A bit of Milwaukee Jewish creativity will soon be helping to mark the tragic past and hopeful future of the Jews of Poland.
SHOFAR KRAKOW, created by Milwaukee sculptor Richard Edelman, is a 17-foot-tall stainless steel construction made of broken Stars of David.
In September 2015, the piece will be installed in an open space between the historic synagogue Synagoga Tempel and the Jewish Community Center in Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter of Krakow, Poland.
The installation will punctuate the end of a mission to Poland, a collaboration of the artist, Father Patrick Desbois of Yahad-In Unum, the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and several local donors. The mission is planned to remember the past and to celebrate the future of Polish Jewry.
It will begin with a trip to a killing site. According to the New York Times (Jan. 27, 2014), millions of Jews “killed in the Holocaust perished not in the industrial scale murder of the camps, but in executions at what historians call killing sites: thousands of villages, quarries, forests, wells, streets and homes that dot the map of Eastern Europe.”
The site will be identified, researched and documented by Desbois’ organization Yahad-In Unum, which is dedicated to learning from the past and educating in the present to ensure that mass killings will never again be a silent crime.
Yahad-In Unum identifies mass Jewish killing sites, collects forensic evidence of the executions and records witnesses’ testimonies to these killings. This project will be funded by Milwaukee-area donors.
To date, the organization has “effectuated research concerning 1,337 execution sites and has gathered 3,580 testimonies during the course of its 79 investigative research trips in seven countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Romania, Moldova and Lithuania),” according to its website YahadInUnum.org.
The mission is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 31 through Sept. 7.
Between the visit to the killing site and the sculpture dedication, mission participants will tour Auschwitz and the Galicia Museum, visit with the Forum for Dialogue, meet with Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrick and engage in personal explorations of Krakow.
Part of the mission will be hosted by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which will take participants on a tour of Poland’s redeveloping Jewish communities. JDC receives funds from MJF’s annual campaign.
The mission to Poland helps fulfill the mission of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, according to Hannah Rosenthal, MJF president and CEO.
“We’re all about ensuring a thriving Jewish community,” Rosenthal said. “This means we need Jews who are committed to the community not just today but also in the future.”
An important way to engage Jews is through Holocaust remembrance. Rosenthal cited the PEW Research Center’s Survey of U.S. Jews (2011), which found that 73 percent of Jews identify “remembering the Holocaust” as “an essential part of what being Jewish means to them.”
This is higher than any other aspect of being Jewish that the survey asked about, including “caring about Israel” (43 percent), “observing Jewish law” (29 percent) and “being part of a Jewish community” (28 percent).
Rosenthal, whose father was a survivor, said, “I think this was a surprise to many people — especially that Holocaust remembrance was not only important to older American Jews but also to young people [ages 18-29].
“When I meet with younger members of the community, I hear a sense of urgency about remembering the Holocaust. They know our survivors will not always be with us to tell these important stories.”
The mission will conclude with the dedication of SHOFAR KRAKOW on Sept. 6 during the Slichot service, held after theSabbath preceding Rosh HaShanah. Many Jews mark the start of the High Holy Days by spending this night seeking God’s pardon through prayers for slichot (forgiveness) and by blowing the shofar.
SHOFAR KRAKOW is a working shofar with an aperture at the bottom and a mouth at the top. At the dedication, a traditional ram’s horn will be blown into the aperture of the sculpture and the ancient call of the shofar will be released from the mouth for all to hear.
Like the space where it will live — between a historic synagogue and a modern JCC — SHOFAR KRAKOW represents remembrance and renewal, as well as a note of caution.
Visitors to the installation site will remember the Jews who perished in Auschwitz during the Holocaust and will rejoice in the renewal of a modern Jewish Krakow. They will also heed the warning of rising anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world.
For more information about the SHOFAR KRAKOW mission, call MJF at 414-390-5701 or email Krakow@MilwaukeeJewish.org.
Stephanie Wagner is the vice president of communications and strategy at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
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