what one nation can do to innocent human beings while the world looks on Learn from it and do everything you can to ensure it never happens again Schmuel Laskier was born on 27 August 1927 Theresienstadt – a three-week journey in an open wagon Samuel travelled to Windermere in August 1945 He settled in Manchester and was reunited with his sister where he established his own wholesale business he married Blanche; they have four children and five grandchildren he was presented to the Queen on the 60th Holocaust anniversary Born Eva Geiringer on 11 May 1929 in Vienna Eva and her family left for Amsterdam after the Nazi annexation of Austria but two years later they were all arrested and transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau They have three children and five grandchildren Eva worked as a photographer for 20 years and then ran an antiques business She became Anne Frank’s stepsister posthumously when her mother married Otto Frank in 1953 Do not repeat the mistakes of the 20th century Be tolerant and work in harmony with people of all races and creeds; reject hatred and revenge Reach out with tolerance: live with integrity and give of yourself to society After three years in the PiotrkowTrybunalski ghetto he went to Bugaj and Hortensia labour camps and then Buchenwald His mother and youngest sister were murdered in 1942 Ben came to England in August 1945 as one of ‘The Boys’ and in 1947 was reunited with his younger sister He became a successful businessman and champion weightlifter he captained the British Olympic Weightlifting Teams – the only known concentration camp survivor to have participated in the Olympics He was British Lightweight Champion for seven years and gold medallist at the 1950 He and his wife Arza have three children and eight grandchildren Our past must be taught and never be forgotten in the hope future generations will learn to be tolerant and live in peace Born Arek Herszlikowicz on 13 September 1928 but soon returned to live in the Sieradz ghetto until March 1940 was deported to Lodz and then to Auschwitz before enduring a death march to Buchenwald and a month-long train journey to Theresienstadt He was liberated on 8 May 1945 and arrived in Britain as one of ‘The Boys’ He settled in Manchester and trained as an electrician He lives in Leeds and has three daughters and seven grandchildren he was awarded an MBE for his Holocaust education work Be on your guard against racism in all shapes and forms He was born Heyman Maurits Alter on 19 April 1933 mother Frieda and sister Suze went into hiding in 1941 They spent nearly three years in a 6’ x 6’ hole in the ground and only left on 18 April 1945 when they were liberated by the British Army Hans came to England to study textiles in 1950 before returning to join the family business in the Netherlands the following year he returned to London and joined a woollen merchant in Savile Row Hans married fellow survivor Anita Klein in 1959 Having gone through a very traumatic time in my youth I do hope my grandchildren and future generations will live in harmony Susie escaped from a women’s transport on the way to the Hungarian/ Austrian border in 1944 under an assumed name and saw people being shot on the frozen Danube Susan arrived  in Britain in 1947 and swam for Hungary in the 1948 Olympics in 1951 and had three children and seven grandchildren Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5 £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with 100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline removing any financial barriers to connecting people The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large We hope you agree all this is worth preserving The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEPWM) will increase the budget of the “Enabling access to thermal waters in Poland” programme the allocation of the current second call for applications will also increase from PLN 70 to 250 million and the deadline for submitting applications will be extended until 30 September This optimistic information for local governments planning making investments in geothermal energy was provided today (11 May) by the Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa – in Sieradz where in the years 2018-2019 an exploratory borehole was drilled thanks to the funds from the NFEPWM and currently the construction of a modern geothermal and biomass heating plant is already underway Since the geothermal potential of Poland covers almost half of the area of our country the interest of local governments in exploring thermal water deposits in their area and then using this renewable energy source for heating flats companies and public buildings is constantly growing the Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute (PGI - NRI) issued 150 preliminary opinions to municipalities on the occurrence and possibility of managing thermal waters in the indicated locations whereby 65 of them received positive recommendations In order to meet the needs of local governments at the request of the Minister of Climate and Environment the NFEPWM decided to increase the budget of the priority programme entitled “Enabling access to thermal waters in Poland” by nearly 55% – from PLN 300 to 480 million We consistently focus on the development of renewable