Szymon Rabinowicz – odnaleziony

Abstract

Szymon Rabinowicz – rediscovered In 1935, the National Museum in Krakow began collecting Jewish handicraft with the aim of establishing the “Judaica department”. Until WWII (1939), numerous objects were purchased with the help of antique shops and private individuals. One of the main sources (or even the most important) was Szymon Rabinowicz, a Jewish antique dealer. Surprisingly, although his work was very important for the preservation of Jewish culture, very little was known about him – he was virtually anonymous. Even worse: many legends about him that were spread among old curators of the Museum turned out to be completely untrue. It was only about 75 years after his death that it became possible to reconstruct his life. Now we know that he was born in Frysztak (near Strzyżów, Poland) on 16 December 1895. He arrived in Podgórze in 1914 or 1917 and settled there. During WWI (1914–1917), he served in the Austro-Hungarian army on the Russian front, but was killed by the Germans either in the Krakow Ghetto or during the transport from KL Plaszow to the Death Camp in Treblinka, in 1942.