There is testimony by a survivor of a mass Nazi execution of Jews in Lublin’s Górki Czechowskie Park in 1942.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
The leading rabbinical organization in Europe have sent an urgent letter to political leaders in Poland demanding that the authorities halt a housing development plan to be built on top of a Holocaust-era mass grave site.
“We demand a cessation of any further excavations, disturbances, or construction work at this site,” in Lublin’s Górki Czechowskie Park, the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) wrote, due to the strong suspicion that it may contain “the remains of hundreds of Jewish Holocaust victims.”
The rabbis addressed their letter to Poland’s president, outgoing and incoming prime ministers, the president of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), and the city’s mayor, as well as Israel’s Foreign Ministry and Chief Rabbinate.
The missive cited the testimony of a survivor of a mass Nazi execution of some 900 Jews that took place in this area between March 26 and 28, 1942.
The Poles have known for years that more than 1,000 people who had been imprisoned in the Lublin Castle and then executed by the Germans may be buried in various locations in the huge park.
Those victims were a mix of Jews and regime opponents.
After World War II, the area became a military training ground, so no searches were made.
Even after most of the park was sold in 2000 to a land developer, nothing was done by the IPN, whose mission is to document Poland’s history, particularly during the periods of Nazi and Soviet occupation.
Families of the victims wrote to the IPN in 2016 demanding an investigation before any construction began.
In 2023, some two dozen bodies were discovered during preparatory excavation work at the site, but the IPN did not say whether the remains were those of Jews.
According to a Monday report in the media outlet Wirtualna Polska, which received a copy of the letter, the rabbis’ contention is “new information, because although the… IPN reported the discovery of the remains of 15 people in early June, it did not mention any Jewish victims.”
“On the contrary,” the report said, “the remains were found with such distinctive personal items as a medallion with an image of the Virgin Mary, a crucifix and a rosary.”
The CER has asked the authorities to conduct further DNA testing of the bones at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“We are deeply concerned by reports that instead of clearly establishing the identity of the victims buried at this site, actions are being taken that could enable the implementation of a development project, potentially at the expense of the dignity of the deceased,” the rabbis wrote.
The CER added that the preferable course of action would be “leaving all human remains in place, undisturbed,” and “recognizing the entire area of Górki Czechowskie as a Jewish cemetery.”
This would put a stop to the municipality’s plans to turn the area into a luxury residential complex and shopping center.
The rabbis are not the only ones who wish to stop the housing development.
It is already immersed in controversy according to Polish media, due to environmentalists and residents who want to protect the 100-hectare nature area for the benefit of Lublin’s citizens.
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