energy sources in Poland natural and native geothermal resources are an important component of the general RES balance – stresses the Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa – Geothermal energy provides “clean” which is of particular importance in our intense efforts to protect the climate and improve air quality in the country this source of energy is very stable source independent of seasons and weather conditions That is why we want to support local governments even more extensively and effectively in implementing geothermal investments We assume that increasing the budget for exploring local thermal water resources will contribute in the future to a significant increase in the use of a prospective zero-emission source of heat and electricity As part of the ongoing second call for application under the “Enabling access to thermal waters in Poland” programme the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management initially allocated PLN 70 million to local governments or their associations for projects in the field of prospecting and exploration of underground hot water deposits The current increase in the budget of the entire programme meant that the pool of money in the current call will also be increased to PLN 250 million An additional facility for municipalities will also be the fact that the call which was to last from 3 January to 30 June 30 Municipalities will have time until 30 September 2022 to submit applications Both decisions mean a response to the expectations of potential beneficiaries who need more time to make geothermal investments as the very execution of exploratory drilling sometimes costs even up to a dozen or so million PLN We finance the first exploratory borehole in 100% in the form of grants being aware of the fact that work on an undocumented thermal water deposit poses a significant financial risk for local governments – emphasises the Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment which is of key importance for municipalities in making decisions on geothermal investments And the number of interested parties is constantly growing which results from the exploration of the geological structure and confirmed thermal water resources with already made boreholes This gives rise to the claim that hot water from the Earth’s interior can be drawn in Poland not only in Podhale where geothermal energy is already well developed but also on an extensive strip stretching from Western Pomerania to the Świętokrzyskie Mountains – adds the Deputy Head of the Ministry A good example of successful investing in geothermal energy is Sieradz where it is no accident that Minister Anna Moskwa announced an increase in the government support for municipalities and their associations for enabling access to thermal waters received a grant of almost PLN 10.5 million from the NFEPWM under the first part of the 2.3 Geology and Mining programme under the name “Understanding the geological structure of the country and the management of mineral and groundwater” from January 2018 to January 2019 the city explored and documented the thermal water resources in its area by making a Sieradz GT-1 exploratory borehole with a depth of 1,505 m The result turned out to be promising – the efficiency of the deposit is 249 m3 per hour and the temperature of water is 51.8°C The Łódzkie Voivodeship focuses on green energy We want to continue investing in and developing green projects is the first railway company in the country We also have some of the most famous geothermal pools in the whole country located in Uniejów and used by residents from all over Poland the residents of Sieradz will use geothermal energy to heat their flats while taking care of ecology and their health The next step of the Sieradz local government is the construction of a geothermal and biomass heating plant with a Sieradz GT-2 injection borehole and – additionally – the construction of a co-generation module with a capacity of 0.9 MWe and 1.1 MWt through the energy use of biomass in the form of woodchips the operation of the future heating plant based on the thermal water deposit aimed at reducing significantly the level of emission of the Sieradz heating system the local Thermal Energy Company also received co-financing from the NFEPWM – in the form of grants from the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Programme 2014-2020 (almost PLN 68.7 million for the heating plant and more than PLN 4.1 million for co-generation) and loans from the national funds of the National Fund (respectively: PLN 53.4 million and almost PLN 3.9 million) The example of Sieradz shows how ecologically important and economically promising a source of thermal energy is geothermal energy to eliminate the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere while providing the city with a stable heat supply Vice-President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management the use of coal-fired boilers will be significantly reduced by including a new It is a measure to protect the climate and the environment a method to reduce the costs of energy production Through the financial support addressed to local governments we want to popularise this model of heating in every place in Poland where a geothermal potential exists – adds the Deputy Head