World
The Jewish wedding without any Jews
The pair were married by a fake rabbi in front of villagers, in an attempt to teach onlookers about Jewish traditions
August 14, 2017 16:04
The pair were married by a fake rabbi in front of villagers, in an attempt to teach onlookers about Jewish traditions
August 14, 2017 16:04There was something a little unusual about the Jewish wedding held in the Polish village of Radzanów at the beginning of this month - not least the fact that there weren't any Jews in attendance.
It was, in fact, an imitation wedding - one of an increasing number of nostalgia events for Jews in Central and Eastern Europe, aimed at teaching the local community about a way of life that was all but eradicated during the mid-20th century.
Organised by the Radzanovia Association, a cultural group promoting Polish heritage, the event featured a group of 12 non-Jewish volunteers dressing up in fake beards and peyot.
Piotr Czaplicki, a journalist for the Radia dla Ciebie radio station, played the part of the Jewish husband-to-be. Mr Czaplicki can be seen in pictures from the event under a chuppah with local resident and his "Jewish" bride, Julia Brzezińska.
The pair were married by a fake rabbi in front of villagers, in an attempt to teach onlookers about Jewish traditions.
Event organiser Agnieszka Rychcik-Nowakowska said hundreds of Jews, accounting for half of her village's pre-war population, were killed in the Holocaust. The event was intended to commemorate them.
“We want to remember all those homes of pre-war Jews, who lived a peaceful life punctuated by the rhythm of holidays, family celebrations and more mundane events," Ms Rychcik-Nowakowska said. “We remember those who lived here before us and entered the memory of our grandmothers and grandparents. It was so recent.”
In 1710 the Jewish community of Radazanow numbered 500 people, but the population dipped to fewer than 300 after the Germans occupied Poland in 1939. Most are believed to have died in the Mlawa ghetto.
Teresa Wrońska, an actress from the Jewish Theatre in Warsaw, was brought on board to assure the wedding’s authenticity. Ms Wronska choreographed the event — from the signing of the ketubah, to the traditional Jewish music that was played by a band of musicians from Warsaw.
Jonny Daniels, who documented the event and is the founder of From the Depths, a group that promotes Holocaust commemoration in Poland, said the wedding was not the only event of its kind in the country. Mr Daniels said it was “some kind of therapy taking place all over the country”.
Last year a high school attempted to reconnect residents of Radzanów with their village’s lost Jewish heritage by reopening the abandoned synagogue. The small building had survived the Nazi occupation.