Posting new pictures — from Poland

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I recently returned from a trip to the far southeastern corner of Poland — that sharp, elongated triangle bordered by Ukraine and Slovakia. I was there, based in the town of Sanok, to write an article about the project to built a replica of the roof and ceiling of the destroyed wooden synagogue in Gwozdziec, now in Ukraine. But I also took the opportunity to visit half a dozen Jewish cemeteries (in Rymanow, Dukla, Sanok, Lutowiska, Baligrod and Lesko) and document the way that candlesticks were used to mark women’s graves. I found several new styles, from very elaborate to simple and not so simple scratched images — no doubt hallmarks of local carvers, and I have begun to post the pictures in the Poland section of the photo galleries.

Here’s a taste:

Lutowiska, June 2011

Rymanow, June 2011

Lesko, Poland. June 2011