Dorota Budzińska

In 2016, our school conducted an exchange program with a Lithuanian middle school in Kalvarija entitled “We will restore the memory”. Polish and Lithuanian youth participated in cleanup works at the Jewish cemetery, a guided tour through Jewish Podlasie as well as a visit to POLIN Museum. Our joint activities led to a publication on Dąbrowa’s history and its Jewish community. We were assisted in this project by the Polish Ministry of National Education, Polish-Lithuanian Youth Exchange Fund, Poland-Israel Center for Civic Education, University of Białystok and Polish Institute of National Remembrance.

For some time now, we have also cooperated with Middle School no.1 in Grodno, Belarus, as well as Grodno’s Jewish community.

Our joint actions began in November 2017 as part of “Bridges of Multiculturalism. Understanding the Past, creating the Future” program. We explore the diversity of Grodno and the region, with an emphasis on local minorities, including Tatars. We are developing our researcher skills – attending workshops in the Białystok chapter of the Institute of National Remembrance, recording interviews with witnesses to history, searching for information and archival photographs. Our current plans include, among others, an excursion to Grodno and renovating the matzevot at the Jewish cemetery there.