Since I crossed the stone threshold of the Jewish City of Kazimierz, Kuzmir became one of those pivotal ‘events’ that radically changed my life. For the better. (…) I placed a stone on the threshold of Kazimierz. Over thirty-seven years, it became deeply embedded, penetrating the very rock from which this city was formed. It became the threshold itself. (…)
If you think about it for a moment, Kuzmir / Kazimierz was a world of its own, an Ark of Salvation in the sea of the Diaspora; everyone was there: from devout Hasidim to Zionists, (…) Kabbalists, mystics, and the omnipresent Yiddish in the little shops and bakeries; the scent of printer’s ink, tar, bagels, challahs, fish in wooden vats in front of the Isaac Synagogue, the hubbub of the famous market on Szeroka Street, the holy Shabbat each week built from time, and the breath of children running to school.
These words by Janusz Makuch, founder of the JCF, inspired us to create the outdoor exhibition Stone and Light, which will portray the vibrant, pre-war Kazimierz. The curator of the exhibition is Anna Krejca, who says:
Walking through today’s Kazimierz, we come across seven synagogues. Some – grand and visible from afar, others – hidden from the eyes of passers-by. There are seven of them today – just like the seven lights of the menorah.
These temples were the beating heart of old Kuzmir. Their interiors served as places of worship and gathering, while the spaces in front of them were filled with trade, conversations, and children’s games. Synagogues held within them both stone – solid, cool, the silent witness of history – and light – fleeting, warm, alive.
The exhibition Stone and Light is an attempt to show what has passed, and yet can still be seen by a careful eye. I hope visitors will discover these long-lost frames among the enduring stones and the flickering light of Kazimierz.
The exhibition will be on view from June 24 to 30, 2025, in the square in front of the Old Synagogue, 24 Miodowa Street.
It presents archival photographs from the first half of the 20th century.
