#Zamosc kazimierzdolny poland Jews Holocaust

[exileancestrysearcher]

Heading South

April 23 - Slav and I left Warsaw about 9:30 am headed south to Kazamierz Dolny, a small resort town on the Vistula River in the Lublin district. If that means nothing to you, it’s in south-central Poland. :) We were starting off our trip on a lighter note, exploring the churches, shops and natural areas in town, which had been reshaped in the 16th and 17th centuries by nobles and other wealthy builders who were fond of Reniassance architecture (a theme to be repeated over the next four days in the region). There was also substantial reconstruction after World War II.

The former synagogue, in a town which held one of the largest Chassidic courts in the country (led by the ‘Seer of Lublin’), is now a museum. This is also a recurring pattern in Poland - former synagogues serving as museums, schools, shops, residential homes and local community centres, because there are no Jews left. The few exceptions are in places like Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow, where small Jewish communities survive. Some of the people I spoke with mentioned never having met a Jew before. 

Slav and I also toured a nearby small ravine, which is popular for hiking, and ended the day in the small city of Zamosc, where I stayed at the perfectly serviceable Hotel Mercure. This was to be my base for the next two days. The town square in Zamosc also displays Renaissance buildings, as well as a fortress that confronted everyone from local opponents to the Swedes and the Russians since the late 16th century. Slav’s research indicates that at least one of my ancestors came from this town. Jews were in fact welcomed by the first lord of the town, Jan Zamoyski, and one of his descendants, who was lord when the Nazis arrived, protected a number of Jews and others deemed undesirable by the Third Reich.