Jewish tombstones looted during Poland’s communist era and used as building material in residential homes have been returned to the Jewish cemetery in the town of Przysucha, following an rare intervention by a senior figure in the Catholic Church.
The move followed years of efforts by the Biale Hoif Foundation, which works to preserve Jewish heritage in Przysucha, in collaboration with Prof. Radoslaw Ptaszynski of the University of Szczecin, a scholar with deep ties to Judaism through his family’s local Jewish roots.
Jewish tombstones returned to Przysucha cemetery
For years, the foundation tried to convince a local family to dismantle a house wall constructed with Jewish gravestones but the family repeatedly refused. Prof. Taczynski, who is active in Holocaust education and combating antisemitism, turned to his longtime friend Cardinal Grzegorz Rys, the Archbishop of Lodz, for help.
In a rare move, Cardinal Rys personally negotiated an agreement with the family and took full responsibility for financing the dismantling and renovation. He pledged to cover all costs to ensure the family wouldn’t suffer financially or structurally.
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Once the stones were removed, the archbishop arrived at the site in person, changed out of his clerical robes and joined the workers in returning the gravestones to the cemetery — an act the foundation called a symbol of “repentance, respect and interfaith solidarity.”
“This wasn’t just a symbolic gesture — it was a deeply moral act,” the Biale Hoif Foundation said. “At a time when antisemitism is rising across Europe, this is a rare light: not just cooperation but true historical repair.”
The equipment for dismantling the wall and restoring the cemetery was donated by J-nerations, a Jewish heritage organization led by Meir Bulka, active in Jewish preservation efforts in Poland.
“This is an extraordinary and moving story of unprecedented cooperation — not just talk about interfaith dialogue but real action: Jew and Christian, secular and religious, professor and priest — all working together to restore dignity to the dead. This isn’t just a tombstone — it’s a moral resurrection," the foundation wrote in a statement.