Memorial Planned in Warsaw Honoring Poles Who Saved Jews During Shoah
Organizers have announced a design competition for a memorial in Warsaw to Poles who saved Jews during World War II.
Polish-born Holocaust survivor and philanthropist Sigmund Rolat, of the Remembrance and Future Foundation, announced the competition at a news conference in Warsaw on Monday.
Rolat said the designs would be judged by an international jury and the winner will be announced in April. The memorial is scheduled to be dedicated in the fall of 2015.
Rolat said the project would be financed entirely by Jews in Israel and other countries. “This memorial will be an expression of gratitude, not of the [Polish] government or the city [of Warsaw], but of those Jews who were saved,” he said, according to Polish Radio.
More than 6,000 Poles have been named Righteous Among Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel. The monument is to be located on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, near the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews, whose grand opening will take place Oct. 28. Plans for the monument were originally announced a year ago.
The Warsaw City Council in March approved plans and appropriated funding for a second monument to Polish Righteous, this one in the shape of a giant winding ribbon inscribed with the names of Poles who saved Jews, to be located next to the All Saints Church on Grzybowski Square, not far from the Nozyk synagogue.
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
That’s why I’m paying it Forward, by matching $36,000 of reader gifts. It’s an investment in the Forward’s newsroom, to continue telling the American Jewish story with truth and independence.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
