Gary Gelb Photography
Poland Diary
August 28, 1995, 9:30 P.M.

Warsaw Rental Apartment
No. 40 Tamka Street

Met tonight with Dr. Stanislaw and Monika Krajewski and their children Gabriel and Daniel at their home. Spoke to Dr. Krajewski about his background...he found out he was Jewish in his late 20's (during the 1970's)...involved in an underground movement for people recognizing their Jewishness. They got together just to talk about being Jewish. When he was raised being Jewish was simply not talked about. He'd never said "I am a Jew" during the first twenty years of his life. The group "seemed" to be mainly to talk about what it was like to be Jewish and what it meant to be Jewish.

Stanislaw Krajewski
To say 'I am a Jew,' that is a very simple sentence. I had never done that before...was not raised to say it, because my parents told me nothing.
       - Dr. Stanislaw Krajewski

He seems to have grown into his Jewishness during the past twenty years to the point where he seems (at least to me) to be a practicing orthodox Jew today. Dr. Krajewski has no real personal problems being Jewish in Poland nor sees any for his children. They have been brought up with it and it is a natural state of affairs for them.

His knowledge and understanding of Judaism grew as he helped his wife Monika (who is not Jewish) with research on her two photography books about Jewish Tombstones, "Time of Stones" and "Tribe of Stones." Monika now creates Jewish paper cuts.

Dr. Krajewski is trained as a Mathematician. His business card as scotch taped into this journal reads as follows:

Business Card

In listening to the tape I made of the interview with him one part stands out: "To say 'I am a Jew,' that is a very simple sentence. I had never done that before. Was not raised to say it, because my parents told me nothing."

Speaking on his new group, The Jewish Forum Foundation, of which he is President: "...the idea is that they should repeat what they did in the late 1970's: just let people talk about being Jewish to explore it. Younger people (teens - 20's) it is easier for them. During war people were hiding and some never stopped hiding."


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