Sławatycze
Reconnecting Ties
Reconnecting Ties
October 2012
In October 2012, Alan Metnick returned to Sławatycze to again meet with 2011 School of Dialogue program participants. Coming back to students from the local School Complex, the guest was especially interested in learning how the School of Dialogue workshops and the experience gained from them impacted the youth involved. He was very impressed with the students and their teacher, Ms. Jolanta Buczek, who showed him student essays on difficult issues from the local history.
After the meeting, Mr. Metnick said: “Having heard students’ speak about their experience, it was clear to me that these young people understand the deep moral implications behind Forum’s workshops. Good, not evil, is being passed on to the new generations. It is happening here in Sławatycze.”
September 2011
Alan Metnick, member of Sławatycze Landsmanshaft, met students from Sławatycze’s School Complex in September 2011 in the course of School of Dialogue workshops conducted at the school. Mr. Metnick had already been involved in commemorating local Jewish history through – among others – initiating the restoration of the local Jewish cemetery in 2009. After a meeting held in the school, the guest along with students and their teachers headed to the local Jewish cemetery. Mr. Metnick’s grandparents emigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. The guest admitted regretting not having asked his ancestors more often about their life in Sławatycze.
For Mr. Metnick, who has been personally involved in preserving the memory of Jewish Sławatycze, meeting local youth engaged in learning about the town’s Jewish past was a memorable experience. “I hope that my presence here today has somehow contributed to the great work you are all doing here. I made some commitments to the students that I intend to make good on. This will help me stay very involved in matters pertaining to Poland and Sławatycze in the future” he stated after the visit.
