Ewa Telezhinska-Savicka and Pavel Savicki from the Foundation “Memory of Treblinka” won the main prize of POLIN-2024. This award is given to people who work to preserve the memory of Polish Jewish history. The POLIN Culture and Media Special Prize was awarded to priest Adam Boniecki, and the POLIN 2024 Special Prize was awarded to the Borussia Foundation from Olsztyn.
The winners of the POLIN 2024 award – Ewa Teležinska-Savicka and Pawel Savicki – are board members of the Treblinka Memorial Foundation. For years they have been commemorating the people killed in this extermination camp. They create a Book of Names – an online database of victims. It already has almost 109,000 people and another 20,000 people are waiting to be processed.
Every last Saturday of the month – in the former camp they read the names of the Jews with the stories they found about them. They are also creating a database on refugees, a transport database and a multi-lingual education track, taking into account new technologies.
The foundation collects not only basic information such as name, surname and date, but also details about the lives and photographs of the victims. People are united in families.
– We are extremely impressed and moved. Thank you very much for this decision. We're pretty sure it has something to do with how important Treblinka is. Treblinka is the largest war cemetery in Warsaw, Kielce, Radom… 100, 200, maybe 300 cities in Poland. And many people in Poland don't even know where Treblinka is, Pawel Sawicki said during a gala at the museum on Monday. – For several years, we have been trying to recreate the individual fate of those who died there. Let it be not the numbers, but the people who speak, he said.
Ewa Telezhina-Savicka and Pavel Savicki with POLIN 2024TVN24 award
Letter of honor
The competition jury also awarded two honorable mentions. They were received by Karolina Panz from Novi Targ and Dariusz Sobczyk from Opatov.
For almost 20 years, Karolina Panz has been combining the role of a researcher of the fate of the Jews of Podhale with activities aimed at restoring memory. He searches national and international archives for materials on their history and meets survivors and descendants of Podhale Jews. It organizes meetings with survivors of Novi Targ and commemorates the Jews of Podhale on the anniversary of the Holocaust.
Dariush Sobchik is the guardian of the memory of Opatov Jews. He was the initiator of the commemoration of the anniversary of the victims of the Holocaust. For many years, he has been trying to ensure that the residents of the city do not forget the traditions of their city. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Opatov, he organized the congress of the association of compatriots of the Jewish descendants of Opatov. He was the initiator and initiator of the first exhibition of Major Kirzenblat's paintings in Opatov.
Special award
The POLIN Special Award was given to the Borussia Foundation, which since 2006 has been reviving the memory of the multicultural history of Warmia and Mazury and promoting civic activities in the fields of culture, education and social integration. For more than ten years, it has been developing cooperation, dialogue with neighbors and exchange of experiences related to Poland's path to democracy.
– The “Borussia” Foundation is not indifferent to the destruction of the material heritage of the Jews, the best proof of which is the saving of a unique building, the Bet Tahara building, from oblivion and destruction. Today, it is a place to commemorate the fate of the Jews of Olsztyn and activities for the common good, said the director of the museum of the history of Polish Jews named after POLIN Zygmunt Stepinski.
This year, for the first time in the history of the competition, director Stepinski was awarded a special prize in the culture and media sector. The winner was priest Adam Boniecki.
– Father Boniecki builds understanding and for several decades spreads values that are often forgotten in today's world, but are universal and eternal, – said director Stepinski. – He has an extraordinary gift for developing respect for others and their opinions. He has the ability to maintain depth, touch the thinnest lines, force us to reflect and check our decisions. He has been teaching us openness and compassion for years. He is authorized to be a very capitalist, he noted.
– “Tygodnik Povzechny” worked persistently for many years to show the history and presence of Polish Jews from different sides. This persistent work gave good results. Persistent work and persistent conscience have changed a lot, said F. Adam Boniecki, receiving the award.
The idea of the POLIN award
As the organizers explained earlier, the purpose of the competition is to promote attitudes and activities in line with the mission of the museum. The winners of the award are public activists who nurture the memory of the history of Polish Jews and contribute to the formation of a common future, mutual understanding and respect.
The POLIN Award, which has been awarded since 2015, has so far been awarded to nine winners and more than 55 finalists. The jury of the competition nominates, awards and distinguishes people or organizations from among the submitted candidates, which in recent years have shown significant, extraordinary actions, attitudes, deeds or speeches that have had a significant impact on the social awareness of the history of Polish Jews and the formation of Poland . – Jewish relations.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on TVN24 BiS:
tvnwarszawa.pl, TVN24, PAP
Main photo source: TVN24
