Memorial Pillar Restoration

August 11, 2024

On Sunday, August 11, 2024, the Memorial Pillar was rededicated. BCRF board members, volunteers, and visitors from Bialystok and environs joined in this momentous event. BCRF Chair Joshua Degen introduced the ceremony, welcoming visitors and reminding visitors of the incredible progress that has occurred in the restoration of Bagnowka Cemetery. Dr. Heidi Szpek, BCRF Vice-Chair, translator and historian delivered a most telling speech, reminding visitors that “114 years ago, members of the Bialystok Jewish community gathered on this very spot to erect and dedicate the original pillar.” Bialystoker and BCRF Treasurer Amy Halperin Degen spoke of her personal connection to Bialystok and the cemetery, and introduced college friend and current BCRF volunteer Randy Cohen, whom visitors learned was a descendant of one of the victims of the 1905 Shabbat Nahamu Massacre, Gitel Zakheim. Bialystok Vice-President Rafal Rudnicki was also invited to speak; he shared his thoughts about the incredible restoration on the cemetery as well as this magnificent memorial. The ceremony concluded with the Hebrew prayer El Male Rahamin, led by Bialystoker and BCRF volunteer Asher Arbit. Members of the media were in attendance; newspaper articles and a video of the pillar’s restoration were produced in response to this momentous event.

November 4, 2023

Memorial Pillar Update! Yesterday (November 3, 2023), the Memorial Pillar that remembers victims to the 1906 Pogrom and two 1905 Massacres was reinstalled on Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery in Bialystok, Poland.

Today, we the BCRF (Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund) would like to share a few photos of this exquisite memorial that stands near the mass grave of the 1906 victims. Below you’ll see each of the four sides of the pillar and in the background autumnal views of the cemetery. The pillar once again serves as a focal point for a 360-degree view of the cemetery and the incredible progress in restoration!

Yesterday, we extended our heartfelt appreciation to our donors, who made this restoration possible, and our gifted Warsaw conservator, Bartosz Markowski.

Today, special thanks are extended to Filip Szczepański, representative of the Rabbinic Commission for Jewish Cemeteries in Poland for countless hours of assistance that enabled this restoration. Our appreciation also goes to Aleksander Schwarz of Zapomniane (https://zapomniane.org/en/) for the georadar study that helped us properly place this monument.

Together we have returned dignity to this memorial and those whose memory it preserves.

Please visit https://bialystokcemeteryrestoration.org/memorial-pillar…/ to explore the journey of the pillar’s restoration and also to contribute to its landscaping.

To read the inscriptions and names on the pillar please visit https://www.jewishepitaphs.org/…/Pillar-text-Nov-11…

November 3, 2023

Memorial Pillar Update! The Memorial Pillar that remembers the victims of the 1906 Pogrom and two 1905 Massacres in Bialystok, Poland has returned exquisitely restored to its home in Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery! On June 29, 2023, the pillar began its restoration in the Warsaw-area workshop of conservator Bartosz Markowski. Thanks to his extraordinary skill with stone, attention to detail and timeliness, the end result is simply stunning! This project was coordinated and funded by the Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund. Special thanks to all our generous donors!

In the Spring, the area surrounding the pillar will be manicured and seeded. A rededication of the Memorial Pillar is planned for August 11, 2024!

Enjoy this video of the reinstallation by Dr. Tomek Wisniewski of The Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htRp1RgT6-k

An English translation of the inscriptions and names on the Pillar can be found HERE.

October 19, 2023

Memorial Pillar Update! Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery. Bialystok, Poland. Today the new foundation was laid for the Memorial Pillar that remembers the victims of the 1906 Pogrom and two 1905 Massacres. Restoration of the pillar is nearing completion in Warsaw by conservator, Bartosz Markowski. Today’s efforts were thanks to contractor Piotr Ciborowski, who did incredible work with the Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund last summer along with BCRF Board member Andrzej Rusewicz and Filip SzczepaÅ„ski, representative of the Rabbinical Commission for Jewish Cemeteries in Poland.

September 26, 2023

Memorial Pillar Update! Two weeks ago, Frank Idzikowski and I had the pleasure of once again visiting the workshop of stone conservator, Bartosz Markowski, outside Warsaw who was engaged by the Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund to restore the pillar on Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery that remembers the victims of two 1905 massacres and the 1906 Pogrom in Bialystok.

