Brama Cukermana

The Brama Cukermana Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Będzin, Poland, dedicated to preserving Jewish heritage, documenting Holocaust history, and educating future generations through research, remembrance, and community engagement.

The Foundation was established in 2009 by Karolina and Piotr Jakoweńko together with a group of volunteers. In a town of Będzin – where once-thriving Jewish life was almost entirely destroyed during the Holocaust, the Foundation undertook the responsibility of recovering, preserving, and sharing the history of Będzin’s Jewish community and the wider Zagłębie region. For the past 17 years, we have worked to restore this forgotten history and preserve its memory. Over the years, the organization has developed into a recognized center for Jewish heritage preservation and Holocaust education in southern Poland.

Our mission is built on three interconnected goals: preserving memory and heritage, educating and inspiring future generations, and building communities around history and remembrance. We believe that local history can help address contemporary challenges by fostering dialogue, empathy, civic responsibility, and intercultural understanding.

One of our earliest achievements was the preservation of the Cukierman Family House of Prayer, a rare surviving example of a Jewish prayer house with original wall paintings. This unique site allows visitors to encounter the richness of Jewish life, traditions, and culture that existed in Będzin before World War II. Today it serves as a museum, space of educational and remembrance.

Over the past seventeen years, the Foundation has carried out a wide range of activities, including historical and genealogical research, guided tours, educational programs for students and teachers, workshops, exhibitions, publications, cultural events, commemorations and volunteer initiatives. We support descendants of former Jewish residents seeking information about their families and help connect people around the world with their roots in Będzin and the Zagłębie region. Through these efforts, we have welcomed more than 25,000 visitors, implemented numerous educational projects, published several books, and built partnerships with leading institutions such as Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum in Israel, and the POLIN Museum. Our work has been recognized through several awards and distinctions, including recognition from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Embassy of Israel, the Jewish Historical Institute, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Medal Committee, and B’nai B’rith International and others.

In 2024, the Foundation took responsibility for the preservation, restoration, and future development of the Będzin Ghetto Fighters’ House – one of the most important surviving sites connected to Jewish resistance in occupied Poland. This historic building is directly connected to heroes of the Jewish underground who organized resistance in the Będzin Ghetto and participated in the final acts of armed resistance during the liquidation of the ghetto in August 1943. In the past two years alone, the site has welcomed there more than 17,000 young visitors participating in educational programs focused on Holocaust history, civic responsibility, and human rights. A distinctive element of our work in this place is sharing the largely unknown story of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, focusing particularly on the experiences of young people and women involved in underground movements. Their courage, leadership, and commitment continue to inspire younger generations through educational programs that connect historical memory with contemporary civic values.

The Będzin Ghetto Fighters’ House is currently our most important project and the central focus of our future development. We aim to transform the site into an internationally recognized center for research, education, remembrance, and dialogue dedicated to Jewish resistance, Holocaust history, youth leadership, and civic courage. The project will preserve one of the most important surviving material testimonies to Jewish resistance in occupied Poland and make this history accessible to future generations.

The importance of Będzin Ghetto Fighters’ House has increased significantly following recent archaeological discoveries made on the property. Excavations uncovered the remains of a wartime resistance bunker prepared by the Jewish underground in the Będzin Ghetto. Among the artifacts recovered were a Jewish prayer book and an armband bearing the Star of David, personal items that offer a poignant glimpse into the lives of those who sought refuge and struggled to survive during the Holocaust. The discovery attracted international attention and provided rare physical evidence of the preparations undertaken by Jewish fighters before the final deportations.

Looking ahead, the Foundation plans to continue expanding its educational, research, and community programs while strengthening international partnerships and descendant engagement. Our priorities include further preservation of Jewish heritage sites, development of innovative educational initiatives, publication of new research, volunteer and youth leadership programs, and the creation of international opportunities for learning and exchange.

At the center of these plans stands the Będzin Ghetto Fighters’ House and the preservation of the newly discovered resistance bunker. Together, these projects will create a unique educational and commemorative complex that tells both the story of Jewish life before the Holocaust and the story of resistance, courage, and human dignity during one of history’s darkest periods.

Through all our activities, the Brama Cukermana Foundation seeks to ensure that the memory of Będzin’s Jewish community and the legacy of the young fighters who resisted Nazi persecution continue to inspire future generations and contribute to a more responsible, empathetic, and democratic society.