We need your support for projects in Żychlin, Przedecz, Gostynin, and more

Posted byMarysia GalbraithPosted inNewsTags:, , , , , , , ,

The Association of Descendants of Jewish Central Poland (ADJCP) has been busy working on various projects promoting Jewish memory. We need your support so we can continue to move these important projects forward.

Current projects

·       Żychlin Cemetery Restoration Part Two – On July 14 to 18 we will be investigating one of two mass graves using Ground Penetrating Radar so the site can be properly marked and memorialized. We will again coordinate with the Matzevah Foundation, a non-profit with a wealth of experience restoring Jewish cemeteries, as well as with local partners.

LiDAR image of the Żychlin cemetery, the likely mass graves outlined in green and blue. Details added by Claiborne Sea who will lead GPR research on the project

·       Przedecz Matzevot Recovery – Filmmaker and friend Tanja Cummings has photographed and filmed Matzevah fragments held by residents.  We want to mark the cemetery boundaries with bornes or a fence, translate the tombstone inscriptions and incorporate the fragments into a lapidarium in the cemetery.

20 tombstone fragments photographed in Przedecz by Tanja Cummings in May

·       Gostynin Matzevot Recovery – ADJCP will collaborate with Gostynin residents and with the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage (FODZ) to build a permanent memorial using about 100 matzevot fragments that have been stored at a private residence.

More than 100 Tombstone fragments have been kept safe by a private resident of Gostynin. FODŻ is helping them move the stones to the Jewish Cemetery. Photo credit: T. Cummings

·       Chodecz Memorial Efforts – We have ongoing contact with an active group of local residents working to preserve the community’s Jewish heritage.

One of seven stones photographed by the Bractwo Miłośników Ziemi Chodeckiej (Brotherhood of Lovers of the Chodecz Land)

Future projects

·       Krosniewice and Żychlin Memorial Plaques at Chelmno – In collaboration with Kutno-area partner Bozena Gajewska, ADJCP plans to design and fund the installation of memorial plaques at the Chelmno extermination camp.

Memorial Wall at the site of the Chełmno Death Camp. Photo credit: M. Galbraith

·       Włocławek Education – ADJCP will collaborate with community members to offer programs in Włocławek schools about the history of Jews in their city.

In April 2025 Anita Kaniewska-Kwiatkowska, a member of the Forum for Dialogue Network and a teacher at the Automotive School Complex in Włocławek, organized “Holocaust – History – Memory – Education” conference for teachers and students of Włocławek’s schools. Photo credit: Forum for Dialogue

How can you support our efforts?

·       Help us with a financial donation (tax-deductible in the US). Follow the “donate” link at https://adjcp.org (top of the page), where you can make a general donation to ADJCP or specify the shtetl where you want your contribution to be focused.

·       Share this information with your own family and community. Invite them to participate or donate.

Want more information? Please contact us at: info@adjcp.org

Published by Marysia Galbraith

Marysia Galbraith is a cultural anthropologist and professor in the New College Program and the Department of Anthropology at The University of Alabama. Her current work focuses on Jewish heritage in Poland. See uncoveringjewishheritage.com and ADJCP.org.