On July 4, 1946, in the city of Kielce, more than 40 Jews and several non-Jewish Poles were brutally murdered. Approximately 40 others were injured in a violent pogrom, which occurred more than a year after the end of the Holocaust.
The violence was incited by baseless accusations surrounding a missing child, reigniting long-standing antisemitic myths. The attack took place at 7 Planty Street, where over one hundred Jewish Holocaust survivors resided. The building housed the local Jewish Committee and a kibbutz preparing future emigrants for life in Palestine.
Among the victims were also Polish citizens who were killed while attempting to protect their Jewish neighbors.
The Kielce pogrom was not an isolated incident. Similar outbursts of violence in post-war Poland led thousands of Jewish survivors to leave the country in search of safety and stability.
We remember those who were murdered upon their return from the Shoah and those who stood up for humanity in the face of hatred.
More information: https://polin.pl/pl/rocznica-pogromu-zydow-w-kielcach
