The postcard is in the shape of a horizontal rectangle with a reproduction of A. Osterman's artwork on the front. Guests are gathered in the square in the Jewish town. In the centre, under the wedding canopy (Hebrew: chuppah), is the newly married couple in their festive attire. The bride is wearing a white dress with a long veil covering her face. The groom is in a bekishe and a fur hat, and he is crushing a glass with his right foot on the ground. Next to the women stands an older bearded man in a kalpak and bekishe, reading the marriage contract (Hebrew: ketubah). On the right side, there are musicians. In the background, buildings surround the square. In the lower right corner, the intertwined artist's mark is imprinted: "AO". Below the reproduction, the text is printed in Yiddish and Polish: "Wedding". On the reverse side, at the top edge, there is an imprint of "Postcard" in seven languages: Polish, German, English, French, Hungarian, Russian, and Ukrainian (the last two written in cyrillic script). In the lower left corner, the publishing address is listed: "A[wit] S[zubert] Kraków" and the year of publication: "1908". Awit Szubert was a painter and photographer from Oświęcim. He studied at the School of Drawing and Painting in Kraków. He furthered his studies in Rome, and he delved into the secrets of photography in Vienna. He was one of the first photographers to capture images of the Tatra Mountains, Pieniny, and the interior of the Wieliczka salt mine. He operated his own photography studio from 1864, initially in Oświęcim, then in Kraków and Szczawnica (https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awit_Szubert, accessed on 26 February 2021).
The postcard was donated to the District Museum in Leszno in 1993 by Zdzisław Moliński from Leszno, who received it as part of a package of 20 postcards from the early 20th century. All of them featured reproductions of Jewish-themed artwork. The postcards were given to him by Zdzisław Sosnowski from Lasocice near Leszno, a house painter, collector, history enthusiast, and admirer of General Władysław Sikorski, with the intention of donating them to the newly established Judaica Department.
Dariusz Czwojdrak
