Polish Strongmen helping to rebuild ‘Polish-Jewish history’
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Polish Strongmen helping to rebuild ‘Polish-Jewish history’

The Polish Strongman Association receives an award for their work with From The Depths at The Galicia Museum on June 28, 2015 in Krakow, Poland. (Photo by Elan Kawesch)
The Polish Strongman Association receives an award for their work with From The Depths at The Galicia Museum on June 28, 2015 in Krakow, Poland. (Photo by Elan Kawesch)
The Polish Strongman Association receives an award for their work with From The Depths at The Galicia Museum on June 28, 2015 in Krakow, Poland. (Photo by Elan Kawesch)
The Polish Strongman Association receives an award for their work with From The Depths at The Galicia Museum on June 28, 2015 in Krakow, Poland. Jonny Daniels is centre, with a tie. (Photo by Elan Kawesch)

Polish Strongmen are helping preserve Jewish heritage in the country by lifting and moving tombstones used as building material.

One strongman, Tomasz Kowal joined firefighters, nuns, school teachers and students who had volunteered to help retrieve the fragments from roads, pavements, curbs and buildings in Warsaw, Kaziemierz, Dolny, and Pulawy.

“Wherever there was once a Jewish cemetery, you need only ask local residents to discover their use as a building material,” said organisers of the Matzeva project.

Jonny Daniels, president of Holocaust education charity ‘From the Depths,’ said: “Together we are rebuilding not only Jewish but also the Polish-Jewish history that belongs to us all. Together we discover and create history.”

In October 2014, Jewish News sent a reporter to Poland, to find out about the work of From The Depths. Read more here: From the Depths: Reclaiming Jewish heritage, a headstone at a time

 

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