Thanks to these accounts, the viewer wanders around pre-war Będzin, a city where about 50% of the population were Jews. In his or imagination, the viewer transfers to a place bustling with life, where Jewish children attended schools and looked with hope into the future. The situation changed on September 4, 1939, when the Germans entered the city. The area of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie was incorporated into the Third Reich. The Central Office of the Jewish Council of Elders in East Upper Silesia was established, headed by Mosze Merin. A controversial figure, but crucial when we talk about the period of the II World War in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie.
The exhibition aims to approximate both the tragic events of the entire Jewish community of Będzin, as well as sensitivity to the existential experience of the individual and which is the purpose of the rich stock of photos on exhibition. The photographic material correlates with quoted fragments of memories and witnesses’ accounts. The fates of our heroes lead us all through to the end of World War II. Rutka and Hadassah did not live to see the liberation. Their history ended in Auschwitz. The survivors’ accounts lead the viewer until the implementation of the project.