{"id":85,"date":"2020-05-13T19:16:20","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T17:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/?page_id=85"},"modified":"2026-03-31T20:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:03:28","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/?page_id=85","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ireneusz Socha <\/strong>(1964) is an independent activist and researcher who explores and propagates the knowledge about the history of the Jewish community of his hometown D\u0119bica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1980’s, he helped save the Jewish cemetery in D\u0119bica. In 2014, he published his first Polish translation of the Sefer Dembitz (The Yizkor Book of D\u0119bica). On July 21, 2016, he started annual commemoration ceremonies to honor the local Jewish families who perished in the Shoah and mark the first liquidation action in the local ghetto – now co-organized by the municipality. Between 2017 and 2019, he developed a revitalization plan for the building of the former New Town Synagogue in D\u0119bica. Since 2007, he has cooperated with the D\u0119bica Originated Jewish Organization in Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, he was named a Leader of Dialogue<\/a> and since then has cooperated with the Warsaw-based Forum for Dialogue foundation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, he received a prestigious distinction from POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews<\/a> for saving traces of Jewish culture and Jewish presence in D\u0119bica, including the Jewish cemetery and the ghetto area that have survived or have been sorted out thanks to his initiative and cooperation.

In 2018, during a special event organized by Michael Traison Fund for Poland, Galicia Jewish Museum, Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, Emile Karafiol, Sigmund Rolat, Joshua Erlichster and University of Haifa, he received the \u201cPreserving Memory\u201d Award<\/a> in appreciation of his protection of Jewish heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, the B’nai B’rith International awarded him the Gratitude Marian Turski Memorial Award in recognition of many years of activity in the D\u0119bica area, numerous initiatives commemorating the Jewish past of the town, and dedicated work in the field of education.
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This website is a follow-up to Dembitzer Music, an earlier site run under the same address between 2008 and 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This new website is home for researching and sharing information related to the history of Jews who lived in Dembitz (D\u0119bica, Poland). Also, with this site Socha offers his services as a tour guide and a researcher for all those who wish to know more on their Jewish roots. If you need to get in touch, please write using the Contact<\/a> section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ireneusz Socha (1964) is an independent activist and researcher who explores and propagates the knowledge about the history of the Jewish community of his hometown D\u0119bica. In the 1980’s, he helped save the Jewish cemetery in D\u0119bica. In 2014, he published his first Polish translation of the Sefer Dembitz (The Yizkor Book of D\u0119bica). On […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-85","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/85\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2431,"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/85\/revisions\/2431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dembitzer.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}