Modernization of the Main Exhibition at the Oshpitzin Jewish Museum

The year 2025 marks a milestone for the Oshpitzin Jewish Museum, as it celebrates its 25th anniversary with a series of commemorative projects. The first of these was the completed modernization of the main exhibition. Each section of the exhibition has been enriched with new artifacts and stories connected to Jewish Oświęcim.

The exhibition now features restored chandeliers and marble elements with zodiac signs from the Great Synagogue, as well as artifacts recovered from the Oświęcim mikveh. These items were discovered during archaeological excavations in 2004 and 2023.

In the section dedicated to interwar Poland, a distinctive blue tin collection box is displayed. It was used to gather donations for Keren Kayemet Le-Israel (Jewish National Fund) and was uncovered during a roof renovation in a house in nearby Przecieszyn (2025).

The gallery dedicated to the Holocaust showcases original glass negatives depicting Oświęcim occupied by the Nazi Germans and its Jewish residents in the early years of World War II, including two rare color images.

The postwar section presents the story of Felicja and Wacław Bebak, a couple who saved a Jewish child, Ilona Jankielewicz, in Warsaw. Their medal and diploma, awarded by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as Righteous Among the Nations, are also on display.

Additionally, the exhibition features paintings by Henryk Schönker (1931–2019), a Holocaust survivor, and an intricately embroidered parochet (Torah ark curtain) donated to the museum collection by the renowned Polish director Janusz Morgenstern (1922–2011).

Parallel to these efforts, the Museum is completing a memorial and educational project at the Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim. The project involves the conservation and renovation of a historic tombstone fragment belonging to Icchak Izydor Hirsch, a Polish legionnaire from Oświęcim.

The tombstone will be ceremonially unveiled on November 11th, the 107th anniversary of Poland regaining independence. The tombstone features two unique symbols reflecting his Polish-Jewish identity: the Polish coat of arms with a crowned eagle and the Star of David, a symbol of Jewish heritage. The tombstone has been cleaned, reinforced, and restored, with its concrete structure strengthened, joints filled, and inscriptions made legible. It has been mounted vertically on a prepared foundation.

The realization of these anniversary projects has been made possible thanks to the support of numerous institutions and private donors, including the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kraków, the City of Oświęcim, Oświęcim County, The Memorial Foundation for the Victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau, What Matters GmbH Dortmund, Debbie Bisno & David Goldman (USA), and Sam & Harry Rosenberg (Australia).

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