The Lasting Memory Foundation was established in order to preserve the memory of the common history of Poles and Jews. Its establishment expressed a long-term foundation members’ engagement in collecting and spreading knowledge in order to preserve and commemorate places and events related to Poles and Jews. The fact also proves their willingness to help people whose families were killed for rescuing Jews and who are currently living in poor conditions.

\r\nOur common work has resulted in photo exhibitions, presentations and lectures in culture centers and schools. It also involves the cooperation with various social institutions, aimed at spreading historical knowledge. We have photographed over 400 Jewish cemeteries, supported actions aimed at saving Jewish headstones, shown the memorial sites to groups of students and collected the accounts of witnesses. Our work has been appreciated and awarded with diplomas and medals.

The establishment of the Lasting Memory Foundation enabled us to carry out more complex and effective actions. We reach the unknown and nearly forgotten places and people, witnesses to the Holocaust. We discover the unmarked graves of Jews murdered during the Second World War, including the collective graves, which we preserve with memorial stones. We systematically supplement documentation of those places. The activities are held in cooperation with Rabbinical Commission on Cemeteries. We collect knowledge and pass it on to the young generations during special meetings in schools, which are frequently held with the participation of witnesses. Within the realm of our activity we maintain co-operation with the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, the Society of the Righteous Among the Nations and the Association of “Children of the Holocaust” in Poland. Our lectures concerning the common history of Poles and Jews are delivered in culture centers, various associations and prisons. We collect unrecorded accounts regarding the assistance to Jews during the Nazi occupation. We also established co-operation with Yad Vashem Institute. Our Foundation provides financial and emotional help for more and more people whose families were killed for the assistance to Jews during the Holocaust. We also guide the groups in Memory places and organize memorial runs which follow the traces of martyrdom sites of Jews as well as their hiding places provided by Poles later recognized as the Righteous Among the Nations of the World.  

The aims of The Lasting Memory Foundation:

• Documentation and spreading knowledge concerning the common history of Poles and Jews
• Spreading and deepening knowledge of the Holocaust
• Preservation of the unmarked sites of martyrdom and burial of Jews as well as preparing documentation of those places.
• Passing on historical knowledge to young generations, also in memorial sites and with the assistance of witnesses.
• Collecting the accounts of the last living witnesses as the completion of Jewish community’s history
• Bringing financial and emotional help to people whose families were killed for helping Jews during the occupation and who are currently living in poor conditions.
• Reaching people who rescued Jews during the occupation and commemorating their brave acts
• Saving the monuments of Jewish culture, mainly Jewish cemeteries.
• Showing round the memorial sites to groups of students and people interested in the matter.
• Organizing special meetings, trips, conventions and sport events.

The Foundation Board:

In the picture above you can see the board members of The Lasting Memory Foundation during the exploration in Lubelszczyzna, following the traces of Jews in the former cemetery in Modliborzyce.

On the left: the creator and President of The Lasting Memory Foundation- Zbigniew Niziński. Since 1999 he has been travelling across Poland and searching for disappearing Jewish cemeteries and deserted synagogues. He has visited over 400 cemeteries and the sites of mass extermination. He reached aged witnesses to extermination and people with the Righteous among the Nations of the World title. Mr Niziński participates in actions of Rabbinical Commission on Cemeteries. He was awarded the diploma by Embassy of Israel in Poland and Jewish Historical Institute for his activity supporting the preservation of Jewish heritage. In answer to the proposal of the Association of “the Children of the Holocaust” he was honored with the medal by the Association of Jewish War Veterans. In 2008 Zbigniew Niziński was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland by the President of Poland.

On the right: The Lasting Memory Foundation Vice President- Daniel Starzyński. The lecturer at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Doctor in Jewish Studies . The author of work concerning the creative activity of Szmuel Josef Agnon. Mr Starzyński has been visiting and photographing Jewish cemeteries for over ten years. He also works as a guide in Auschwitz- Birkenau Museum in Oświęcim.