J. Bryan Blundell wrote:

> A question for Mr. Follett on the issue of international lurking. Was
> Jeremy penalized for his self acknowledged lurking or was his removal
> an act of mercy?

Bryan,

Though occasional threats are made to purge lurkers on BP the threats
have never been actually carried out as all of the lurkers eventually
de-lurk in one manner or another -- even if on PL. Jeremy if missing BP
should be reinstated, and I see that he has been, and -- though to
everyone else listening -- it would be nice if the general thread of
conversation on BP did tend towards pertaining to histo presto issues on
occasion. I know we all have pressing trivia to discuss but too much of
it does tend to cause attrition of the list of subscribers --
particularly if they have a small pipe. On that note... I've not heard
anything lately about the fried/baked/stewed kittens. What gives? Winter
is approaching, or has approached depending on your geographic
placement, and it is time for a hearty holiday meal Martha Stewart style!

Also... Jeremy's e-mail is pertinent to a few issues of the Zabludow
synagogue project, specific to the question of the intended
reconstruction occuring in a skansen (outdoor museum) north of Bialystok
and not in Zabludow where it was original. The reasons for the
relocation are interesting in and of themselves. Zabludow was pretty
much leveled during WW2, as I gather, and the current manifestation of
the town of Zabludow is not necessarily authentic to the environment of
the timber synagogue from the 17th to the 20th century. Also, we are
told the current mayor of Zabludow expressed that if the structure were
reconstructed in Zabludow that the town would not have the resources, or
skilled workforce, to maintain the structure, or to protect it. The
issue of protection is not that the structure is a synagogue, the issue
of protection is that considerable resources would be expended to
reconstruct ANY structure in an environment of subsistence living, where
as it was recently conveyed to me a mother works very hard to earn $100
per month to feed her children, and that there is a possibility of
resentment, particularly, I assume, if the local community is not
involved in gaining immediate "jobs" through the project.

The problem of economic disparity and imbalance will remain with the
placement of the structure in a skansen, but it will be easier to
promote the project as an economic boost (historic tourism, educational
facility attracting international participation etc.) to the region if
the structure is placed where it is most likely to receive acceptance in
a museum venue, as well as there being a maintenance staff already
existing at the skansen who would, we hope, be trained in maintenance of
the structure, in fact, be trained and engaged in the construction. When
at the recent workshop the maintenance staff of the Bialystok skansen
were given an opportunity to participate they were quite all over the
log that got hewn by Petr Rozicka of the Czech Republic and it was
unfortunate, I thought, that there was not a greater opportunity of
interface between them and the workshop participants.

The hewing of the log in itself was interesting... the maintenance guys
were there with a tractor, and their dog, a lovely collie mix that was
obviously very happy to be out on an adventure with the guys. We, being
the Americans, were all standing wondering what would happen next and
what to do with ourselves and the crew was talking, in Polish of course,
then suddenly (when you do not know the language then all decisive
actions appear to be sudden) they went into the hedgerow/woods that we
were standing nearby to and they selected a tree and cut it down. They
then trimmed it and dragged it around with the tractor. Now, the process
of cutting of the tree was not the interesting part, though the crosscut
saw was nice... the fact that this was a museum site and they just
simply had a conversation and agreed on a tree and cut it down without
any further paperwork is the sort of spontaneity of action that I doubt
would ever occur in a National Park in the US, or even a state park...
and by all evidence the Bialystok skansen is a national park of Poland.

][<en

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