ARCHEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS

In 2004, on the site of the former Great Synagogue, a group of archeologists from Toruń University in Poland, under the direction of Dr. Małgorzata Grupa, excavated over 400 artifacts which were originally part of the Great Synagogue’s furnishings. These included the Ner Tamid (eternal light), as well as many candelabras and chandeliers. The excavation works were funded by a generous grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, and were conducted between May 28 and June 29 2004.

The excavation was inspired by a story told by a former Jewish resident about hiding the valuable furnishings of the Great Synagogue following the outbreak of World War II.

The only sources of information on the hidden artifacts came from testimonies by Yishayahu Yarot and Leon Schönker. Yishayahu Yarot is a 90-year old former resident of Oswiecim who had moved to Ramat Hasharon, now in Israel, after World War II. Leon Schönker had been the head of the Jewish community in the first months of the German occupation of the town, and his recollections are published in the Sefer Oshpitsin – Auschwitz Memorial Book, Jerusalem (1977).

In 1998, Yishayahu Yarot was working in his shop in Ramat Hasharon when he met Yariv Nornberg, a young Israeli man. On hearing that Nornberg was going to visit Poland, Yarot told him how had he had witnessed members of the Jewish community in Oswiecim burying two metal cases with Torah scrolls and valuable furnishings of the Great Synagogue. These items included artifacts from the Judaic museum that had been housed in the synagogue before 1939. Yarot also sketched a map with the location of hidden artifacts for Nornberg to take to Poland with him. Nornberg pursued the story, and in 2004 the excavation works began. Although the Torah scrolls mentioned by Yarot were not found, some 400 items from the Great Synagogue were retrieved.

A documentary was shot during the excavations by Israeli director Yahali Gat, who organized the excavations in conjunction with Nornberg. The film is called A Treasure in Auschwitz (2005) and has been shown at film festivals internationally. Many former residents of Oswiecim that had moved to Israel, including Adam Druks and Lolek Lehrer, were involved with the project and assisted during the excavations in Oswiecim.