'From This Home' series Kraków, ul. Mostowa 8 - A Bronze Cast Mezuzah by Mi Polin

Mezuzahs from "Mezuzah from this home” series are bronze casts of imprints of mezuzah traces found in Poland. They are castings made from beautiful bronze, with the letter Shin etched into the mezuzah.

There is a powerful history and emotion to this mezuzah - yet also a satisfying quality and aesthetic to the overall finish of the mezuzah.

Please find some information below, unique to this particular mezuzah - however if you would like more information feel free to email info@contemporaryjudaica.co.uk

The Idea

More than 3.5 million Jews lived in Poland before World War II. In the majority of Jewish homes, on the doorposts of every door used to be mezuzot. With the War, the mezuzot disappeared – leaving nothing but traces of emptiness and loneliness. These traces we cast in bronze creating new and trace based mezuzot to give a new life to those long gone and fulfil their holy function. Again. Every mezuzah is a story of a given house, family and person. Touching the mezuzah activates a link between past and present.

This particular bronze cast commemorates the Steiner and Lednitzer Families
and the trace of mezuzah on a doorframe in apartments 18 and 19.

The Home

The building was built between 1868 and 1873 as a tenement house. Probably it was designed by Jacek Matusiński. The owner of the building at 8 Mostowa was Abraham Lednitzer. From 1926 to 1934 only 4 Jewish residents lived in this tenement: Uebersfeld Estera, Gross Hallassa, Bloch Ruchla, Zweig Salomea. According to a list of prayer houses in pre-war Kraków in the backyard of 8 Mostowa Street was a prayer house of Chana and Abraham Lednitzer. The praying house was built in 1907 by the Lednitzer Family. During World War II, Nazi Germans devastated the building and it was no longer a prayer house. Today there is a workshop in this place. No one is allowed to enter the building.

The Family

In 1940 Jews were deported from Kraków to Kazimierz under the order of Nazi German occupation authorities. Among them there was the Steiner family, who moved to the appartment number 19 at 8 Mostowa Street. This marriage was: Chaskel Jakub and Scheindel Matel and their childrens: Fela, Bronisława, Szaja and Pinkus. The Cracow Ghetto was established in the Podgórze district on the March 3rd 1941. Fela and Szaja were transferred to an apartment Józefińska Street, where they registered on November 27th . Next, they were sent to Lubicz camp. Probably no one of them survived.

Brand:
Mi Polin

Material:
Bronze

Dimensions:
5.7” long / 1.37” wide - Takes a 6cm scroll