Jewish sources suspect that one of the nominees for the POLIN Museum Award for 2021 is suspected of property offenses related to the site where he set up a private museum for himself.
For about a year and a half, the Landau family, followers of the Bobov from New York, have been working to recover their property, which includes many silver items, manuscripts and personal items found in their home in the Hasidic town of BOBOWA in the southern Poland Poland region.
Some of the silverware that the Landau family claims to own and are displayed in the museum,
Leibush Landau, a descendant of Yaakov Marcus Landau, who lived in a house in the town square, discovered one day that a local Pole named Josef Guceba had unclearly bought the property used by the family for a Jewish residence and restaurant.
The same Gucha wanted to open an ice cream parlor in the old wooden house, but during the renovations a treasure was discovered under the floor of the house that included Judaica items of particularly high value, all made of money used by the Landau family and members of the Jewish community.
Gučeva, in order to prevent the return of the property to the owner or the transfer of the property to the state, as required by Polish law, decided to open a "Jewish museum" there which had never been officially registered.
Landau tried to contact Guceva, but he did not agree to any discussion.
Josef Guceba's Ice Cream Parlor,
Meir Bolka, chairman of the Generations organization, which works for the preservation of the Jewish heritage in the Diaspora, entered the picture, and examined the issue in depth. He said, Gucheva is in possession of items that do not belong to him at all and must return them to the owner or return them to the state for safekeeping. "
Bolka visited the place dozens of times and tried with various persuasions and peacefully to whitewash the issue, but Guceba remained in his refusal.
If that was not enough, he was considered a national hero in the town of Bobuba after being nominated for the POLIN Museum Award.
From the documents displayed in the museum, Photo: Meir Bolka
"This is a prestigious award that gives legitimacy to the actions of Poles who preserve the Jewish heritage and this is to be welcomed. At the same time, it is inconceivable that Gučeva would be a candidate, while there is a gloomy cloud over his true willingness to preserve the Jewish heritage. It is inconceivable that Gucci "In it, he will keep the family items and lead them empty, contrary to his promises," says Bolka.
After all the peaceful proceedings, Bolka and the Landau family were left with no choice but to ask the police to open an investigation into property violations and violations of the Polish constitution, in the hope that justice would be served and the Polish Museum would withdraw its recognition of Gučeva's nomination.
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