POLIN: "(Post) Jewish... Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Majer Kirszenblat"

Visit the latest temporary exhibition that shares the lesser-known history of Opatów, a Polish city. Before WWII, Poles and Jewish citizens lived together in this city just like in many others. Painter Mayer Kirshenblatt will lead you through this past era, retelling untold stories of past residents of small Polish towns using Opatów as an example. There once were more than a thousand towns like Opatów in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus where Jewish people and Christians inhabited the same spaces. WWII and the Holocaust greatly impacted these communities, and now, cities like Opatów have few or no Jewish residents. The exhibition reveals the shared histories within Polish cities. While the history of their Polish inhabitants is known and remembered, the stories of their Jewish neighbors are often forgotten. This exhibition hopes to rectify that.