Eighty years after the Reinhard operation to deport Lublin Jews to the ghettos, a mezuzah was installed in the census office, which is now used as a center for Polish Jewish dialogue. Operation Reinhard was the code name for the operation to exterminate the Jews in occupied Poland as part of the “Final Solution” for the extermination of Polish Jews in the ghettos
On this year’s Simchat Torah, the Hashel Center was established in Lublin, the center for dialogue between Jews and Catholics named after the late Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, who was a thinker, Orthodox rabbi and philosopher. About two months after the establishment of the institute, the Hashel Center celebrated Hanukkah by lighting candles Additional events of a Jewish nature are planned in the central building of the university and later, in order to contribute to the dialogue between the peoples who lived side by side in Poland.
When Meir Bolka, the founder of the J-nerations organization, found out about the establishment of the institute, an interesting dialogue began between the president of the institute, Professor Miroslav Wrobel, about the nature of the center. Father Wrobel explained to Bolka that he intended to establish a meeting point for Jews and Poles in order to discuss common meeting points together. In response, Bolka suggested to Father Wrobel to install a mezuzah in the center to symbolize the dialogue between the nations and to his surprise, Father Wrobel happily accepted the offer and in recent days the mezuzah was installed at the entrance to the center.
During the meeting, Father Wrobel told Bolka that in fact the “Heshel Center” is located exactly where the office of the commander of Operation Reinhard was and the two agreed that there is nothing more symbolic than installing a mezuzah in the exact place from where Jews were sent to be exterminated.
Meir Bolka tells ‘Bachderi Haredim’ Seconds before the installation of the mezuzah in an emotional situation, I told Av Wrobel that for me it is not about revenge but about doing justice and closing a circle to show the world that great steps of dialogue between nations can start with small and symbolic steps, but I did not imagine that the mezuzah would be installed in the office from which he left The evil in action. There is no doubt that the heavens directed this act in this exact place. Sometimes the symbolism overcomes all evil” Bolka said.
Operation Reinhard was the code name for the operation to exterminate the Jews in occupied Poland as part of the “Final Solution” for the elimination of Polish Jews in the ghettos. Operation Reinhard was intended to bring about the murder of 2,284,000 Jews in accordance with the documents of the Anza Conference who were concentrated in ghettos in the five districts of Poland Warsaw, Lublin, Radom, Krakow and Lviv.
In October-November 1941, preparations began for Operation Reinhard. Heinrich Himmler appointed as the head of the operation Odilo Globocznik, the chief of police in the Lublin district and the headquarters of the operation was in Lublin, where the “Heshel Center” is today.
Today, more than eighty years after this operation, the building in downtown Lublin belongs to the John Paul II University (KUL) and is part of the Faculty of Law. Recently, on the holiday of Simchat Torah, it was decided to establish the “Heshel Center” named after Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, a rabbi and well-known philosopher born in Poland, from the descendants of the Baal Shem Tov and the Rebbe “The Light of Heaven” Avraham Yehoshua Heschel zt’al of Optov. Rabbi Heschel later became famous in the United States as he stood by Martin Luther King and was close to failed ethnic groups in the United States and around the world.
The center was established at the initiative of the Catholic Church and the KUL University in Lublin to be a center for encouraging dialogue between Jews and Catholic Poles following the will of Pope John Paul II who was known for his unique approach to the Jewish people. The Heschel Center in Lublin is directed by Father Professor Miroslav Wrobel, who himself is a biblical scholar and author of books on the Aramaic language, including the Unklos translation.
Meir Bolka in the installation of the mezuzah
Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
Meir Bolka in the installation of the mezuzah
Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
Meir Bolka in the installation of the mezuzah
Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
Meir Bolka in the installation of the mezuzah
Photo: Courtesy of the photographer