Finalists of 2023 POLIN Award: Ewa Paul, Bełchatów and Sulmierzyce

A co-organizer of the conference titled "Pre-war Bełchatów – a City of Three Cultures" and a co-author of the book with the same title. Ewa is also co-authored a book titled Żydzi z Bełchatowa i okolic [Jews from Bełchatów and the Vicinity], which has been published in English as well. She manages a bilingual Polish-English group on Facebook "The Jews of Belchatow / Bełchatowscy Żydzi", which gathers circa 500 descendants of Bełchatów Jews scattered around the world and present-day Bełchatów residents interested in the history of their town.

Ewa is a co-organizer of the Memorial Day, held every year on 18 August to commemorate the liquidation of the Bełchatów ghetto. During the annual commemoration, the following events take place: concerts of Jewish music, lectures, meetings with authors, a joint recitation of the Kaddish prayer at the Jewish Cemetery, reading the names and surnames of the murdered Bełchatów children, joint trips to the extermination camp in Chełmno on the Ner River, flower-laying ceremonies, candle lighting, and an outdoor exhibition titled Forgotten Neighbors. The exhibition presents private family photos sent by Jewish Bełchatów residents from the group “The Jews of Belchatow / Bełchatowscy Żydzi”.

She was one of the prime-movers behind the retrieval of a vast number of matzevot during the reconstruction of the bridge on Cegielniana Street in Bełchatów. The bridge had been reinforced by the Germans during the war using matzevot from the Bełchatów Jewish cemetery. She initiated appeals in the local church for the return of matzevot lying around in people’s backyards.

She was also a co-initiator of plans to fence and tidy up the vandalized cemetery in Sulmierzyce near Bełchatów. She co-organized the retrieval of 34 intact matzevot (plus many fragments) from Sulmierzyce, which had been used to create a sidewalk in one of the local backyards.

She was nominated for the title of “Person of the Year 2018” by the Dziennik Łódzki daily and honoured with the Preserving the Memory award in 2023.