The Mayor of Łódź, Hanna Zdanowska, and the Jewish Community of Łódź
are hereby extending their invitation to join them in Łódź on 29 August 2023
for the main commemoratins
the 79th anniversary of the liquidation of the Litzmannstadt Getto
You are invited to the 79th Anniversary of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto Liquidation.
The main commemorations will take place on the 29th of August 2023.
Accompanying events will be held from the 8th to 31st of August.
The 29th of August is a symbolic date – in August 1944, the last people living in the closed district were deported from the Łódź Ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau by the German occupiers. Later, the ghetto was liquidated.
Łódź, which before the war was a crucial centre of Jewish culture, science and trade, still commemorates its inhabitants as well as thousands of Jews from nearby towns and many cities in Europe who lost their lives in the city or were transported from Łódź to the death camps.
In 2023, we want to pay special attention to two important figures associated with the Łódź ghetto. Dawid Sierakowiak and Chava Rosenfarb. Sierakowiak, who died in August 1943, wrote his diary in which he documented the everyday life of Jews locked up in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. It is one of the most important entries from occupied Łódź and testimony of Holocaust. Chava Rosenfarb, the patron of the Year 2023 in Łódź, is a Yiddish writer from Łódź, who survived Holocaust. Born in Łódź in 1923, after the war she lived in Canada. In her novels she was describing the history of Jews from Łódź and history of the Łódź Ghetto. In 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Chava Rosenfarb's birth and the 80th anniversary of Dawid Sierakowiak's death.
MAIN COMMEMORATIONS
29 August 2023 (Tuesday)
10.00 AM – "The Legacy of the Łódź Jews" - exhibition opening [PL/ENG]
Venue: Funeral House, The Jewish Cemetery | Bracka 40
The exhibition “Heritage” pays tribute to the rich history of the Jews of Łódź and their profound impact on the city’s development. Its primary goal is to raise awareness and preserve the shared heritage, emphasizing the remarkable contributions made by Łódź Jews, which transformed the city into a textile manufacturing powerhouse in Europe. Their influence is evident in the city’s material and social infrastructure, which continues to shape Łódź till today.
The exhibited photographs, taken by Jerzy Maciej Koba, a photographer deeply connected to the local art scene and a member of Łódź Rotary Klub, will be accompanied by descriptions from Dr. Irmina Gadowska, an art historian and Assistant Professor at the Institute of Art History, University of Łódź, as well as an associate of the Association Center for Jewish Research in Łódź. Furthermore, Lilka Elbaum from the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies at Boston University contributed to the exhibition’s development.
Organizer: The Łódź Jewish Community Center
Live feed of the vernissage on Facebook – fb.com/kehilalodz
11.00 AM – Religious commemorations and the lighting of candles at the Monument to the Memory of Łódź Jews at the Jewish Cemetery in Łódź [PL/ENG, translation into Polish Sign Language]
Venue: The Jewish Cemetery | Bracka 40
Live feed of the ceremony available at fb.com/centrumdialogulodz and youtube.com/centrumdialoguwlodzi
Due to the renovation of Zmienna Street passage to the Radegast Station only at Bracka St. – Zagajnikowa St. – Pamięci Ofiar Litzmannstadt Getto Av.
12.00 AM – Official commemorations at the Radegast Station (floral and candle tribute) [PL/ENG, translation into Polish Sign Language]
Venue: The Museum of Independence Traditions in Łódź – Radegast Station Branch | al. Pamięci Ofiar Litzmannstadt Getto 12
Live feed of the ceremony available at fb.com/centrumdialogulodz and youtube.com/centrumdialoguwlodzi
19.00 PM – The Tree of Life - a concert inspired by Chava Rosenfarb’s poetry [PL/ENG]
Performers: Patrycja Krzeszowska-Kubit / soprano, Julian Paprocki / clarinets, Wojciech Fudala / cello, Eneasz Kubit / accordion, Marcin Kawczyński / synthesizer. Composed and conducted by Artur Zagajewski.
Venue: The Kazimierz Dejmek New Theater in Łódź | Więckowskiego 15
Limited number of places. Obligatory invitations and registration from August 8, 2023 by e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Tree of Life concert has been inspired by the most evocative texts by Chava Rosenfarb. The prose and poetry passages selected by Artur Zagajewski have no regular rhythm, rhyme, nor stanzaic structure, but they resonate with extraordinary power. The ensemble’s make-up will insure the delivery of the poignant essence of Rosenfarb’s texts.
The year 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Chava Rosenfarb’s birth. The thousands of pages which constitute her entire literary output are devoted to her hometown. She wrote in Yiddish, but her books were also released in English (she lived in Canada and Australia), Spanish, and Hebrew. Since 2015, Rosenfarb’s works have been published in Polish by the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center.
Chava Rosenfarb was born on 9 February 1923 in Łódź and died on 30 January 2011 in Canada. As a seventeen-year-old girl, she found herself in the ghetto, where she joined the ranks of Yiddish writers. In 1944, together with her entire family, she was deported to Auschwitz, and was subsequently interned at other concentration camps. After the war, she lived in Belgium, and then, from 1950, in Canada. Her literary debut was a volume of poetry in Yiddish, a language she had remained faithful to for the rest of her life. Rosenfarb is widely considered as one of the greatest Yiddish writers of the 20th century. Her most important novel about the Łódź ghetto is entitled The Tree of Life.
Chava Rosenfarb’s works were translated into Polish by Joanna Degler, Magdalena Ruta, Inka Stempin, Marek Tuszewicki, Natalia Krynicka, and Anna Ciałowicz. They have been released in volumes edited by Joanna Podolska.
For more information, please mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or visit www.centrumdialogu.com
Hosts of the Commemorations:
Organizer of the Commemorations:
Co-financed:
Co-financed:
