Mi Polin Bronze Mezuzah - RADOM, UL. WAŁOWA 5

Bronze. 6.29” long | 1.75” wide.
Made in Poland

The trace from Mojżesz Zajdman tenement. Before World War II this was the address of Mojżesz Zajdman (Zajdenman). Mojżesz was born in 1915 in Radom and his parents were Michel and Sura Łaja née GLATT. Michel Zajdenman, like his father, was a wine trader, a social activist and a member of the Jewish Community in Radom.Mojżesz had at least 6 siblings. He survived the World War II in the USSR and in 1946 he was registered in the Jewish committee in Warsaw. His fate remains unknown.

This mezuzah is a part of the Mi Polin "Mezuzah From This Home" project. This project commemorates the Jewish life of pre-war Poland by taking mezuzah casts from the door frames of once Jewish homes. They symbolize the emptiness of now vacant homes, the remembrance of those who lived there, and the reclaiming of the mezuzah, which for years remained empty but now can fulfill its role in Judaica at home.

Each mezuzah is cast in bronze with a Shin and the area which it was cast from engraved on the side. It also has an open space in the back for a scroll. The kosher scroll is not included.

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

Mi Polin means “from Poland” in Hebrew. Mi Polin is the first brand that designs and produces Judaica in Poland since the end of World War II, the Holocaust, and 45 years of communism. Mi Polin is a contemporary design studio specializing in Jewish objects, branding for Jewish institutions, and graphic design. Their design refers to "hiddur micva", which demands that ritual artifacts be beautiful, but also emphasizes their multi-faceted nature. Mi Polin was founded by Aleksander Prugar and Helena Czernek.