The Bochnia Jews Organization

Most of Bochnia's Jewish survivors immigrated to Israel. The Bochnia Jews Organization in Israel was founded in 1950, as an initiative of the few survivors who had kept contact. The presidents of the organization made efforts to localize the survivors. As mentioned, most of them live in Israel, but we have contact also with Bochnia Jews in Europe and in America.

The main aims of the organization are:

To perpetuate the memory of the murdered.
To keep contact with the survivors and their families, thus addressing the second and third generations to join the organization. The number of members of the organization increases gradually, from two dozens to over 100 members.
To help people find information about their relatives, a task which becomes more and more difficult as time passes and there are fewer people who remember the native Jews of Bochnia and the district.
To preserve the heritage of the Bochnia Jews, emphasizing their contribution in the cultural development of the town.

The members of the organization cover a large range of jobs: politicians, doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, authors, merchants, state employees, and so on. Others are very active in preservation of the holocaust history, and they travel with private groups, school kids and soldiers as "live testimonies", showing and explaining history. This awareness of the history of the Bochnia Jews has created a subject of research in high schools and universities. Most of the senior members have retired. They are in close contact with each other.

The organization has an annual meeting near the monument in one of the cemeteries in Tel-Aviv. Another visited monument is placed in the Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. There are also additional activities and meetings, such as the meeting with Ms. Zawitska in Israel, A special meeting with the young generation, or a guided tour in Yad Vashem. We are also in regular contact with the Yad Vashem Authority. The members are informed about the events the take place there, and take part in seminars and conferences.

We have two main contact persons in Bochnia: Mr. Leon Gawand, the guard of the cemetery, and Ms. Ivona Zawitska, who takes care of the anthropological aspect in the the museum. We thank them for their enthusiasm and reliability.