MZ-44-O

This is the round seal of the Jewish Religious Congregation in Oświęcim. In postwar Poland, the communist authorities imposed a new form of religious organization on the Jewish community. The former Jewish communities were first transformed into Jewish Religious Associations, and then into Jewish Religious Congregations (from 1946). In Oświęcim, Chaim Wolnerman was the first chairman of the Jewish Religious Association. As part of their activities, they cleaned up the cemetery that had been destroyed by the Germans and resumed services in the only synagogue that had survived-the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot.