News

The FODŻ-owned Jewish cemetery of Ciechanów has now been marked out. In recent months sandstone markers with the Star of David and the inscription "Jewish Cemetery" in Hebrew, Polish, and English were placed around the cemetery perimeter. An information signboard was installed at the entrance. The project was led by Krzysztof Bielawski of FODŻ. FJHP provided major financial support for the project under the leadership of Albee Kava. FJHP thanks Stefany and Simon Bergson Foun

The Jewish cemetery in Szczuczyn has been marked out. Since 2024, the cemetery has been owned by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODŻ). In July 2025, with support provided by Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland, FODŻ has put up stone markers with the Star of David and the inscription “Jewish Cemetery” in Hebrew, Polish, and English around the cemetery perimeter. At the entrance, it has placed plaques with information about the history of the

What a wonderful pleasure it was on October 16, 2025 for Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland to work with Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblett of the American Friends of POLIN Museum of the History of Jews of Poland and Elizabeth Szancer (of both boards) and Gideon Taylor (president of the WJRO and the Claims Conference, and our board) in organizing this New York City showing of a beautifully done and profoundly important award-winning new documentary directed by Yoav Potash and p

August 2025: Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland was an integral part of the 2025 IAJGS Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Fort Wayne, Indiana USA. Sponsored in part by FJHP, historian Krzysztof Bielawski, staff member of the Foundation for Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland,  presented two lectures, including one about his new book “The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland.” During our FJHP Birds of a Feather meeting, he met meet informally with descendants inte

In an exciting update of our past work, Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland is grateful to have been one of the many partners involved in reconciliation and restoration efforts in Przysucha. These efforts, which are ongoing, recently saw the returning of Jewish gravestone fragments to the Przysucha Jewish Cemetery, sponsored and supported by a number of partners in Poland. During the German occupation of Poland and the years to follow, many Jewish cemeteries were destroyed a

On May 2, 2025 a large section of the front retaining wall of the Kolbuszowa Jewish cemetery accidentally collapsed, just two weeks after structural decay was noticed by a local resident. Please consider donating urgently to help us support efforts to fund the restoration of this wall and protect the integrity of the remains and the tombstones of those buried behind the wall! To read more about this incident, see Polish media  coverage .

Recovering the lost Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin library

Bill Brostoff described the new FJCP " Guidebook  for Jewish Cemetery Restoration: Descendant's Guide to Restoring Your Ancestors; Cemetery in Poland" at a joint FJHP-FODŻ webinar on Feburary 18th.

Krzysztof Bielawski presented his newly-translated "The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries in Poland"  (Academic Studies Press) at an FJHP-FODŻ webinar on February 4th.

On January 5, 2025, we presented our first " Distinguished Service " awards to Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich and Mr. Adam Bartosz, founder and chair of the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Tarnów. With decades of devoted service to the protection of Jewish heritage in Poland, we recognized Rabbi Schudrich for his leadership of a Jewish community challenged by the catastrophes of 20th century Jewish life in Poland and for his commitment to the pro

Led by local teacher Robert Kobylarczyk, working in partnership with descendant Ellen Mains and the Atelier of Skills Foundation and FJHP, dignity has been increasingly brought to the devastated Tuszyn  Jewish cemetery by the placement of tons of bark stones in the vicinity of surviving tombstone fragments, an informational signboard, and a boulder displaying the surnames of Jewish families who once resided there. Robert Kobylarczyk at the Tuszyn Jewish Cemetery

In Korczyna a few trees have been endangering the Jewish cemetery. FODŻ  and the local town have found a volunteer who will cut the trees for free! Thank you to FODŻ, Krzysztof Bielawski, the local volunteer, and all involved in this small but vital act of protecting memory. Photo credit: Henryk Bielamowicz/Wikimedia Commons.

We are now working with descendant Krzystof Wołek and his father to raise funds to repair the wall and care for the Bytom  Jewish cemetery. Please help us protect this cemetery where 1000 tombstones still stand.

Watch the video put together by some of our 2023 Neshama (Adult and Retiree) Travelers depicting the impact this trip had on them: