‘Knowing Baczyński’s Jewish roots can help us better understand his writings’

MATI SHEMOELOF talks to the non-Jewish Pole trying to shine a light on the little-known Jewish background life of a Polish poet who was killed in the Holocaust

THE POLISH PARLIAMENT declared last year that 2021 would be the year of the Jewish poet Kashistof Kamil Baczyński.

The 23-year-old Baczyński and members of his family perished in the Holocaust. Dr Michał Laszczkowski, the non-Jewish president of Poland’s Cultural Heritage Foundation, has discovered the tombstones of Baczyński’s relatives.

Laszczkowski has teamed with the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland and was a driving force behind the Polish government’s decision in 2017 to launch a $US28 million investment fund devoted to restoring and maintaining the Jewish Cemetery in Okopowa Street, Warsaw. Poles regard Baczyński as a Polish (Christian) poet; Laszczkowski is working to shine a public spotlight on his Jewish identity.

Why did you go looking for Baczyński 's Jewish relatives?

Baczyński’s Jewish side is not hidden but is little known.  Last year, when the parliament declared 2021 the year of Baczyński, I decided to check if the graves of his ancestors still exist. I checked the name of his Jewish mother, who had converted to Christianity.

I discovered that his grandparents, who were murdered by the Nazis, are buried in our Warsaw Jewish cemetery. I was lucky that the tombstones exist because many were destroyed during the war or afterwards. I shared this information on my social media and with colleagues.