In June, the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage (FODŻ) installed two commemorative plaques honoring the local Jewish community on the synagogue in Klimontów. The nearby Jewish cemetery, on whose grounds a school was built in the 1960s, was also marked. At the entrance to the cemetery, FODŻ placed an information board and a symbolic matzevah bearing a plaque as part of the National Heritage Board’s program, “Marking Jewish Cemeteries in the Republic of Poland.”

The unveiling ceremony took place on June 10, 2026. Approximately one hundred people attended, including descendants of Klimontów’s Jewish residents and local school students.

In her address, Bosmat Baruch, Director of the Public Diplomacy Department at the Embassy of Israel, emphasized: “ Jewish life was not a footnote in the history of this town—it was one of its central chapters. The memory of the Jews of Klimontów belongs not only to Jewish history. It belongs to the history of this town, to the history of Poland, and to our shared human heritage”.

Speech was also delivered by Grzegorz Jopkiewicz of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Office for Relations with the Jewish Diaspora, who recalled: “The German occupation led to the destruction of a world that had flourished in Klimontów for centuries. The town’s Jewish residents were stripped of their rights, property, and dignity, and were subsequently condemned to extermination. With their deaths ended the centuries-long presence of a community that had formed an essential part of Klimontów’s identity. We gather here today also to honor the memory of the Jewish residents of Klimontów who were murdered on the night of April 16–17, 1945, on Sandomierska Street. They were members of the families of Jewish millers who had returned to their hometown.”

Letters from Marek Goździewski, Mayor of Klimontów; Joanna Turska, daughter of Halina Paszkowska-Turska, who was closely associated with Klimontów; and Eleonora Bergman, former director of the Jewish Historical Institute and a scholar of Jewish communities and synagogue architecture, were read aloud. Andrzej Nowak-Arczewski read excerpts from the book Have Mercy on Us (Zmiłuj się nad nami).

Participants gathered for prayers at the Jewish cemetery. A meeting with descendants of Klimontów’s Jewish residents was held at the Municipal and Communal Cultural Center, after which they visited the Klimontów Region Memorial Chamber.

The commemoration was initiated by Yechezkel Anis and funded by descendants of Jewish emigrants from Klimontów. Project partners included Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland and the National Heritage Board. Support was provided by, among others, Andrzej Borycki, Marek Choina, Marek Jońca, Danuta Król-Chuchnowska, Director of the School Complex in Klimontów, Marcin Maziarz, Director of the Municipal and Communal Cultural Center, and Mirosław Szeląg.

 

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