of the NFEPWM the construction of further heating plants in Poland using local thermal water resources will be a difficult to overestimate consequence of investing in research and exploration works which – thanks to the current increase of the programme budget by PLN 180 million – will become even more dynamic soon It is also worth recalling that in the years 1995-2022 the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management provided in total its financial support to 46 projects consisting in the prospecting and assessment of the abundance of underground hot water deposits The total amount of grants granted at that time to local governments for the construction of geothermal exploratory boreholes stood at PLN 583.5 million was one of 11 research projects co-financed by the NFEPWM in the years 2016-2022 from geological programmes The priority programme “Enabling access to thermal waters in Poland” after the current increase in its allocation by almost 55% (PLN 180 million) will become available to even more local governments planning to invest in geothermal energy It should be mentioned here that in the first call for applications which lasted from 15 April to 30 September 2020 the Minister of Climate and Environment gave a positive opinion on 15 applications for co-financing the NFEPWM allocated almost PLN 229.2 million for grants and the following municipalities or cities received support: Dębno The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEPWM) is a leader in implementing programmes which change the quality of life in Poland for the better it has been initiating and supporting measures for the environment and energy transition subordinate to the Ministry of Climate and Environment It has already allocated PLN 270 billion for this purpose local governments and state administration non-governmental organisations and private individuals The CPK Company signed a feasibility study agreement for the High-Speed Rail between Sieradz and Poznań This 170-kilometre long section is part of the so-called “letter Y” which will shorten the travel time by rail from the capital city of Wielkopolska to Warsaw by over an hour The most recent agreement covers the development of the feasibility study (FS) necessary pre-design documentation for the line: Sieradz – Kalisz – Pleszew – Poznań are located in the area of the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship (excluding the fragment near Sieradz which is located in the Łódzkie Voivodeship) The CPK Company signed a contract with the consortium of BBF IDOM and Arcadis selected in the tender procedure The agreement is worth net PLN 42.9 million The CPK rail investment between Sieradz and Poznań will allow the trains to transport passengers at a speed of up to 250 km/h the design speed assumed for this section is 350 km/h This is the value to which the maximum speed can be increased in the future without altering the trackbed or changing the curve geometry The High-Speed Rail constructed as part of the CPK is a civilisation leap forward for the Polish railway infrastructure With this investment Wielkopolska will be connected to the regions in Poland which will be beneficiaries of these undertakings This project should have been ready long time ago but unfortunately 10 years ago the preparatory activities for the construction of the “letter Y” we are making up for the past years and it is very good news for passengers from this region and from the entire country What will be the benefits for the passengers Once the construction of this section is completed it will only take 1 hour and 55 minutes to travel by rail from Warsaw to Poznań (today it takes approx It will take 1 hour and 20 minutes to travel from the capital city to Kalisz (instead of approx The following travel times from Poznań will be shortened: to Kalisz to 35 minutes (today 1.5 hour) and to Łódź to 1 hour 10 minutes (at present approx The passengers will reachthe CPK from Poznań in 1 hour and 40 minutes The preparatory activities for the FS are underway for almost 1,200 km of new rail routes The aim of the agreement signed is to prepare specialised documentation for design purposes including indication of the recommended route This stage is of key importance also from the point of view of residents who will be asked to share their opinion on The more diligently this stage is completed the better the final deliverables for the passengers and the residents the contractor shall deliver to the CPK Company traffic forecasts as well as analyses — for instance The preparation of the so-called investor option to be attached to the application for the environmental decision among others: geological surveys with documentation and maps for design purposes The next stage — after completion of the FS — will include development of the conceptual and building permit designs The quality of the infrastructure under construction depends on the planning and design documentation The experience of the personnel of our consortium is the substantive guarantee of reliability We are glad to be part of this ambitious undertaking The section from Sieradz to Poznań is another necessary component of the HSR system Over the next 9 months the CPK company is planning to hold over 100 consultation meetings The upcoming meeting will be