Tak trzeba

This October Anna Zglińska is organizing another cemetery restoration project in the Dobriner Land.

The name of the project is Tak trzeba (we should). It is organized by Czyż nie (why not), an association for supporting education, culture and sport in Czernikowo.

Makowiska 2008

Already in September 2008 the cemetery in Makowiska has been successfully restored by the 'Tak Trzeba' project.

Twenty Polish volunteers - young people from the Czernikowo area, from Torun, from Krakow and even from as far as the Lithuanian border - supported by several local school classes, have uncovered the cemetery from bushes, cleaned the grave stones and restored the graves.

The cooperation with historians and conservators of the Universitas Nicolai Copernici in Torun guaranteed the professional treatment of the historical monuments.

So, besides the conservation of the gravestones, several grave monuments, iron crosses and inscription plates had been reconstructed and restored.

After completion of this basic work, the cemetery had been handed over to the local school. Local schools in Poland 'adopt' cemeteries and take over the responsibility for their ongoing maintenance. The ceremony of handing over the cemetery was supplemented by an ecumenical Service at the Makowiska cemetery and by an exhibition at the school of Makowiska.

Liciszewy 2009

WHO: The project Tak Trzeba (we should) is organized by the Czernikowo youth organization Czyż Nie (why not). Responsible for the project is Anna Zglińska.

WHAT: The former Lutheran cemetery in Liciszewy, gmina Czernikowo will be restored by volunteers. The goal is to put the cemetery into a state, which allows the local school to take over the further maintenance work. Local people and authorities are involved.

WHEN: The work at the cemetery is scheduled for one week.

It starts on 1. October 2009 and ends on 7. October 2009.

The official ceremony of handing over the cemetery to the local school will be on 31. October 2009. Guests will be welcome to the ceremony.

WHERE and HOW: Accommodation for the volunteers will be in the school at Mazowsze. The accommodation will be simple (mattresses in the gym hall). You should bring your own sleeping bag. We can pick you up at the nearest train station (Czernikowo). Meals (usually very good) will be organized. You don't have to bring any tools, working gloves or other equipment. Transport to and from the cemetery (about 4 km) will be organized.

Information about the project can be found on http://www.taktrzeba.org

Włęcz 2010

The next project will be in May 2010 in Włęcz.

But you can also contribute to these projects in another way:

1. We are looking for old (pre 1955) pictures and stories of places in the Dobriner Land and other areas. Pictures and stories will be used for exhibitions and other events to involve the local people. They might also be used in a publication (book) about the cemeteries and their background.

2. We are also looking for village plans and lists of inhabitants. The family names of the inhabitants can help to reconstruct broken inscription plates.

3. We would like to get in contact with former inhabitants of German villages or their descendants.

4. We are collecting information about the original appearance of the cemeteries (any cemetery). Maybe you can provide answers to one or more of the following questions:

• Did the cemetery have a fence or a wall?
• Had there been a gate?
• Had there been some kind of structure (central main way or alley, areas for children's graves)?
• Had there been a new and an old part of the cemetery?
• Had there been a big cemetery cross? Where had it been?
• Had there been a war monument?

We will be happy to consider your input or additional ideas.

Professional work

The project team is in contact with the Office for Protection of Historical Monuments in Toruń. They are considering their professional opinion and advises for the renovation.

For the cemetery of Makowiska there already existed documentation cards prepared and kept at the Wojewódzki Urząd Ochrony Zabytków in Toruń in the Regionalny Ośrodek Dokumentacji Zabytków.

The documentation cards for Makowisko had been created many years ago by professor Jan Pakulski and professor Andrzej Mietz.

As a part of the Renovation project these documentation cards for Makowiska had been updated.

Part of the professional documentation of the current condition of the cemetery is a detailed plan of the cemetery. It shows the location of the graves, the location and type of relevant vegetation and the angle in which the photos were taken.

If you want to know more about these projects feel free to contact Anna Zglińska at zglinka@wp.pl , have a look at the project's website or keep looking for updates on this web page.

Anna Zglińska, Jutta Dennerlein, September 2009