The Cultural Meeting Centre in Dąbrowa Tarnowska

The Centre was established in June 2012 in the renovated Hasidic synagogue which is the biggest temple of this kind in Poland. Historic space saved from destruction became the perfect reminder of the history of the Jewish community, which constituted about 90% of the town population in 1910.
The aim of the Centre is to study Jewish culture and religion but also to find common features between Christianity and Judaism. The main exhibition, shown in the former Prayer Room, tells about the rich history of the Jews in Dąbrowa Tarnowska as well as presents the basic concepts of Judaism. One can admire the renovated paintings depicting a Zodiac cycle and views of the Old City of Jerusalem. Apart from Judaica shown in backlit theme display cases, there are also Second World War memorabilia exhibited there. These are uniforms of particular military formations, cold weapons, pistols, rifles, bullets, bombshells, shells as well as documents, medals, distinctions and banners. One relict is especially interesting – fragments of the Halifax aircraft which crashed near Dąbrowa in 1944 on its way to support the fighting Warsaw. Other objects include bronze clasps and rings, as well as mammoth bones coming from the excavations, as proof of the oldest times of the region.
In the south-eastern part of the Prayer Room, the original furnishing from the Prayer House is presented. It was brought from a shtiebel owned by Samuel Hirsz Roth. He was called the last guardian of the Torah in Dąbrowa Tarnowska and he died in 1995. In the centre of the Prayer Room there is an original rectangular bimah with a variety of cult objects (both for synagogue and domestic use) placed on it, including the Hanukkah lamp, which is also presented on our website. On the second floor of the former Women’s Courtyard, a large collection of Samuel Roth’s books is exhibited. While being here, it is worth looking down on the Room once more, this time from an observation deck. From this height, one can see details of the ornaments placed on the wall just below the ceiling.
The collections of the Powiśle Dąbrowskie Museum, which have existed since 1983, are also exhibited in the Centre. In the exhibition rooms located upstairs and in the basement, one can become acquainted with material culture of the villages of Powiśle Dąbrowskie as well as with local folk art. The collection of Zalipie art, including the painting made by Felicja Curyłowa, the most famous painter from Zalipie, and exhibited on our website, deserves special attention.

Elaborated by Kinga Kołodziejska (Redakcja WMM),,

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

Photograph by Marek Antoniusz Święch, arch. MIK (2013),

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Poland License.

www.oskdabrowa.pl

ul. Berka Joselewicza 6,
33-200 Dąbrowa Tarnowska

phone 14 657 00 09
Fax 14 657 00 10
page museum

How to get there :

on foot

by car

Opening hours

Monday

closed

Tuesday — Saturday

9.00 — 17.00

Sunday

15.0 — 18.0

Ticket Prices

normal 10 PLN

reduced 7 PLN group 6 PLN

Coffee grinder

Presented coffee grinder mill has a manual drive – crank (bent bracket finished wooden handle). Tank for grinding is semicircular at the bottom connected to the square housing in which there is a wooden box. Grinder is screwed to the wall with two screws. Back was painted green...

Fruit squeezer

Presented device was used for juicing fruit. Its effect was to crushing the fruit in a wooden barrel with a large knob located above it, combined with a screw placed inside the device. In this way a fluid, which presumably used not only for food but also for the preparation of various, often health potions.

“Heligonka” folk accordion

A heligonka is a folk variation of the accordion. The instrument was first mentioned in the eighteenth century, when—in 1829—the organ and piano master, Cyril Demain, was granted a patent for the manufacture of heligonkas in Vienna. Soon, their serial production had begun...

Fibula of Łużyce

The clasp was discovered by Lidia Dobrzańska, primary school student, residing in Dabrowa Tarnowska summer of 1955 years. The girl, a dip in the Dunajec in Żabno noticed a nearby clump river a shiny object. It was a clasp brown and bronze springs — spiral rings fingerclip.

Knee-boot jack

This is an object which is rarely seen nowadays—a device for sliding shoes off feet—especially boots with uppers. It used to be very popular, especially at a time when riding boots were fashionable.

Painting “Bouquet” by Felicja Curyłowa

This painting represents the Zalipie culture which is closely connected with the Dąbrowa district. The fact that it was painted by Felicja Curyłowa, one of the most talented artists from Zalipie, makes this exhibit even more valuable. Enjoying great authority and endowed with organisational skills, being conscious of the value of local decorative traditions, Curyłowa made Powiśle famous not only in Poland but also outside the borders of the country.

Hanukkah lamp from Samuel Roth's shtibl

This unusual Hanukkah lamp was set on a wooden base, in the middle of which there is a small wall made of two planks, reinforced with another plank and a metal plaque on the back. To the front of the wall, a cast-iron chandelier is fixed.

Jewish book of the Chevra Kadisha funeral brotherhood

A Jewish book belonging to a Chevra Kadisha funeral fraternity. It is a prayer book of the Ashkenazi rite (Nusach Ashkenaz). The Hebrew title of the book is Sidur Safa Berura ha-Shalom.

The Babylonian Talmud

The Talmud is the most important compilation of the oral Torah, that was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is a commentary, an explanation, and a discussion. Before the Talmud, there was the Mishnah, to which Talmud is an extension. There are two Talmuds—the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud—whose 1831 edition is presented in our collection. The process of editing the former was completed in the 4th century AD in Palestine, in the academies of Caesarea, Sepphoris, and Tiberias. The latter was completed a little later, at the beginning of the 6th century AD in Babylonia, in the academies of Sura, Nehardea, and Pumbedita. It is far more extensive than the Jerusalem Talmud.

“Berloce” straw shoes

Presented exhibit does not resemble winter boots. It was weaved from straw and intricately bound with string. Shape presented berlocy associated rather with straw baskets that can be purchased at the folk fairs. How could they go?

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