They Lived Among Us II (2021)

The exhibition "They Lived Among Us II" followed up on the 2017 exhibition, which had opened a topic never spoken about before – the story of Namestovo's Jewish community.

"Here lived Viliam Klein, born 20 August 1868 in Orlová. Shot by the German Gestapo on 16 January 1945 in Hôrka near Tvrdošín."
So reads the inscription on one of the Stolpersteine added to Hviezdoslav Square. An identical brass-covered paving stone belongs to his wife Rozália Klein.
There are now eleven such "stones of the disappeared" in Namestovo. All over the world they are set into pavements in front of the homes of victims of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime.
On this occasion a memorial plaque for ten members of the Kraus family was also unveiled in the small park on the square. With this, the exhibition "They Lived Among Us II" officially began.

During the installation of the plaque an online video call took place with people who had contributed to the overall restoration of the Jewish cemetery.

The exhibition then moved to the Cultural House, where the ceremonial speeches followed.
"It is the genealogical research of my work over the past four years, together with the events of the vandalism of the Jewish cemetery in December 2019," said Karol Kurtulík, chair of the civic association Pamätaj.
A speech by Richard Duda, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Slovakia, followed.

The exhibition took place in two rooms whose graphic design was prepared by Gustav Pikulík and Jaroslav Sýkora.
The banners on the walls presented the Holländer and Klein families as well as other families who lived in the Namestovo Jewish community.

In the second room the exhibition was complemented by photographs of the Jewish cemetery by Jaroslav Sýkora, dedicated to this event.

In parallel with the exhibition, a symposium of experts on various topics took place.

"At the same time we thanked everyone who in any way contributed to the reconstruction of the cemetery, with a festive concert of a small salon orchestra led by Milan Bernát," said Karol Kurtulík. Opera singers Ivanka and Karol Kurtulík sang at the concert.
The finale belonged to the Košice ensemble Kaschaer Klezmer Band: "With their characteristic style drawing on the musical tradition of Judaism, they brought and completed a different perspective."

The exhibition continued the next day with the opening of the restored cemetery, attended by the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová.
Speeches followed by the President, the mayor of Namestovo Milan Hubík, the president of the Jewish community Richard Duda and the chair of the civic association Pamätaj, Karol Kurtulík.

A short musical interlude was provided by Ľubomíra Puchelová and Adrián Maľovaník, who performed the theme from Schindler's List.

A tour of the cemetery followed with Karol Kurtulík, Richard Duda and President Zuzana Čaputová, in conversation about the restoration of the Namestovo Jewish cemetery.

With this the exhibition came to its end.
"After yesterday's exhibitions, symposium and concerts we see a clearer goal of how to continue," said the chair of Pamätaj, Karol Kurtulík – and indeed, the theme did not fall into oblivion: it continued with the exhibition "They Lived Among Us III" in 2024.

An electronic book was produced for the exhibition – link (in Slovak)