A team of researchers from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) and Jagiellonian University in Krakow, in collaboration with POLIN – Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, has developed the Przechowane.org platform. The Polish-language website went live at the end of January. With Przechowane.org – przechowane means "preserved" in English – the researchers want to reach out to people who have Jewish artefacts in their homes or who have found them. They are calling on people to upload photos and descriptions of these objects, which can also be done anonymously. Upon request, the researchers will also answer questions about the respective objects.
"Memorabilia of people who are no longer with us"
"We are interested in every object – even the most inconspicuous or damaged – that allows us to get a picture of everyday life in a Jewish home, workshop or shop in the pre-war period. A broken candlestick, an old pot, a single plate, a washed-out lace doily or a torn coat... We want to shine a light on everyday objects that may not have great museum value, but are priceless as mementos of people who are no longer with us and as part of an important history," according to the press release published in Poland.
Reconstructing the history of dispossession
The crowdsourcing platform is part of the research project "Plundered Lives" by historian Dr Magdalena Waligórska. At the Institute of Ethnology at HU, she and her team are researching the history of the expropriation of Jews during the Holocaust in Poland and Belarus. The focus is on everyday objects such as clothing, crockery and tablecloths – objects that have received little attention in research to date. In the shtetls, small towns in eastern Poland and present-day Belarus, the German occupiers often murdered the Jewish inhabitants in mass shootings near the towns during the Second World War. Their valuables, clothing and furniture were sent to Germany in freight trains. However, some of the stolen items from Jewish property remained in place. Many everyday objects were exchanged by Jews for food, and when they had to go into hiding, they often gave their valuables to non-Jewish neighbours for safekeeping. The deserted ghettos were also partially looted by the local population. In this and other ways, Jewish objects found their way into non-Jewish households. Magdalena Waligórska wants to reconstruct the story behind this large transfer of "small things". With the help of images and descriptions of such objects uploaded to the crowdsourcing platform, the next step will be to create a travelling exhibition documenting Jewish everyday life in cities and smaller towns in pre-war Poland.