On behalf of the The Art, Adventure and Pleasure Foundation ARTS, the project partner of the “Mykwa” Memorial Committee and the EVZ Foundation from Berlin (donor), we are pleased to invite you to an event in connection with the project “Call me Isza. Femininity: the Jewish-Polish Women’s heritage” on 24 August 2023 at 11.00 in the Wiśniowa Synagogue. On the same day, at 12.30 p.m., we invite you to a meeting at the Culture and Sport Centre in Wiśniowa, preceded by a short lecture about the Jewish community in the area, in particular the Jewish women of Wiśniowa and their history, with the synagogue in the background. Descendants of the Jewish community of Wiśniowa will take part in the meeting.
The aforementioned descendants of the Wiśniowa Jews will spend several days in Myślenice in August as part of the activities and projects of our partner, the “Mykwa” Memorial Committee. The synagogue is one of the most important places for them.
In spite of the fact that the Polish and Jewish people were separated by an invisible barrier, and in spite of the fact that these worlds were completely different, hundreds of years of proximity to each other made this border crossable. What was the common ground that made this interaction possible in everyday life? If you have any “everyday” stories, please share them with us on 24 August in Wiśniowa or by emailing us at fundacja@arts-fun.pl!
We would like to invite you to visit the website of the Żeńszczyzna – spadkobiercy_czynie społeczno–kulturowego genu (arts-fun.pl), where you can find the first HERstories of Jewish women from Dobczyce – such as the story of Mina Thaler – a cook who was renowned throughout the region for her culinary skills and at the same time a lover of literature – Mina Thaler and her mother found time to read books in Polish, German and Yiddish – you can find more on the website News – Żeńszczyzna (Femininity) (arts-fun.pl) and in our archive at zbioryspoleczne.pl Fundacja Sztuki, Przygody i Przyjemności ARTS – strona archiwum (zbioryspoleczne.pl)
The information about the collections of Jewish women in Dobczyce was obtained thanks to the research of Elżbieta Polończyk – Moskal, a resident of Dobczyce and the author of the book “Świece zgasiła wojna. Historia społeczności żydowskiej w Dobczycach” (Candles blown out by war. History of the Jewish Community in Dobczyce), we would like to invite you to get acquainted with her character and the publication.
Elżbieta Polończyk-Moskal – Małopolskie Targi Książki (arts-fun.pl), Leader of Dialogue – Forum for Dialogue Network – Leaders of Dialogue, founder of the “Mykwa” Memorial Committee in Dobczyce and member of the Social Committee for the Protection of Monuments in Dobczyce. She runs a Facebook page dedicated to the Jews of Dobczyce.
The project “Call me Isza. Femininity: the Jewish-Polish Women’s heritage” is an initiative carried out by the The Art, Adventure and Pleasure Foundation ARTS in cooperation with the “Mykwa” Memorial Committee Association, with funding from the EVZ Foundation from Berlin.
The project is under the honorary patronage of: the Marshal of the Małopolska Region Witold Kozłowski, The General Director of the State Archives, Mayor of the Town and Municipality of Myślenice Jarosław Szlachetka; patronage of: Centre of Community Archives, Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland, Association Dialog Społeczny; and media patrons: Gazeta Krakowska, Gazeta Dziennik Polski, Gazeta Myślenicka and TVP3 Kraków.
Information about the synagogue in Wiśniowa.
Wiśniowa is a small village in the district of Myślenice. The synagogue was built by the local Jewish community at the beginning of the 20th century, in the southern part of the village, not far from the centre, on land owned by the Ferber family. In the inter-war period there were probably a dozen Jewish families living in and around Wiśniowa. They were mainly involved in trade, probably itinerant trade, which was a Jewish domain in both Galicia and the Kingdom. Travelling from village to village, itinerant merchants bought agricultural products such as potatoes, cattle, poultry, dairy products and industrial goods. They also traded in grain and wood, and some even horses. Apart from trading, the Jews of Wiśniowa also ran shops, taverns and inns.
The Wiśniowa Synagogue is one of three synagogues of this type in Poland that survived the German occupation during the Second World War, and the only wooden village synagogue. It is a wooden building built on a stone foundation. The outer and inner walls are of a log construction of hewn beams, covered with boarding. The roof has a rafter and purlin construction and is covered with ceramic tiles. The interior of the Wiśniowa Synagogue is empty; the original layout of the rooms has been preserved, with the interior divided into a square main prayer room to the south and a babiniec (women’s section) to the north, and two polychromes discovered by the conservator during the work on the architectural and conservation documentation – but no relics have survived. Like most wooden buildings in Wiśniowa, the synagogue has distinctive gable decorations in the form of regional motifs carved into the boards; the furnishings and traditional layout of the rooms have been preserved from the original elements.
If you would like to learn more about the Wiśniowa Synagogue and the Wiśniowa Jewish Community, we invite you to read the publication HANDMADE IN WIŚNIOWA. WIŚNIOWSKO RÓCNO ROBOTA O najbardziej materialnym z niematerialnych aspektów dziedzictwa kulturowego w pogranicznej gminie Wiśniowa, by dr. Joanna Dziadowiec-Greganić and Agnieszka Wargowska-Dudek.
Book available in free access (electronic version) at Publikacje » Fundacja Sztuki, Przygody i Przyjemności ARTS (arts-fun.pl)
