NEW PROJECT
One of the most important challenges we are currently facing as a Foundation is to take care of another unique place – the “house of ghetto fighters” at ul. Rutki Laskier 24 in Będzin. It is a building that has not been used for several years, located in the district of the city called Kamionka, where the ghetto operated in 1942-43. This is where Jewish youth from the Zagłębie resistance movement, including inspired by the visit of Mordechai Anielewicz, it put up active resistance during the brutal liquidation action in August 1943. Heroic young fighters, led by Frumka Płotnicka, died in the yard of this house, but the memory of their resistance lives on to this day. Already in 1947, the surviving Jews placed a commemorative plaque on the building’s wall, which became one of the most important and oldest monuments of Jewish resistance in Poland. This place has extraordinary historical and symbolic significance, which can, while maintaining proportions, be compared to Anielewicz’s bunker at ul. Miła 18 in Muranów, Warsaw.
The unique history of the house of ghetto fighters in Będzin, the uniqueness of the building, the only one of its kind in Poland, with fully preserved authentic architecture, mean that it has been on the route of Jewish tours and in Israeli teaching programs about the Holocaust for years.  

In our opinion, this place – the home of the ghetto fighters – being obviously part of the history of the Holocaust and the Jewish history of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, is also of universal importance. In this sense, it is a completely current story about evil that is persistent, reborn, and about subsequent generations that actively oppose it. Therefore, we are sure that the symbolic meaning and story associated with this place can be read in both the Jewish, Israeli, local, Polish and simply universal contexts.In addition to creating a permanent exhibition here, we would like to use the space of the house for education for intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship. This is a place like no other in promoting values ​​such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law – values ​​that are important for Poland and the whole of Europe, both today and in European memory.

Currently, thanks to the support and great work of Uri Meiselman and private donors, we are in the process of raising funds to purchase this property for statutory purposes. The purchase of the building is an urgent necessity – the lack of tenants will result in the deterioration of its technical condition. At the same time, we are in agreement with the owners of the building who want to sell it to the Foundation, as an organization that is supposed to protect the history and future of this place. 

SUPPORT US WITH PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARD

Our bank account:
PL 26160014621028512280000002
SWIFT: PPABPLPK
BNP Paribas
Bank Polska SA
01-211 Warszawa
ul. Kasprzaka 2
POLAND

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The Brama Cukermana Foundation (Cukerman’s Gate) has been involved in the protection of Jewish heritage as well as research, education and commemoration for 15 years. We focus our activities in Będzin – a city that has been an important center of Jewish life for centuries. Before World War II, Jews constituted half of its inhabitants – nearly 30,000 people. We are convinced that the heritage and history of this community are an inseparable part of the history of the city, the region and Poland – a part that we want and must remember.

The impetus for establishing the Foundation in 2009 was the need to save the historic Jewish prayer house of the Cukierman family (in the so-called Cukierman’s Gate). The Foundation protected this place by entering it in the Register of Monuments of the Silesian Voivodeship. We carried out a two-stage renovation of the polychromes decorating the walls of this house of prayer and transformed this place into a living space of memory and education.

During 15 years of our extremely active activity, we have implemented many projects related to local Jewish heritage and history. We protect, describe and mark material heritage. We organize public commemorations and commemorations related to the Holocaust. We conduct interviews with Polish and Jewish witnesses of history. We publish books and implement projects involving the local community and constantly develop Polish-Jewish dialogue. We are one of the few non-governmental organizations in Poland operating in this area, thanks to such a long history, established position and recognition.

For years, we have been hosting and guiding tourists from abroad who have their family roots here around Będzin, Zagłębie and Upper Silesia region. We help them learn about their family history and place it in a broader local context. We are rebuilding long-broken bonds and overcoming decades of pain and misunderstandings. The key to these relationships is true dialogue, openness, knowledge and mutual respect. Together we are writing a new chapter of Polish-Jewish history. The activities we have been conducting for 15 years can be called grassroots diplomacy, based on direct interpersonal relations. They contribute to improving Poland’s image abroad and effectively overcome the historically negative and stereotypical view of our country.

FOUNDATION’S MISSION
The mission of Bram Cukermana Foundation stands between the past and the future, facing two obligations at the same time. The first is to preserve the memory of the centuries-long history of Jews in Będzin and Zagłębie, and to commemorate the thousands of people murdered here during the Holocaust. It is a commitment about the past. The second commitment, regarding the future, is the work and responsibility we take to build a better world for our children and future generations through education, dialogue and empathy. A world in which there will be at least a little less anti-Semitism, exclusion and hatred. 

Karolina & Piotr Jakoweńko
Board Members