BARBARA GANCZYK

Phd. Barbara Gańczyk is a certified Polish language teacher. Since 1976, when she graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, she has been working at the school. She started her first job in the only Basic Vocational School in Kłodawa the Basic School of the Salt Mine, "Kłodawa", located in the mine barracks. The school was attended by 90 boys. In 1989, she achieved PhD in the humanities. In 1990 she became director of the Basic School of Mines Salt Mine “Kłodawa” which she turned into a Public Vocational School. The following year she created the technical secondary school with the specialization mechanic and clothing industry technician. In the year 1992 both schools were turned to the Public Complex of Vocational Schools by the regional education authority form Konin.
In the environment of the city she is also known as the President of Cultural Association Kłodawa since 1986, and the initiator of the movement to help people with disabilities. As an regionalist she is the author of the publication Michal Rawita Witanowski and Klodawian formation (1991), Uphill to school (1998), Job’s Children (2000), The second bell (2004).
The first publication was about a great explorer and patriot who lived in Kłodawa the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1992 she won a means to resume, working with local government, his monograph about Kłodawa from the year 1904,. Job’s Children is a publication which covered the history of local Jews. The book included also the methodological materials on Jewish subjects in the Polish language. She raised funds for printing of the Batory Foundation. Both works have the nature of research and innovation.
As the initiator of the celebration of 45th anniversary of the Secondary School and its graduate, she wrote, in collaboration with a team of teachers, a monographic book To school up the hill (1998), the first such study of their school. She gained the funds in cooperation with the local government. It is worth mentioning that the concept of 45-th anniversary celebration was a success. Another success was the free transfer of land, purchased by the Municipality, to a school that became the school playground. On the 50th anniversary she wrote another comprehensive book Second bell (2004), which went beyond the circle of subjects of the previous publication.
She gained competence in teaching about the Holocaust and Polish-Jewish relations, legal aspects of the functioning of associations and structural aid programs of the European Union. Her knowledge and skills helps not only humanists of her school, but also the local community. She trains non-governmental organizations members and local government members, organizes the county popular scientific sessions and meetings with authors. Promotes the retired teachers works (applied for a grant to publish the Klodawa cronicles by John Grzegorzewicz and edited Mieczysław Łozinski’s book Polonia nieznana). She was a part of a team that complied a project for the Centre of the Professional Training for Teachers in Konin to obtain funding from the European Union.
With regard to welfare work she took part in a team, who took care of the secondary school student with special educational needs and hard material situation.
After retirement, she set up a website of the Battlegroup "Korab" VII Distric of the Home Army "Obroża." She edited the memoirs of a soldier, now a retired professor of the University of Adam Mickiewicz, Tadeusz Witczak. She still works for the local community. She is the author of the project Job’s Children. The memory of the Jewish community in the Salt Valley (Chodow, Kłodawa, Przedecz) and the co-researcher of the project “The photo of the grandmother, mother and juvenile the "Yesterday" and "today" of the Chodow district residents”.
The project “Job’s Children” gained the grant from the Local Action Group "Salt Valley." It will revive the research on the history of the Jews within the "Salt Valley", and allow publication of the researches in the form if a book and in the electronic version. There will be a cycle of educational classes. So far a rough list of the Jewish ancestry Klodawa citizens has been made (3000) records.

 

Barbara has been instrumental in providing so much rich information about our ancestors in Klodawa. She does this kindly, whole-heartedly, and generously and has never asked for anything in return. We owe her our gratitude for her wonderful work on our behalf!

Example of Barbara meeting a descendant in Klodawa:

DAN ROTH TRIP TO KLODAWA JUNE 2014 IN HIS OWN WORDS (SUBMITTED 05JUL2015):

 The idea of visiting Klodawa began early this year . I sent a mail to Judy Muarty and asked for any information about Klodawa. Judy gave me an email of Barbara[GANCZYK] woman  from the village who research the jews in the village.

 I found a wonderful woman who was ready any time to help us with our family project . about  2 month mails were exchange everyday.

Barbara was history teacher and retired . she investigating the jews life and has a lot of information since about 1790 .

 Tola the mother of my wife Bracha and her sister Dwora   was born in Klodawa belong to Krel and Rashevsky  families . she and her cousin Moshe Krel was survived from the big famiy.

We know she was two and half year at Poland family underground and some time at Attic ,  we know that she jump from a truck on the way to be murder. but the whole picture is not clear.

