Jewish leaders and Warsaw officials lit the candles of a large menorah in the center of the capital on Monday for Hanukkah, a rare public observance of a Jewish holiday in Poland.
Israel's Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger chanted Hebrew prayers as he and Warsaw Deputy Mayor Andrzej Urbanski were lifted by an industrial crane to the top of the 26-foot Jewish candelabra in front of Warsaw's landmark Palace of Culture, a symbol of the city's communist past.
"It's another sign in the growing re-emergence of the Jewish community in Poland," said Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich.
As Metzger was joined in prayer by some in a crowd gathered on the chilly square, Urbanski reached out and gingerly lit seven of the menorah's candles. The seventh night of the eight-day Festival of Lights fell on Monday.
Jewish leaders present said they had no memory of such a large menorah ever being put up in a public space in Poland since World War II. Poland's Jewish community was almost totally annihilated during the Holocaust.
The Warsaw event was organized by Chabad Lubavitch, an international group of Hassidic Jews that sponsors public menorah lightings worldwide.
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