Copy of Shabbat Shalom (Hebrew: May you dwell in peace on the seventh day), a Shabbat manual from the collection of objects found in the house of Szymon Kluger (1925–2000), the last Jewish inhabitant of Oświęcim. Shabbat (Herbrew: to rest, to cease) is one of the fundamental Jewish holy days, a weekly day of rest, a time of reflection and moral reawakening. It lasts from the civil calendar Friday sundown until almost an hour after sunset on Saturday. In accordance with religious prescripts, thirty-nine categories of activities (labour), including professional work, travelling, and use of electric equipment, are prohibited. Known as “melakha” (Hebrew: Thirty-nine forms of work), they are not to be performed in the course of Shabbat although there are exceptions, such as the potential loss of life, personal injury, or property damage. Shabbat is preceded by a thorough cleaning of one’s home. In the evening a prayer service in the synagogue takes place and afterwards, during a festive dinner, the woman of the house lights festive Shabbat candles, parents bless their children, and the man of the house (male head of a family) recites a blessing over wine using a kiddush cup. Traditionally, two loaves of bread (challah) are eaten, symbolising the double serving of manna that the Israelites received from God on the eve of Shabbat, during their 40-year travels across the desert, so as to prevent them from breaking the Shabbat’s work prohibition. Szymon Kluger was one of the Jewish residents of Oświęcim who survived the Holocaust and eventually returned to their hometown. Surprisingly, he did so in the 1960s, when the last remaining Jews were on the point of leaving the town in the face of mounting antisemitism and a growing sense of isolation. They decided to leave Poland for good, joining their families, primarily in the United States and in Israel, and less commonly in select Western European cities. 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. In 1939, when the war broke out, Szymon was 14. He was witness to the gradual eradication of the Jewish presence in Oświęcim. In 1941, alongside his father and most probably some of his relatives, he was relocated to the ghetto in Będzin. Then, he was transferred to Blechhammer, an Auschwitz-Birkenau subcamp in Kędzierzyn Koźle), and subsequently to the Buchenwald and Gross Rosen camps. After liberation he found himself in Sweden, where he worked as a mechanic for a dry-cleaner’s in Stockholm. Little is also known about his life in Scandinavia. The reasons for his sudden return to Oświęcim in 1961, when the once thriving Jewish community had already been gone, remain undetermined. Upon his return, he settled in his family house at 18 Kościelna Street (before the war: 287 Podzamcze Street; presently: 2 Jan Skarbek Square), adjacent to the only surviving pre-war Jewish house of prayer in Oświęcim – Khevre Loymdei Mishnayos (Hebrew: Association of those who study Mishna). At that point, the building of the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue was converted into a storehouse, and later it was occupied by a carpet warehouse. As the last Jewish resident of the town, Szymon acted as the self-appointed guardian of the synagogue. He found employment in the Synthos Chemical Plant in Oświęcim. And then one day he stopped coming to work. He spent most of his days in the family house, which continued to fall into disrepair. Mainly keeping to himself, he rarely entertained guests or maintained ties with the world outside. Although his living conditions kept on deteriorating, he still looked after the long-forgotten Jewish house of worship. His siblings (Bronia and Mojżesz) intended to invite him over to the United States, but he consistently declined their offer. He did not live to see the re-opening of the synagogue. He died three months short of the completion of its renovation, in May 2000, but remained aware of the restoration work in progress, fulfilling his duty as a guardian till the end. 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 Center. 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.
