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There are so many Jewish communities that disappeared from the
face of this earth as a result of the devastation reeked upon it
by the Holocaust, by the war, by the Nazi regime and all who
collaborated in this devastation. From the small shtetl to the
medium-sized town to the big city, Jews often made up a great
percentage of the population. Post-Holocaust, there are only a
small number of Jewish communities that still exist and are slowly
growing, though still a very small percentage of the overall
population. Zambrów, Poland, however, is not one of them. The town
itself was wiped out during the war; and many of its Jewish
citizens killed. The Zambrów we once knew, that Jewish communal
life that once flourished, is no more.
From the Zembrover
Yizkor book (abridged English version), here is a section from an
article entitled "A Firebrand Plucked Out of the Conflagration":
"About a month after
the outbreak of the war against Poland, the Germans invaded
Zambrów. Violent air raids were raging prior to this invasion, as
a result of which more than half of the Zambrów houses were
destroyed and burned, especially the Jewish houses suffered much
from German air raids.
The Nazis stayed in
Zambrów for ten days only. In conformity with the German-Soviet
agreement, the Nazis left that territory soon and the Russians
entered there...
The real immolation
and tragic holocaust started in July 1941, when the Germans
invaded Zambrów again (after the outbreak of the Nazi-Soviet war
in 1941). The Nazis started confiscating all Jewish property,
kidnapping people for compulsory labor and perpetrating nefarious
acts..."
Within this exhibition
entitled "Painting a Picture: Remembering the Lost Jewish
Community of Zambrów, Poland," the Museum will attempt to present
a picture of the Jewish life that once existed in Zambrów, both
the good and the bad of it.
The pages of this
exhibition make up part of a Museum of Family History
"tour." One can follow a "guided tour" around this
virtual museum to different rooms that contain material relevant
to this exhibition. You can follow the tour, station by
station, room by room, by using a special floor map that will created just
for this exhibition. In the meantime, you can use the "station
guide" on the following web page to select a title to your liking.
From any web page (except the last), you can also travel from
"station-to-station" by clicking on the "next
►►"
links at the bottom of each exhibition page. Along the way, there will
also be a small audio and video component of this tour too. It is
a worthy experiment within the realm of virtual museums, i.e. to
paint a picture of a former Jewish community and guide someone on
a journey that they may follow as they wish, replete with both
audio and video aspects. You'll need to use your
imagination, of course, but that's a "given" when visiting a
virtual museum that exists only on the Internet.
The
order of presentation of material will
change over time, so be sure to check the "station guide" for any
alterations and additions.
I hope that when you read each page in this exhibition you will
use your imagination, i.e. you will try to visualize was Zambrów
was like when it a once vibrant Jewish community. Learn about the
town's many characters, its history, and the precious way of life
of its Jewish residents.
Steven
Lasky
Founder and Director
Museum of Family History
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