Although there are no longer any Jews living in Dukla today, those interested in Dukla's Jewish past are blessed in having several (non-Jewish) Polish gentlemen, both in and from Dukla, who are working actively to preserve the memory of Dukla's former Jewish Community.
Jacek Koszczan , a retired police border guard, is the founder and President of "Sztetl Dukla" (the Association for the Protection of the Heritage of the Jews of the Dukla Region). Jacek's activities on behalf of preserving Dukla's Jewish past are many. They include: helping to maintain the Dukla synagogue ruins and two Jewish Cemeteries; sponsoring and coordinating Jewish remembrance activities in Dukla, including Jewish Culture Days events and conferences; and holding annual memorial events to commemorate the destruction of Dukla's Jewish community in 1942 - to name just some. Jacek is also the author of several articles and books on Dukla's history, including its Jewish community. His Association also holds a large collection of memorabilia and artifacts from Dukla's Jewish past.
In 2016, Jacek received the prestigious "POLIN Award", from the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (Muzeum Historii Ż Polskich) in Warsaw. Given out annually, the POLIN Award is granted to outstanding individuals, organizations and institutions that are actively engaged in the preservation of the memory of the history of Polish Jews. The Museum's announcement of the 2016 award stated about Jacek: "The winner of this year's POLIN, Jacek Koszczan, is the founder and president of the Association for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in the Dukla Region- Sztetl Dukla. His work involves both acquisition and archiving of knowledge about Jews from Dukla and the surrounding area, as well as educational activities. Jacek Koszczan is the initiator and builder of the monument commemorating the 70th anniversary of the extermination of the Dukla Jews, and he is social guardian of Jewish cemeteries, mass graves and the ruins of the synagogue in Dukla. Thanks to his efforts and knowledge, two families in Dukla have also been honored with the medal of the Righteous Among the Nations."
Jacek is friend and contributor to the Dukla KehilaLinks page.
Robert Szczepanik likewise holds a deep interest in Dukla's Jewish community. Although he no longer lives in Dukla, as he is presently pursuing educational and other opportunities elsewhere in Europe, Robert has also gathered many historical photographs and other artifacts about Dukla's Jewish past. Robert has been, and still is, a generous source of assistance to descendants of Dukla's Jews wanting to know more about their ancestors and their community. In 2017, Robert created the active Facebook group "Jews from Dukla and their descendants," which now has over 100 members.
Robert is similarly a friend and has been a regular contributor to the Dukla KehilaLink page.
Beginning in 2012, and continuing either every year or every other year since then, in the late summer, Jacek Koszczan of Sztetl Dulka, along with others, has put on a conference to remember and celebrate the culture of the Jews of Dukla. The Jewish Culture Days have featured Jewish food and music, period Jewish clothing, physical cultural re-enactments, as well as academic lectures and presentations on Dukla's Jewish past. This annual or semi-annual event, attended by both civil and religious leaders of Dukla, as well as a significant part of the local populous, shows the degree to which Dukla seeks to preserve the memory of its lost Jewish Community.
The following are the brochures issued for each of the Dukla
Jewish Culture Day Conferences held through 2018.
In addition to the Culture Days in Dukla, annually on both
Holocaust Remembrance Day and the August 13 anniversary of
destruction of the Dukla Jewish community, solemn remembrance
events are held at the Dukla Jewish cemetery memorial, attended
by Dukla's civil and Catholic religious leaders, to commemorate
the town's lost Jewish community.
Copyright (2022) Jeffrey Alexander and Philip Ross.
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