The week-long Forum for Dialogue Study Visit to Poland for our guests from United States has just finished. This trip, chaired by Forum’s longtime Friend Lisa Van Allsburg, was a chance for Jewish visitors from the US to learn about modern Poland and Polish/Jewish dialogue, but most importantly to meet School of Dialogue students and Leaders of Dialogue who discover, preserve, document, and share knowledge about Jewish heritage in Poland and cultivate the memory of Jewish communities once populating their towns and villages.

The study trip was opened with a dinner attended by Forum’s President Andrzej Folwarczny. Next days, participants toured Warsaw and its Jewish sites. Program’s tight schedule included meetings with experts on Jewish history and modern Poland and in-depth site visit to the POLIN Museum as well.

After leaving Warsaw the group  headed to Lesser Poland province in southern Poland. In Brzesko, they visited Nicolaus Copernicus High School, a continuing School of Dialogue. After getting to know each other during a introduction workshop run by a Forum educator, which included a performance of a song written and performed by students in memory of the Brzesko Jews, the students took our group to the local Jewish cemetery where they lid candles and shared very touching words. Afterwards some of the students joined the group on a walking tour around Jewish sites of the town, during which they provided insightful and emotional stories of the Jewish inhabitants of Brzesko. Participants of the tour expressed that they were amazed by “students’ dedication and devotion to discovering and restoring Jewish heritage in their town” and that they were “wise and learned beyond their years.”

photos by H. Gospodarczyk and M.Usiekniewicz

In Nowy Sącz, a town famous for its Art Nouveau architecture and once-vibrant Jewish life, they met with Leaders of Dialogue from Shtetl of Tsanz. Named after the Yiddish word for the town of Nowy Sącz, this grassroots organization appeared almost organically, gathering people of different professions and talents inspired by the town’s rich Jewish history, a need to preserve and educate about it, and a desire to make contact with descendants of local Jews from all over the world. After the amazing tour of the town guided by Shtetl of Tsanz’s Artur Franczak and Łukasz Połomski, the participants and Leaders together enjoyed a Shabbat dinner.

We finished the program with a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum and a tour of Jewish Krakow accompanied by another round of meetings with experts on Polish/Jewish relations and their complicated history.

photos by A.Szulc

We have recently completed the Polish/Jewish Exchange Program visit to the U.S. organized in cooperation with the AJC. Between March 31-April 7 the Polish delegation visited Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York. The intense program included meetings with representatives of the AJC and David Harris, Chief Executive Officer of the AJC, a dinner with prof. Susannah Heschel, the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, and a meeting with Izzy Arbeiter, a Holocaust Survivor.

The participants also had a special tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum preceded by a meeting with Senior Curator Jacek Nowakowski, and a guided tour of NYC Chassidic communities. The Polish delegation has also benefited from opportunities for less formal conversations during home hospitality evenings. Their stay ended with a special meeting with our Friends of the Forum in New York.

photo: Z.Radzik

Forum for Dialogue has launched another long-awaited new program in response to the challenges faced in Polish/Jewish dialogue. “Common Heritage,” which we organized this year in partnership with Yad Vashem, is an initiative addressed to representatives of lay and ordained Christian leadership in Poland who have the power to impact the way in which Polish/Jewish relations are discussed and understood in Polish churches and religious communities.

The program challenges participants to examine the complex issue of the common Judeo-Christian heritage as well as the troubled coexistence of Jews and non-Jewish Poles that has impacted Polish/Jewish relations in the past and continues to affect them now.

Given the impact of Christian leadership in Polish public life, it is important that those who participate in shaping attitudes understand and are sensitive to the history and experiences of Polish Jews and their descendants living all over the world.

This year the “Common Heritage” program involves 3 intense seminars, two in Poland and one in Israel. We opened in with a seminar in Warsaw in March, during which the participants learned about Polish and Israeli memory of the Holocaust, Polish research on the Holocaust, and how objective history transforms into personal story.

photo: M.Sokołowska

Forum’s educators continuously work on upgrading their teaching and facilitating skills, as well as on deepening their knowledge about the history and culture of Polish Jews. Last month they have participated in a seminar conducted by Renata Masna and Michał Chojak of Yahad – In Unum, a French organization founded to locate the sites of mass graves of Jewish victims of the Nazi mobile killing units in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Moldova, and Poland. It achieves this mission through archival research and research trips collecting testimonial and forensic evidence of the murders. Its publication “Holocaust by Bullets” was awarded the 2008 National Jewish Book Award by the Jewish Book Council.

Renata and Michał presented the “Holocaust by Bullets” and later shared with the educators Yahad’s unique investigative methodology. This was also an opportunity for the educators to practice their interviewing skills so important when talking to people who witnessed and experienced historical events. Interviewing is a skill useful while working with School of Dialogue students who very often include interviews with elderly members of their local communities into the research for their commemorative projects.

photos: W. Dobrogojski

With the School of Dialogue Gala exactly one week away, we are proudly presenting this year’s poster designed by Tomek Frycz and Marcin Wicha. Wicha is an acclaimed graphic designer, illustrator, columnist, and writer. He has designed book covers, posters, and logos, as well as published on the significance of design in everyday life. In 2018, he received the 2018 Nike Literary Award – one of the most prestigious awards for Polish literature – for his essay collection, “Things I Didn’t Throw Away,” devoted to the author’s memories of his mother. Through the story of their difficult relationship, he explored such topics as having Jewish roots in Polish society of communist era, the mindset of Polish intelligentsia, and how his family has acquired and hoarded things. His designs are famous for their economic style and use of bold colors. Tomek Frycz is a designer, painter, and jazz musician.

For the fourth time in history, the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews awarded individuals, institutions, and organizations preserving the memory of Polish Jews during the POLIN Award Gala. Among the 7 nominees were the Leaders of Dialogue: Kamila Klauzińska from Zduńska Wola, Łukasz Parus from Zagórów, and Katarzyna Winiarska from Białowieża.

Selected from among over a hundred candidates, the nominees are recognized for their individual contributions towards building mutual understanding and respect between Poles and Jews. The main prize was awarded to Tomasz Wiśniewski, an activist working tirelessly to preserve the memory of Podlasie’s Jewish communities, while Dariusz Popiela, of the Shtetl of Tsanz, and Magdalena Lewkowicz, a teacher and activist from Mrągowo received honorable mentions.

Recognizing that the work of all of the nominees embodies Forum’s mission, we would like to congratulate them all: winners, nominees, and candidates! We appreciate your tireless and important work!

Photo: M. Starowieyska / POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. From the left: Kamila Klauzińska, a Leader of Dialogue from Zduńska Wola, Łukasz Parus, a Leader of Dialogue from Zagorów, Katarzyna Winiarska , a Leader of Dialogue from Białowieża, and Dariusz Popiela, an activist of the Shtetl of Tsanz.