Today, I received an update on the next phase of restoration – the gilding of the pillar’s historical overview and the poem, “Pillar of Sorrow”, by Zalman Shneour. The work is breathtaking! Restoration is still on schedule to be completed by the end of November, if not sooner.

To contribute to the pillar’s restoration, please visit https://bialystokcemeteryrestoration.org/donate/

September 5, 2023

Memorial Pillar Update! In June, the memorial pillar that remembers the 1906 Pogrom in Bialystok and two massacres in 1905 began its journey of restoration. Six weeks ago, Frank and I visited the pillar in Bartosz Markowski’s workshop outside of Warsaw. Today, Frank and I, enroute from Dresden to Warsaw, once again were fortunate to visit and check on the pillar’s progress.

The last traces of blue paint from grafitti have been removed. They became visible after the black paint used to cover the grafitti was removed. Larger corners and edges, damaged during the pillar’s vandalism in the early 1980s, have been repaired with flecks of the same stone. They will be polished, blending nicely with the original stone save the edges, which bear witness to the pillar’s history of trauma. Smaller knicks and bullet holes – now more evident since the unsightly black paint has been removed, will likewise remind us of this trauma.

Names or letters effaced because of this violence can now be engraved in these new flecks of stone! Equally exciting is that the new pieces of this same Swedish granite have arrived. An upper register destroyed in the vandalism can now be restored as well as the stone base and two stone spacers.

Completion of this restoration is still on schedule, to be finished this November. Stay tuned for future updates, including the gilding of the full texts on the pillar!

To contribute to the restoration of the pillar please visit: www.bialystokcemeteryrestoration.org

July 30, 2023

Update!! A month and a day ago the Memorial Pillar that remembers victims of the 1906 Pogrom and two 1905 massacres on Bialystok’s Bagnowka Jewish Cemetery in Bialystok, Poland began its journey of restoration. Leaving the cemetery by the capable hands of conservator Bartosz Markowski, the pillar temporarily resides in a sculpture and conservator workshop on the outskirts of Warsaw.

Today, on behalf of the Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund, who initiated and fully funded the pillar’s restoration through their generous donors, BCRF Vice-Chair, translator Heidi Szpek-Idzikowski and BCRF photographer Frank Idzikowski visited the pillar! What an awesome honor to observe this pillar at eye level and once again see every delicate letter of its inscription!

The thick black paint – an attempt at restoration over grafitti was removed, revealing traces of blue paint from the graffiti. The conservator is confident that the blue paint can also be removed. Visible now is the sparkle of the delicate white flecks of this incredible Swedish granite! The extraordinary strength of this stone can be credited with preserving this monument when it was vandalized in the early 1980s. Also, visible are traces of the original gold gilding in select words and letters. New gilding is planned after larger marks of vandalism are repaired or removed and the stone is polished.

Completion is targeted for late 2023. Stay tuned for more updates!

Donations are still appreciated as the zlote costs keep coming: https://bialystokcemeteryrestoration.org/donate/

June 29, 2023

Great News!! The Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund is excited to announce the restoration of the Memorial Pillar to the 1906 Pogrom and two 1905 Massacres in Bialystok, Poland is finally underway! The Memorial Pillar, crafted from Swedish granite, was erected sometime between 1906 and 1918. It remembers the names of over 100 Jewish victims of these horrific actions. The pillar itself was victimized in the mid-1980s, dumped on the nearby City Cemetery, bearing scars of its vandalism. It was rescued in 1985, thanks in part to the now Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, and the Bialystok Center in New York. In the mid-1990s, a poor attempt at restoration was undertaken, encouraging further deterioration.

Today, the pillar began its journey toward restoration and will take approximately 3 to 6 months. The restoration work is coordinated by conservator, Mr. Bartosz Markowski from Warsaw, by approval of the City of Bialystok and supervised by Filip Szczepański of the Rabbinical Commission for Cemeteries, Office of the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich. This project was initiated and funded by the Bialystok Cemetery Restoration Fund, USA, and their generous donors.

Stay tuned for more updates on the journey of this pillar toward its restoration!

To contribute to the pillar’s journey, please visit: gofund.me/3175cefc

Link to video by Dr. Tomasz Wisniewski: (250) BiaÅ‚ystok. Pomnik pogromowy bÄ™dzie odrestaurowany – YouTube

While the pillar is under restoration, a virtual tour is provided in the gallery below. Each image contains an English translation of the text contained in that image. Photos © Frank J. Idzikowski and Dr. Heidi M. Szpek, 2008.