On the 10h of June 2014 we ( Bracha & Dan, Dwora & Menachem ) arrived from Warsawa to KLODAWA. A day before we  completed an organized trip to Poland .

 At the entrance to the village we met  Barbara Ganczyk and Aleksander Loza.

Aleksander is a grandchild of a lady "Righteous Among the Nations" and came from Poznan  .

Aleksander   was our translator and he also dedicate to the story of the jews.

First we visited the Jewish Cemetery where the grandmother, grandfather and the rest of my entire family from Krel & Rashevsky families were buried.  The place has no tombs and instead there is only one memorial stone.

We continued to the flourmill [Sjaniak].  At this place an open ghetto was established for the Jews of KLODAWA.  We continued to a church where all the Jews of Klodawa were made to congregate before being sent to Chelmno.

We arrived at the Jewish area at the East of the Klodawa River.  We passed the house of the Rabbi and Chazan and went into the synagogue which is used today as a cultural centre.  We continued to the Rynak where we saw signs of Judaism on some of the homes.  On the corner of the Rynak is the house of David Karel, father of Moshe Krel who lives in Miami Florida.  The owner of the house arrived specially to meet us and allowed us to go into the house which today stands empty.

On another corner of  warsawa street , Tola  and her big of the family lived, The houses were made of wood were no longer there.

We arrived to the offices of the city . Barbara enable us to see the books   which concern to our family. We saw the document about the birth of Tola and many others documents regarding the family.  These documents helped us a lot to complete our family story and family tree.

Surprisingly Barbara invited us to her home for lunch.  She prepared a rich Polish lunch which reminded us of our childhood.  In the yard she showed us pieces of tombs that she found in the street . At the end of the meal we left the house in the direction of Chelmono. She stopped at a flowershop and bought us a bouquet of flowers on which was written "Israel and Klodawa".

We arrived at the concentration camp in Chelmono where most of the citizens of Klodawa were killed.  Due to little time we only entered the entrance of the camp and the Palace in which the people were gassed.

On the monument at the entrance we put the flower bouquet and we lit Yorzheit candles.  We departed from the hosts and we travelled back to Warsaw to the airport

We must stress the warm hospitality of Barbara and Aleksander who helped us with the translation and came specially from the city of Poznan.

Barbara is a wonderful woman.  She is sensitive, and exerts all her energy to embrace the Jewish world of Klodawa.

It must be noted that Barbara explained everything until the last detail right through our visit – a most moving visit.

We were asked to help to establish a memorial stone in honor of the Jews of Klodawa in Chlemno.

I hope that with friends from the U.S.A. we will be able to fulfill this request.

BELOW PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY DAN ROTH JUL 2015 OF HIS TRIP TO KLODAWA IN JUNE 2014. CAPTIONS CORRECTED/PROVIDED BY BARBARA GANCZYK 01AUG2015:

Barbara Ganczyk, Bracha Roth (daughter of Tola Krel, her grandmother and mother nee Rzeszewski) visit to Klodawa Jun 2014. (To the left of them driver)

 

KLODAWA CEMETERY
From left: Dvora (sister in law), Menachem (husband).  Bracha (my wife-[dan roth]),  Barbara Gańczyk,  Olek Łoza (the translator), Dvorah and Bracha daughters of Tola Krell Steinberg.
The only Memorial Stone in the Klodawa Cemetery today.

 

The German collected all jews into the Church for one or two days without any food before sending to Chlemno .  

The building of the school in Klodawa, which attended Polish and Jewish children

 


 

IIn Klodawa was the ghetto which was open and people could get out without any restrictions.

 

Another view of the ghetto. According to Dan, the ghetto probably was the site of "the flour mill" [owner Sajniak]

 

FROM CAROLE KUSHNIR WITH BARBARA GANCZYK (and Carole's family) IN KLODAWA 03AUG2015: We've had a wonderful three days in Warsaw and the crowning event today was our visit to Kupervasser home in Klodawa where we did the Mezuzah tracing. In the group picture are the couple that do the tracing and they are in the middle. The woman on the left is Barbara [Ganzcyk] and she lives in Klodawa and her mission is to find all the information available on the Jews who lived in the town. She says the house where we did the tracing was Kupervasser's. Next door lived the Pizers. Too much to tell here. The tracing procedure was amazing and we have lots of photos. All else going well. Love to all, Carole

Left to right: Barbara Gancyzk,| Helena Czernek, Aleksander Prugar of Mi Polin, Alan Kushnir,and Carole Kushnir. 03AUG2015.