held in Poznań the first construction works on the Sieradz-Poznań section are to be commenced at the turn of 2024 and 2025 The completion of the works is planned for the turn of 2028 and 2029 one year after completion of construction of the CPK The CPK Railway Program: #KolejNaPolske envisages that in the area of the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship the CPK Company will construct approx 220 km of new railway lines and that PKP Polish State Railways will modernise530 km of the existing lines the CPK Company have developed feasibility studies for eight railway investments in different parts After signing the agreement for the Sieradz – Poznań section this number will increase to almost 1,200 km Over the upcoming weeks the Company is planning to sign more contracts The CPK company is preparing the construction of 12 railway routes including 10 so-called spokes from various regions of Poland to Warsaw and the new airport there are 30 investment tasks and nearly 1,800 km of new railway lines to be completed by the end of 2034 Contact for media: [email protected] Poland’s Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) is making significant strides and launched large-scale construction work reinforcing its role as one of Europe’s most ambitious transport initiatives the company secured a location decision for the airport and railway station signed contracts worth over 650 million PLN and completed construction designs for both the passenger terminal and railway hub Nearly 500 kilometres of high-speed rail (HSR) lines are in the advanced design phase while construction has begun on the HSR tunnel in Łódź The revised schedule sets 2032 as the deadline for launching the CPK Airport and high-speed railway between Warsaw alongside significant progress on rail connections to Wrocław and Poznań Our actions are fully aligned with this ambitious investment plan  2024 ended with the government approving the CPK Multiannual Programme 2025 began with the Mazovian Voivode issuing the location decision for CPK covering key elements such as the passenger terminal and railway station This milestone allows us to proceed with building permit applications this year  the Polish government approved the Multi-Year CPK Programme (2024-2032) securing 131.7 billion PLN for the project with 76.8 billion PLN allocated for railway investments and 2.5 billion PLN for road infrastructure A partnership with Polish Airports (PPL) will see the company become a minority investor in the airport The airport’s construction will be financed through a mix of shareholder contributions (30-40%) and bond issuance (60-70%) The past year has also seen the launch of approximately 60 tenders worth 8.3 billion PLN including a 2.8 billion PLN contract for the Łódź HSR tunnel and 2.2 billion PLN for road connections around the airport CPK signed contracts worth 650 million PLN including 230 million PLN for designing the Sieradz–Kalisz–Poznań HSR section and 85 million PLN for the first phase of the CPK railway hub Additional funding of 3.5 billion PLN from state bonds has been allocated for the design of key airport infrastructure Significant progress has been made on the airport’s design designed by Foster + Partners and Buro Happold with 6,250 technical drawings and over 50 reports finalised and airside infrastructure are also advancing while tenders have been issued for road construction around the airport attracting bids from ten companies and five consortia contracts have been awarded for the airport operations control centre and the fire rescue buildings Railway development remains the largest investment within the CPK programme Over 480 kilometres of HSR lines are in advanced design while the Łódź tunnel is under construction CPK submitted applications for nearly 1.2 billion PLN in EU funding from CEF 2 and planning for the Katowice-Czech border line The company is also finalising integrated rail development plans with PKP PLK set to shape the future of Poland’s railway network Land Acquisitions Under the Voluntary Acquisition Programme (PDN)  CPK has acquired over 1,800 plots (1,730+ ha) securing most of the land for the airport’s first phase More than 90% of residential buildings in the zone have been submitted for the programme a record number of agreements have been signed with another 300 ha in the pipeline—all through voluntary transactions A Railway PDN has also been launched for properties along the Warsaw–CPK–Łódź rail corridor consultations are underway on a development strategy for 18 municipalities around the airport As Poland’s largest infrastructure investment the project is set to transform the country’s connectivity integrating air and rail travel into a seamless She is also the award-winning author of 13 books for young adults Keren David is Managing Editor of the Jewish Chronicle Keren David When Aaron Gelkoff takes to the stage as Adrian Mole in the musical version of Sue Townsend’s classic comedy novel he is following a very exclusive family tradition like the character he plays — is one of three boys who take the part at the Ambassadors Theatre where the show started its West End run last week to glowing reviews when the musical was at the Menier Chocolate Factory The boys are descended from a pair of first cousins who emigrated to