During their stay in Poland, our guests participated in meetings with representatives of the academic world, publicists and representatives of the Polish Jewish community, and also visited places and institutions associated with Polish-Jewish history. One of the highlights of the program was a joint dinner between the American educators and participants in our Leaders of Dialogue conference. Those Leaders of Dialogue are local activists from across Poland who work to commemorate the Jewish heritage of their localities.
During their study trip, participants visited Krakow, Warsaw and the site of the former death camp in Treblinka. In Pinczow, the group met with this year’s graduates of Forum’s educational program, School of Dialogue, who took them on a guided tour of the town’s local Jewish heritage. The encounter with young memory keepers of the Jewish history of Pinczow was a particular highlight of the visit.
The study visit was the first result of cooperation between the Forum and Facing History and Ourselves. We aspire to have many more educators and teachers re-evaluating Polish-Jewish relations and thus seeing them in a new light. The project was launched in collaboration with the Polish Embassy in Washington and with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.