By
Isabel De Bertodano
Members of a British delegation to Poland last week expressed mixed feelings on being taken to see the Jewish remnants of Chmielnik, a town in the Kielce region north of Warsaw.
The group, which included United Synagogue president Stephen Pack Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum, of the Hadley Wood community in London, was in the country to attend the opening of the £60 million Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.
Chmielnik was 80 per cent Jewish before the war but no Jews remain and and people stared at the visiting rabbis in astonishment. "It is very unusual for Poles to see Jews who dress in a way that openly identifies them as Jewish," said Jan Muranty, the guide.
Chmielnik holds an annual festival of Jewish culture for its non-Jewish residents, during which Jewish food is eaten, Jewish costumes are worn and Jewish music is played.
The town's synagogue has been restored as a museum, at a cost of nearly £2m. The centrepiece is a huge bimah, a glass replica of the original, with light emanating from within. Nearby, an exhibition includes a heartbreaking pre-war photo of blurred children on a merry-go-round in Chmielnik.
"I'm uncomfortable with this place," said Mr Pack. "It's beautiful and has been done with the best intentions, but the Nazi's final solution included the notion that they would preserve some locations as a showcase."
Mr Pack said Judaism should be portrayed as it is. "We are a vibrant, living people and I am not a fan of synagogues becoming museums."
Rabbi Birnbaum also felt uneasy: "They're passionate about recreating the past, but I'm struggling to understand what motivates people to do this."
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