England from the village of Jakubice between Warta and Sieradz in central Poland in the early years of the twentieth century their surnames were written down as Gelkoff and Galkoff First to arrive in Liverpool was Barnet Gelkoff who headed for London and opened a bagel bakery stayed in Liverpool and opened a kosher butcher’s shop which became an icon of Liverpool Jewish life Its green-tiled facade and interior is now preserved at the Liverpool Museum The boys’ performance skills don’t seem to be inherited although on the museum’s website there is a video of Ilan’s grandfather Ivor singing The sausage song composed to promote the family’s speciality products The two families had lost touch But when Aaron got his first part in the West End playing street urchin Gavroche in Les Misérables Someone at the theatre thought it was quite a coincidence that the boys had such similar surnames “We’ve kept in touch over the years,” said Ilan’s mum Suzanne Galkoff There are only six boys who have played Adrian Mole in London 13 was “always singing nursery rhymes in his cot,” according to his mother and started dance and drama lessons at an early age He was most recently seen playing the young Jewish boy in Caroline or Change at the Playhouse Theatre 
 “He finished Caroline or Change in March,” said Mrs Gelkoff Then we got the news that Aaron had this role.” Now Dad David will stay at home with Aaron while Mrs Gelkoff and daughter Ella,9 go on holiday went to see Aaron take on the role of Adrian last week His most recent role was in the Amazon Prime series Good Omens which will be shown on BBC2 later in the year Both boys are aware that child stardom does not always lead to a career as an adult performer Ilan is about to start a graphic design course at college while Aaron is a top grade student at West Hatch High School in Chigwell He celebrated his barmitzvah at Chigwell Synagogue in June “We’re all very proud,” said his grandfather the world's first celebrity hairdresser who revolutionized the look of women in the early 20th century with a boyish bob Antoni Cierplikowski was better known as "Monsieur Antoine" in his adopted city where he created the cut made famous by Coco Chanel and other fashion icons of the times this pioneer in an industry today worth an annual 50 billion dollars worldwide has been largely forgotten But his legacy is slowly being revived in his beloved 1884 birthplace thanks to a hairdresser's competition held each summer said his onetime apprentice Janusz Szymanski at the Openhair event dedicated to Monsieur Antoine "He's bar none the greatest figure in hairdressing in the 20th century." The Polish stylist not only championed the daring short bob his innovations included what have become salon basics Among these are shampooing a customer's hair which he concocted with spirits and gum arabic and coloring hair with non-organic dyes -- including the blue rinse for grey hair favored by grannies Antoni was only 17 when he arrived in the French capital but within a decade was the talk of the town 40-year-old French star Eve Levalliere was cast in the role of an 18-year-old and turned to Antoine for a make-over His inspiration came when a little girl with short hair and bangs skipped into the salon to deliver mail "That's how the unprecedented 'a la garcons' (boyish) or 'shingle bob' cut was born -- it became an instant hit and a sign of the times," said Szymanski worn at one point or another by modern-day celebrities from Victoria Beckham Cameron Diaz or Renee Zellweger to supermodel Naomi Campbell Antoni's client list read like a who's-who of the 1920s to the 1960s: French stage legend Sarah Bernhardt German silver-screen diva Marlene Dietrich First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and even French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot Szymanski called Antoni an ace judge of character who could size up a woman's age "The psychological aspect is absolutely crucial in the hair business Among those Antoni charmed was Coco Chanel whose Rue Cambon atelier in the heart of Paris was a stone's throw from the Pole's salon chic cut was all the rage with the libertine Flappers who traded Victorian corsets and conventions for Chanel's short skirts and free-spirited smoking salon in New York's Saks Fifth Avenue department store the first of a chain that would grow to 110 shops across the country his hair empire stretched from Paris to Melbourne Tokyo and Vancouver and as his fortune grew recited poetry and strolled through Paris with his dog dyed mauve and his apprentices like the now legendary Alexandre de Paris had set up shops of their own "Emperor Antoine" returned to then-communist Poland to a simple life in Sieradz where he grew vegetables and chopped wood but still dressed up as something of a royal for visitors He died in 1976 age 92 of pancreatic cancer but in 1992 Alexandre de Paris sent envoys to Sieradz to have his body exhumed and the right hand cut off and brought back to France where it was interred in Paris' Passy cemetery "I symbolically chose his right hand as it had styled Coco Chanel Sarah Bernhardt and even Queen Marie of Romania," Alexandre de Paris young Polish talents yearning to be the next Antoine snip away to the music of Edith Piaf's classic "Je ne regrette rien" (No Regrets) he