Author: Marta Kubiszyn

Publisher: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, The Culture Panorama Association, the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theater” Centre

Year of publication: 2011

Pages: 488

In 2011, the Culture Panorama Association, along with the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theater” Centre, the Department for Jewish History and Culture of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin and the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute published a guidebook written by Marta Kubiszyn entitled In the Footsteps of Jews. The Lublin Region. This publication is one of the outcomes of the social and educational project called “In the footsteps of Jews of the Lublin region”, which was intended to examine, document and promote among the residents of the towns and villages of the Lublin region the multicultural legacy of their neighbourhood, with particular emphasis on the history of the local Jewish community.

Jews lived in places called shtetlekh – settlements which featured their own unique customs founded upon the authority of the Jewish community councils, with religion serving as the primary point of reference. The Jewish contribution towards the cultural heritage of the Lublin region also includes the culture of large towns, educational centres (the Lublin yeshiva) and the participation of the Jewish community in the development and functioning of the Polish society.

After World War II had come to an end, the once-common landscape of the shtetlekh ceased to exist, yet it was preserved in memories, on old drawings and photographs as well as in literature. There are also material vestiges of this world – abandoned synagogue buildings, cemeteries and houses with traces of mezuzot on their door frames. It is these items and places which are featured in the "In the Footsteps of Jews. The Lublin Region guidebook."

The project was co-financed from the funds of the Operating Programme of the Citizens’ Initiative Fund.