Objects

Photograph of the "siyum" ceremony

Taken in 1999, during the Siyum ceremony (Hebrew: completion), i.e., the official dedication of a new Torah scroll, which took place in the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue in Oświęcim. The scroll was brought by members of the Great Neck Synagogue in New York. Standing, from the left: Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, Mojżesz Kluger with wife Valerie, who arrived from the United States to attend the ceremony. Mojżesz was the oldest brother of Szymon Kluger (1925–2000), who himself was the last Jewish inhabitant of Oświęcim. In the 1960s, Szymon returned to his hometown and lived there until his death. Of the eleven-strong family, only Szymon and his two siblings, sister Bronia and brother Mojżesz, survived the Shoah. All the other members of the Kluger family perished during WW2: father Symcha, a pre-war melamed, one of many religious teachers living at that time in Oświęcim, mother Fryda, and their six children. Little is known about the circumstances of their death. Szymon Kluger’s WW2 life and post-war existence are also shrouded in mystery. After the war, Szymon's surviving siblings, Bronia and Mojżesz, settled in the United States. Bith visited him in Poland, frequently inviting him over, but he consistently declined their offer. He remained in Oświęcim, a city bereft of its once thriving Jewish community, and never abandoned his dilapidating house. He died three months short of the completion of the renovation of the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue, on 26 May 2000, but remained aware of the restoration work in progress. He was buried in his hometown – in the local Jewish cemetery (Polish: kirkut). Today, the Kluger House is home to Café Bergson, which – together with the restored synagogue and a newly established museum – is managed by the Auschwitz Jewish Centre. Founded in Oświęcim in 2000, it cultivates the memory of the Jewish community that constituted over half of the town’s prewar population. Szymon Kluger was their last representative.

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Information about the object
Author / creator
unknown
Object type
photography
Place of creation
Oświęcim (Małopolskie Province)
Technique
scan
Keywords
Copyrights status
the object is not protected by copyright law
Owner
Oshpitzin Jewish Museum in Oświęcim
Identification number
MZ-719-F