pioneered hair styling -- it's his vision his art and innovation that's the basis of today's salon industry," 18-year-old winner Przemyslaw Debczynski told AFP "Of course stylists these days have their own ideas after Antoine it's been difficult to think up something really new." the world’s first celebrity hairdresser who revolutionised the look of women in the early 20th century with a boyish bob Antoni Cierplikowski was better known as Monsieur Antoine in his adopted city where he created the cut later to be made famous by Coco Chanel and other fashion icons of the times this pioneer in an industry that today is worth $50 billion (€40 billion) a year worldwide has been largely forgotten thanks to a hairdressers’ competition that is held each summer He was nothing short of a “revolutionary” “He’s bar none the greatest fiuure in hairdressing to have appeared in the 20th century.” but his innovations included what have become salon basics Among these are shampooing a customer’s hair and colouring hair with non-organic dyes – including the blue rinse for grey hair favoured by grannies Antoni was17 when he arrived in the French capital but within a decade he was the talk of the town 40-year-old French star Eve Levallière was cast in the role of an 18-year-old and turned to Antoine for a make-over His inspiration came when a girl with short hair and a fringe skipped into the salon to deliver some letters “That’s how the unprecedented à la garçon (boyish) or ‘shingle bob’ cut was born – it became an instant hit and a sign of the times,” said Mr Szymanski worn at one point or another by modern-day celebrities from Victoria Beckham or Renée Zellweger to supermodel Naomi Campbell Antoni ’s client list read like a who’s-who of the 1920s to the 1960s: French stage legend Sarah Bernhardt US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and even French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot Mr Szymanski called Antoni an excellent judge of character who could size up a woman’s age “The psycho­logical aspect is absolutely crucial in the hair business whose Rue Cambon atelier in the heart of Paris was a stone’s throw from the Pole’s salon and he modern coiffure,” said Mr Szymanski chic cut was all the rage with the libertine Flappers who traded Victorian corsets and conventions for Chanel’s short skirts and free-spirited smoking In 1925 Antoine opened a US salon in New York’s Saks Fifth Avenue department store designed extravagant period costumes and strolled through Paris with his dog dyed mauve But by the mid-1960s Antoni started sinking into obscurity and his apprentices such as the legendary Alexandre de Paris had set up shops of their own “Emperor Antoine” returned to then-communist Poland a simple life in Sieradz He died in 1976 of pancreatic cancer aged 92 but in 1992 Alexandre de Paris had his body exhumed and the right hand cut off and brought back to France where it was interred in Paris ’ Passy cemetery “I symbolically chose his right hand as it had styled Coco Chanel Sarah Bernhardt and even Queen Marie of Romania,” said Alexandre he pioneered hair styling – it’s his vision art and innovation that’s the basis of today’s salons,” said Przemyslaw Debczynski who won this year’s Openhair competition please register for free or log in to your account Malkowski (left) and Ochecki (right) are wanted in Poland Two Polish men who are being sought for extradition over violent crimes they are alleged to have committed in their home country are believed to be in hiding in Croydon The two men, Krzysztof Malkowski and Michal Ochecki, are among 17 people the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit are looking for as a part of an operation called ‘Sunfire 4’ Officers are now appealing for the public to come forward with any information that can lead to their capture The police have urged the public not to approach the men Malkowski and a fellow thug lured a victim into a flat in Bydgoszcz where they inflicted severe bodily harm to him Malkowski and his friend also fractured the man’s eye socket Malkowski has been handed a 19-month prison sentence and police are now hoping to find and send him back so he can serve his time Do you recognise this man?Wanted in #Poland,possibly hiding in #Croydon or #Lambeth http://t.co/t7eWduJrG7 #OpSunfire pic.twitter.com/olWaukLyeb — Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) March 4, 2015 Police believe the criminals may be in Croydon or Lambeth Another criminal also believed to be hiding in the same boroughs as Malkowski After a number of assaults in his home country between 2004 and 2007 five months and 28 days to serve back home he stole a calculator from a man in Sieradz along with another suspect They did not leave it with the robbery and punched the victim in the back of his head they assaulted another victim four days later Ochecki and another criminal attacked another man in Sieradz Detective Sergeant Peter Rance, who is leading the operation, told the Croydon Guardian: “We believe that these people are dangerous so taking them out of our communities and putting them before the courts is of paramount importance.” “I urge the public to look closely at these pictures or you see them regularly elsewhere in your community.” “If you have information on their whereabouts