The Blogs: The ingathering of the exiles in exile: Part 1

This is the first part of a three part series

August 22, 2022: My eyes scanned the perimeter of the old Jewish cemetery at Mszana Dolna, Poland. Outside the fence, standing on the slight incline, were perhaps hundreds of residents of Mszana Dolna paying their respects.

Under the canopy with me was the Parish Priest of St. Michels, Father Jerzy Razny. For centuries, St. Michels was and still is the main church of Mszana Dolna. The current church was constructed during the 1890s.

My great grandfather, who was friends with the then Parish Priest, lived in an estate across the street from the Church at the time, and until the 1939 Blitzkrieg.

Rabbi Avi Taylor, a descendant of prewar residents of Mszana Dolna and a renown Chazan was by my side, as were Urszula Rekucka, and her family, who spearheaded this effort.

I was especially transfixed on the descendants of those who parents, grandparents, and relatives shtammed from those Jews who lived in Mszana Dolna before the War. We were invited by Urszula and her family to attend the first ever Yahrzeit (memorial service) to be held in that town. The Yahrzeit commemorates the eightieth anniversary of the liquidation of the Jews of this village.

I was focused on them. We were strangers to each other before this event, but we had, in many cases, a one-thousand-year history, at maximum, that bonded us to this one place, or at least to Poland.

This was indeed “Ingathering of the Exiles in Exile.” My mind was floating. We, as Jews never considered Poland our home. Yes, centuries ago, the Nobility allowed us to run our legal affairs in according to Jewish law. There was a tremendous amount of Jewish scholarship and rabbis whose decisions affected Jewish law to this very day. We were autonomous. Our relationship with our neighbors was good.

That was short lived. The Poles considered the Jew to be “the Other”. The Jew felt like the other.

That is why this event, this point in history, we the descendants came back to exile to memorialize our parents, grandparents, and ancestors. We all knew that despite our strong ties to Poland, Poland was not our homeland. Some of us still live in diaspora, others live in the Jewish homeland.

I have been to Poland many, many times. It is a personal cathartic experience, a life changing experience whenever I go there. It is a journey, and not a trip. I go there without expectations. Many times, I question why am I returning to the “Old Country.” Yet, something life changing always happens.

During The Gathering of the Exiles memorial, I was not able to journal, as I always do in long hand when embarking on a journey. There was so much to process. That feeling was also felt by the descendants. We all felt that we could not break down what we felt, but we knew that it was life changing.

Still, to this day, over two years later, I am still not able to process what was experienced in a cogent way. I am, however, able to provide snapshots of that happening.

SNAPSHOT #1: Urszula Rekucka and her Family.

Prelude: For over twenty years Urszula Antosz-Rekucka passionately dedicated herself to teach her students and Mszanskas about Jewish life before the war, and its lingering presence to this day.

Urszula Antosz-Rekucka is not only a teacher, but a catechist. She and her family are devout Catholics. She is on a mission to reassemble the fragments of life that existed in Mszana Dolna and her country before the war. She is actively finding out what it means to be Polish. That identity was denied to the Polish people for five decades, since the occupation by the Nazis and then by the Communists.

She discovered that to understand Poland, through the vehicle of Mszana Dolna, one had to uncover the integral Jewish component of her town She only had fragments to work with.

After all, a lot of documents, photos and artifacts were destroyed during the six decades after the War.

She, with the support of her family, were stalwart in their efforts. She did her own research, and when she heard of original Mszankas or their children living abroad, she reached out to us with a list of seemingly simple questions asking about our connections and if we have any photographs or artifacts.

Urszula Antosz-Rekucka has received numerous national teaching awards including, in March 2018, the prestigious Father Stanisław Musiał Award granted to those who rendered meritorious Christian-Polish-Jewish dialogue.

In August 2018, I attended a conference in Ukraine. I figured this was a most opportune time to make a stopover in Poland afterwards to finally meet this extraordinary woman and her family.

Urszula was excited to finally meet her “pen pal.” She invited me to join the family for a Sunday lunch but had the sensitivity to ask whether I kept kosher. I assured her that, under certain conditions, we could break bread together.

It was a memorable meal, one of two that I experienced in my lifetime. Urszula is an unbelievable cook. The homemade compote and apple pie, as well as cold borscht and salads were from the fruits and produce of her garden. Loving to cook myself, Urszula and I discussed Polish culinary skills at length.

For hours Urszula, her husband Marek Rekucki, her son Jakub Antosz-Rekucki, daughter Rachela Antosz-Rekucka spoke about the family’s work over the years. They were fully supportive of Urszula and were instrumental in setting up memorial markers throughout the town, very similar to the German model. There is a big sign with photos denoting “Memory Way,” the path that goes to the main mass grave. The town square has a large sign showing how it used to be a market with photos. I pointed out the house where my uncle lived, and still standing, as we were walking around town.

She showed me all of these markers. In addition, we went to the mass graves where I chanted out loud “El Moleh Rachamim.” I showed them (and they knew from our correspondences), the property where my mother lived, the site of the old synagogue. I filled them, with pointing out the sites, of my mother’s stories of Mszana Dolna. We were further piecing together the fragments and remnants of life.

That is not to say that there was great push-back to the Rekucki family efforts. For years, they have been trying to get a plaque showing where the old synagogue, that the Nazis burned down, stood. A school now stands on that site. Urszula reached out to us, the expatriate community of Mszanskas, for help. The marker was still not up at the time, but she and her family were determined to make it happen.

Even her national awards have not fully been publicized in town. Nevertheless, Urszula continues to do what must be done in order to preserve memory. How could she not? As she pulls into the road in front of her house every morning, she is fully aware that specific road was constructed during the War by Jewish Slave Laborers.

Urszula is humble in her ways. She, and so many like her and her family give me hope, not only in mankind, but with the Polish people. She, and so many like her, drive me to return to the “Old Country”, and even if I can, find a way to reside in that country. Poland, as well the Jewish community in Poland, which I have blogged about, is making history. This extraordinary family is a key part of that change.