MULTICULTURAL PATH
- CACHE "Ecumenical Temple of Peace." In 1835, Evangelicals living in Kielce and the surrounding area asked the authorities to assign them government land at today's Sienkiewicza Street, which would be used to build a church and a parish house. After obtaining the consent and obtaining the necessary funds, the church was built, probably designed by architect Karol Meyzer. In 1838, the construction of the church began and two years later, in 1840 it was given to the people. The history of evangelicals in Kielce is connected with the stay and activity of Stanisław Staszic in Kielce, the foundation of a mining school and bringing many lecturers from Freiburg (Saxony) who were Evangelicals.
Since the time of Staszic, the evangelicals have grown close to the city, often held high positions or owned local estates. They participated in the life of the city, they died for Poland. In 1939, there were about 2,000 evangelicals in Kielce. Many were killed in concentration camps, some were evacuated to the West. A small group of Protestants (33) could not bear the burden of maintaining the church. In 1960, the church building was handed over to use the Polish-Catholic parish. The church was renovated, marble floors were laid and new chairs were provided. Old equipment includes: a crucifix, candlesticks, a marble font and unique organs from the 1960s. In the altar part there is a large, isosceles cross. Jerusalem. It is a symbol that connects all Christians.
At present, the building functions as the Evangelical and Augsburg Church of St. Trinity and at the same time the Ecumenical Temple of Peace. - CACHE " A MENORAH" A monument in the shape of a menorah, a ritual Jewish candlestick, by Marek Cecuła, son of a Kielce Jewish survivor of the ghetto and a 1946 pogrom. The monument commemorates 20,000 Jews murdered by the Germans in 1942. The monument was unveiled on August 26, 2007, on the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the Kielce ghetto.
The sculpture was funded by Bogdan Białek, president of the Jan Karski Association in Kielce, Andrzej and Stanisław Białek and Marek Maciągowski. A plaque commemorating the victims of the ghetto in Polish, Yiddish and English and a plaque with information about the Kielce ghetto were placed next to the menorah. The unveiling of the sculpture was also accompanied by a multimedia show showing the Jewish community on old photographs and a concert of youth from a music school.
The ghetto consisted of two parts. The large part was marked out with streets: Orla, Piotrkowska, Starozagniańska, Pocieszka and Radomska. The area between the square of St. Wojciech and a part of Bodzentyńska street was called the small ghetto. The "Aryan" side was separated from the ghetto by barbed wire entanglements. All Jews were displaced from their apartments, robbed of their property and all possessions. Almost 30,000 people were concentrated in 500 homes. In one year, 6,000 people died of starvation, illness and exhaustion. All residents were subject to a work order. The Germans carried out mass executions and deportation to concentration camps. Jews were killed on the streets, in the prison at Zamkowa Street, and in the Jewish cemetery in Pakosz. A second makeshift cemetery was created between Silnica and Nowy Świat Street.
In 1942, the ghetto was liquidated on August 19-24. During the liquidation, the Germans killed about 2,000 people.