"To Bring Memory Back" edition 2007-2008

Zespół Szkół Ogólnokształcących w Knyszynie

Who are we

We are English teachers and students of the High School Complex in Knyszyn, podlaskie province.

You can learn about the history of Knyszyn and our land from our website- result of our 2006 project “Through the Knyszyn Land with English language”.

Our school

Why we do this project

Last September our town became scene of a sentimental encounter: two girls who dramatically parted ways just after the war, met again after 60 years. Shulamith, saved from a certain death in Holocaust, and Alice, who became her foster sister, were living in the same family during the grim years of the war.

Witnessing the encounter were some young people from Knyszyn. In summer 2007 those same youth, along with their friends, participated in another encounter, this time with their Israeli counterparts who came to Poland and to Knyszyn in search of their roots. Soon they have realized that the ability to speak English proves very useful. They also developed a need for more knowledge of the common history of Poles and Jews, but also of Russians, Germans and Lithuanians who all were living in peace in this land before the war.

The project we are doing will be based on exploration of the long forgotten multinational and multicultural Knyszyn of the past. Young people will practice their language skills searching for information and preparing presentations and publications in English.

Learning about our common history will help developing the attitude of respect and tolerance for other nations in our society.
May the great ruler of multicultural kingdom of Poland, king Sigismund Augustus, will be the best example of tolerance for the participants of our project. The king’s heart remains for ever in Knyszyn, and his remarkable words “I am not the king of your consciences”, are carved on a memorial tablet placed in our church.

 

Jewish community in our town

Few informations concerning the history of Knyszyn can be found on the Through the Knyszyn Land with English language website.

Below you will find the links to numerous articles in Polish concerning the history of Jews from Knyszyn, published on a local Web portal www.knyszyn.pl .



History of the Jews in Knyszyn (in Polish)

Historia Knyszyńskich Żydów

Działo się to w Knyszynie
Podróż sentymentalna
Polacy i Żydzi w Knyszynie
Przetrwać siebie
W 60 rocznicę zagłady knyszyńskich Żydów
Zamiast wieńca na trumnę
Wycieczka młodzieży z Izraela w Knyszynie
Czesław i Samuel - relacja Henryka Dworzańczyka

What we do in the project

Save multicultural Knyszyn from oblivion

Planned activities include:

• Extracurricular educational activities in English. The goal is to explore the history of Knyszyn, while developing English language skills. The subjects discussed will be the history of national, cultural and religious minorities with a special attention to the ones that were once living on Knyszyn. The meetings are intended above all as an inspiration for students to start their own research. They will be carried out in an attractive and active ways, using the computers and Internet. The students will be working in teams of five, choosing the particular subject of research by themselves. The research will be carries out throughout the literary sources and the Internet, as well as dusing organized trips and meetings with local historian. The students will also explore the territory of our town and its surrounding, and they will contact the descendants of the Jews from Knyszyn living currently outside Poland. They will carry out interviews, gather relations, archive pictures and documents from senior citizens (grandparents and neighbors).
• Trips around Knyszyn, including Christian, Jewish, Orthodox and Evangelic cemeteries (they will be cleaned up in the process). During those trips the local historian, member of the Knyszyn Regional Society, will share his knowledge of the local history and national minorities with the students. 
• The students will then write essays and have them published in the local newspaper “Nowy Goniec Knyszynski”.
• The students’ works will be also published on the www.knyszyn.pl website, in Polish and English version, and richly illustrated.
• Leaflets for tourists in both Polish and English version, presenting the multicultural past of Knyszyn, will be also published.
• To conclude the project we will organize a contest for the best presentation (in English) of the multicultural past of our town, based on a computer presentation prepared earlier. Partners of the project will be invited, along with the students and teachers of the school and the members of the Knyszyn Regional Society. The winners will be awarded with English language books and dictionaries, all participants and guests will receive leaflets.

What we are going to do next

On Saturday, December 8, 2007, we participated in a regional training organized by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland in Bialystok.


Pictures and stories from the training:

On December 8, 2007, in the King Casimir the Great High School in Bialystok, a regional training organized by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland took place. Among the participants were the students from the schools realizing “To Bring Memory Back” program from Bialystok, Lapy, Wasilkow, Zabludow and Bielsk Podlaski. Presents were also the students of the Middle School in Knyszyn. The training proceeded in a friendly atmosphere. We met interesting people and made contacts with them. We learned a bit about the Foundation, about how to realize projects in small groups, and about Jewish culture.

 

Who is helping us

Main part of our activities will be carried out in cooperation with Knyszyn Regional Society, which is realizing a project called “Meeting after years”, supported by the Polish Children and Youth Foundation within the framework of the “Equal Opportunities” program of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation.

                                  

Among our partners are:
Knyszyn Community
MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS – RelatioNet project
Culture Centra in Knyszyn
Public Library in Knyszyn   

What are we proud of

During summer vacations we had a pleasure of welcoming in our town a group of Israeli youths. Among them were two girls, Hadar Suraski and Gefen Polstar, whose grandparents were once living in Knyszyn. Together we cleaned up the Jewish cemetery in Knyszyn. 

At the Jewish cemetery in Knyszyn

Hadar Hadar Suraski (right) during the cleanup of the Jewish cemetery in Knyszyn

During the meeting in the Culture Centre in Knyszyn we presented the history of our town and of the Jews from Knyszyn, using the existing computer presentation richly illustrated with old pictures. We all witnessed an important and touching event: the meeting of Hadar Suraski with Henryk Dworzanczyk, son of Czeslaw Dworzanski who, during the war, saved the life of Hadar’s grandfather, Samuel. At the end of the meeting our guests surprised us with Jewish singing and dancing.



Meeting of Hadar Suraski with Henryk Dworzanczyk.

The visit was described in an article published by Gazeta Wspolczesna.

We also conducted interview with Mr Henryk Dworzanczyk, published in Polish and English.

Interview with Henryk Dworzanczyk