Daniel Wagner, professor of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and vice-president of the Organization of Former Residents of Zduńska Wola in Israel.
Daniel Wagner is the author of 30 genealogical papers. He has
researched his Polish roots since 1995, and is a member of the Israel
Genealogy Research Society (IGRA). He was a Co-Chairman of the 24th
International Conference of Jewish Genealogy Conference held on July
4-9, 2004, in Jerusalem. He is a member of the JRI-Poland Board, the
Coordinator of the Grodzisk Mazowiecki Archive Project, the Zdunska Wola
JRI Shtetl CO-OP Coordinator and Town Leader, and until recently the
Chairman of the Organization of Former Residents of Zdunska Wola in
Israel.
In September 2001 he and Kamila Klauzinska initiated the “Photographic
Census Project” in the Jewish cemetery of Zdunska Wola, which took 7
years to complete. Wagner was subsequently elected Honorable Citizen of
Zdunska Wola. He was the recipient of the 2009 Yakir (Fellow) Award from
the Israel Genealogical Society. Wagner is a member of the Management
Committee and of the Academic Committee of the International Institute
for Jewish Genealogy and the Paul Jacobi Centermore you can see on his website: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/materials/Wagner/
Kamila Klauzińska, PhD, who in 2000 completed a master's degree from the University of Łódź, wrote a graduation thesis project titled "The Jewish Cemetery in Zduńska Wola". The project was written under the supervision of Professor Olga Goldberg-Mulkiewicz of Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Professor Ewa Grażyna Karpińska of the Department of Ethnology at the University of Łódź. In 2005, Kamila received an award from the Israeli Embassy in Poland honoring her work in preserving Jewish heritage in Poland. Kamila got her Doctorate in the Department of Judaic Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where she prepared her dissertation on Genealogy of Polish Jews.
Moreover, Kamila Klauzinska for her dedication and preservation of Jewish heritage in Poland received:
(2010) Award from the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bogdan Zdrojewski – the Bronze Medal For Merits to Culture Gloria Artis.
(2008) Award from the Polish President Lech Kaczynski – the Golden Cross of Merit (For people who disseminate knowledge about the multicultural Polish heritage, for taking care of the Jewish heritage and the Jewish cemeteries in Poland.
Elżbieta Bartsch took on an interest in Jewish cemetery at a time when it was quite rare, and perhaps even very courageous, to do so. She completed a master's degree with a graduation thesis project on the Jewish school in Zduńska Wola. Subsequently, she has been taking caring of the Jewish Cemetery in Zduńska Wola for 22 years.
These three individuals share the same determination to preserve the Jewish Cemetery in Zduńska Wola and to properly remember the Jewish heritage of town. They decided to tell the story of the cemetery to the people of Zduńska Wola. Their mission began with an education program at the schools. It was a starting point to change the opinions and break the stereotypes many local residents have of Jewish people and the Jewish culture. They also hoped that it was the best way to stop the vandalism and theft at the cemetery, which had been going on since the end of the Second World War. During his visits to Zduńska Wola, Professor Wagner meets with teenagers and shares some Jewish history with them. Kamila Klauzińska has also organized such lessons at schools or at the cemetery for last 14 years.
