Fundacja Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense

Fundacja Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense is a Polish non-profit foundation based at ul. Pomorska 18 in Łódź. It was established on the initiative of Arnold Mostowicz, a well-known Łódź figure, and it works to rescue and protect the cultural legacy of the city's Jewish community and to restore and sustain memory of that community. From the beginning, its special focus has been the Jewish cemetery on Bracka Street, the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe, where it has laid out, cleared and signposted avenues and streets in the old part of the cemetery. The foundation's work combines conservation, documentation, commemoration and education. It has carried out conservation and security work on major tombs and mausoleums, including the Jarociński family tomb (1998–2002), the Sielberstein mausoleum and the Poznański mausoleum (from 2004). It has built and maintained a computerised database of people buried in the Bracka Street cemetery, created in 2005 with a donation from Josef Buchmann of Frankfurt am Main, and it runs an internet portal where descendants and researchers can look up burial places. It has erected matzevot on the graves of notable people who died in the Łódź ghetto, created a lapidarium of matzevot removed from the part of the cemetery taken for the widening of Zagajnikowa Street, and worked on the Ghetto Field, where it placed an obelisk commemorating the destruction of Łódź Jewry. The foundation also engages in public history. It helped create the Professor Jan Karski memory room at the Museum of the City of Łódź (1999), cooperated with the Museum of Independence Traditions on an exhibition about the liquidation of the Łódź ghetto, supported the Museum of Cinematography and the Festival of Dialogue of Four Cultures, organised klezmer concerts and cantorial performances, and supported publications such as "Polacy, Niemcy, Żydzi w Łodzi" and "Getto łódzkie. Vademecum". It has also helped young people paint over antisemitic graffiti and has assisted descendants of Łódź Jews in tracing their roots. Its funding comes from the Jewish Religious Community in Łódź, the city conservator's office, the Association of Łódź Residents in Israel, private donors and public grants, and its website is created and maintained by MakoLab SA.

