June 7–9, we organized the National Forum for Dialogue Network Activist Conference in Zegrze, near Warsaw. The event gathered over 100 individuals working to preserve the memory of Jews in Poland. Our program included panel discussions, workshop sessions, lectures and meetings. We talked about engaging young people in preserving the memory of Jews, cyber-security, designing walking tours of Jewish sites, publishing research and teaching about the Holocaust after October 7. This year, we also invited book authors to discuss their recent publications; we were honored to host Anna Bikont, Łukasz Krzyżanowski, and Joanna Ostrowska, while Magdalena Kozłowska talked about Emily Tamkin’s “Bad Jews.”

In the workshop sessions, we addressed issues such as popular camp fiction. The absolute highlight of the Conference was the meeting with Hanna Krall, a journalist and writer, one of the first to publish on the experience of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. She shared a lot of great stories in conversation with Network’s own Anna Włodek and Mirek Skrzypczyk. The conference ended with a tour of Nasielsk’s Jewish heritage.

photo: Piotr Banasik i Wojciech Dobrogojski

photo: Piotr Banasik

It’s been a long while since I was among people with such kindness. We’ve created an atmosphere that I would wish to have every day in the place I am active. I’m experiencing an ocean of kindness, support, and empathy. I have a sense of belonging to a community that is free of envy or jealousy, a community where people want to help one another, learn from one another … What happened at this conference is an existential experience.

Katarzyna Dąbrowska from Włocławek

With Assistance from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future

The National Forum for Dialogue Network Conference for activists is cofinanced by Friends of the Forum and individual donors and institutions from Poland and abroad supporting Forum for Dialogue.