Fundacja Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense was established on the initiative of Arnold Mostowicz and is based at ul. Pomorska 18 in Łódź. Its mission is to rescue and protect the cultural achievements of the Jews of Łódź and to restore and sustain memory of them. From the outset, its special concern has been the Jewish cemetery on Bracka Street, the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. In the old part of the cemetery, avenues and streets were laid out, cleared and marked with information boards. In 1998, with a grant from the Polish-German Foundation, conservation work began on the Jarociński family tomb, completed in 2002. The same funds supported security work on the Sielberstein family mausoleum. In 2004, security work began as the first stage of conservation on the Poznański family mausoleum. A grant from the Polish government in 2000 funded the construction of the cemetery wall along Zagajnikowa Street. With funds raised by the foundation from the Jewish Religious Community in Łódź, the city conservator's office in Łódź, the Association of Łódź Residents in Israel, Jehuda Widawski of Tel Aviv and other donors, cleaning work has been carried out in the cemetery to clear plots of encroaching vegetation, along with restoration of individual objects of exceptional historical and artistic value. The foundation initiates and seeks sponsors for research and popularisation projects connected with the Łódź Jewish cemetery. Thanks to a donation from Josef Buchmann of Frankfurt am Main, in 2005 a computerised database of people buried in the Jewish cemetery on Bracka Street was created, and a printout was given to the Jewish Religious Community in Łódź. The same funds are used to build the cemetery's internet portal, where information about the burial place of a sought person can be found. In 2004, with the support of Michael Traison and other donors, the foundation placed matzevot on the graves of particularly meritorious people who died in the Łódź ghetto. In the same year, together with the Association of Łódź Residents in Israel and former pupils of the Józef Aba Gymnasium, it restored the completely devastated grave enclosure of his family; the matzevah was funded by Jan Potz. Also in 2004, with financial help from the city conservator and private donors, a lapidarium of matzevot was begun on the outer side of the cemetery wall, using matzevot removed from the part of the cemetery taken for the widening of Zagajnikowa Street. Work on the lapidarium continues. The foundation's most important goal in 2004 was participation in organising the observances of the 60th anniversary of the liquidation of the Łódź ghetto. A substantial part of the Ghetto Field was cleared, an obelisk commemorating the destruction of the Jews of Łódź was erected, and work began on laying out and marking the plots of that part of the cemetery. This work also continues. On the basis of documentation prepared by the foundation, soldiers of the IDF (Israeli army) made and, during their visits to Poland in 2005, placed 400 name plaques on the graves of people buried there, declaring that the work would continue. The foundation also contributed to the creation in 1999 of the Professor Jan Karski memory room at the Museum of the City of Łódź. Jan Karski was an outstanding Łódź resident, courier and emissary who during the German occupation several times carried reports of the Polish underground to France and Great Britain for the Polish government-in-exile and alerted Jewish organisations in the USA to the Holocaust then taking place in occupied Poland. In 2004 the foundation cooperated with the Museum of Independence Traditions in organising an exhibition devoted to the liquidation of the Łódź ghetto, and with the Museum of Cinematography (funding one of the awards for the national festival "Człowiek w Zagrożeniu") and the Festival of Dialogue of Four Cultures. In 2005 it organised a klezmer music concert as part of the "Kolorowa Tolerancja" campaign and a performance by cantor Bencjon Miller on the occasion of Holocaust Day. The foundation actively responded to an appeal from the Institute of Tolerance, helping young people paint over antisemitic inscriptions on buildings and walls and, during the "Malujemy Granice Getta" campaign (2004), providing paint purchased for that purpose. Among the foundation's tasks, an important place is also occupied by popularising the history of the Łódź Jewish community. Among the more important publications that appeared with the foundation's financial support or in cooperation with it are such significant titles as "Polacy, Niemcy, Żydzi w Łodzi" edited by Prof. Paweł Samuś and "Getto łódzkie. Vademecum" by Julian Baranowski, as well as the album "Żydzi łódzcy". In 2004 the foundation, together with the State Archive in Łódź and Oficyna Bibliofilów, published "Żydzi wiedeńscy w getcie łódzkim" by J. Baranowski. In 2005, on the anniversary of his death, it issued a commemorative print devoted to Arnold Mostowicz, at the same time applying to the City Council in Łódź to name a street leading to the Survivors' Park after him. The foundation also applied for names for newly created streets, proposing as patrons Józef Aba, a pedagogue who died in the Łódź ghetto, and Abram Cytryn, a young poet murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944. Besides its own activities, the foundation supports third-party initiatives. Among other things, it assists the founders of memorial plaques on the cemetery wall on Bracka Street (dedicated to loved ones whose graves cannot be found or who were murdered in camps). It helps descendants of Łódź Jews find traces of their roots. It also participates in organising visits of distinguished guests to Łódź, including the United States Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe and the Mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai. Completion of the clearing work begun in 2004 in the part of the cemetery known as the Ghetto Field, where people who died in the Łódź ghetto were buried, is a fundamental task.

• 2005

  A computerised database of burials at the Bracka Street cemetery was created with a donation from Josef Buchmann; IDF soldiers placed 400 name plaques on graves; a klezmer concert and a cantorial performance were organised.

• 2004

  Security work began on the Poznański family mausoleum; matzevot were placed on graves of notable people who died in the Łódź ghetto; a lapidarium was begun; the foundation helped organise the 60th anniversary of the liquidation of the Łódź ghetto.

• 2002

  Conservation work on the Jarociński family tomb was completed.

• 2000

  A grant from the Polish government funded construction of the cemetery wall along Zagajnikowa Street.

• 1999

  The foundation contributed to the creation of the Professor Jan Karski memory room at the Museum of the City of Łódź.

• 1998

  Conservation work began on the Jarociński family tomb with a grant from the Polish-German Foundation.

A heritage-preservation foundation focused on the Jewish cultural legacy of Łódź, operating through conservation, documentation, commemoration and education.

• Computerised database of burials at the Bracka Street Jewish cemetery

  Created in 2005 with a donation from Josef Buchmann of Frankfurt am Main; a printout was given to the Jewish Religious Community in Łódź.

• Internet portal of the Bracka Street cemetery

  Built with the same funds, allowing users to find information about the burial place of a sought person.

• Lapidarium of matzevot

  Created on the outer side of the cemetery wall using matzevot removed from the part of the cemetery taken for the widening of Zagajnikowa Street; work continues.

• Publication "Żydzi wiedeńscy w getcie łódzkim"

  Published in 2004 by the foundation together with the State Archive in Łódź and Oficyna Bibliofilów, authored by J. Baranowski.

1. 1Fundacja Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense – official websitelodzjews.org
2. 2Fundacja Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Fundacja Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense – Wikipedia (Polish)pl.wikipedia.org