Kamil Mrozowicz

Scholarship Completion Report

For years now, Kamil Mrozowicz has been involved in commemorating the Jewish community of Jedwabne and the surrounding area. His actions to rebuild and forge new ties between contemporary Poland and the Jewish community in the world draw attention from people seeking information about the history of Jedwabne. In order to improve communication with speakers of English, as so far he had to use the help of a translator, Kamil decided to use the David and Anna Dlugie Kliger Scholarship to study English. He enrolled in an eight-month language course where he worked on his speaking skills in English. He also used the scholarship to purchase additional learning aids, such as an English-Polish dictionary, flashcards and a CD to learn English.

Breaking the language barrier has resulted in gaining new international contacts and meetings related to Jewish culture and Polish-Jewish dialogue, and allowed the planning of international projects.

He had an opportunity of using his knowledge of English during an event – a visit of four guests from Jerusalem to Poland. In October 2018, Kamil guided them along the Jewish route in Podlaskie Province, and told them about the Jedwabne pogrom and the local history of Jews.

In February 2018, Kamil received a message from Joao Pinto Coelho, a Portuguese writer, the author of  “Szaleńcy z ulicy Mazur” (The Lunatics from Mazur Street), based on events relating to the pogrom of Jews in Jedwabne. While researching about Jedwabne, the writer came across the fanpage “Miejsce pamięci w Jedwabnem” (Memorial Site in Jedwabne) run by Kamil. Joao wanted to come to Jedwabne for the first time, and so he asked for help in searching for a local guide. Because at that time Kamil was already learning in a systematic way, the language barrier was much smaller, and therefore Kamil suggested being his guide around Jedwabne. The meeting resulted in two reports in Portuguese press and television, giving Kamil an opportunity to present his activities and planned projects.

Thanks to his new language skills, Kamil could take further steps, and gave interviews to foreign press and television (Czech and Belgian media) about the Amendment of January 2018 to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance.  He also did an hour-long interview for scientific purposes for Dr. Yifat Gutman from Ben-Gurion University of Negev (Israel).

Together with Joanna Auron-Gorska, PhD, Kamil takes care of the Jewish cemetery in Tykocin, leads educational activities and a fanpage “Tykocin – opieka nad cmentarzem żydowskim” (Tykonin – maintenance of the Jewish cemetery). When they posted an announcement on the profile about looking for volunteers to perform maintenance work, a group of German students contacted them. The students decided to join the action and together they cleaned up the cemetery. This provided an opportunity for them to discover the history of Tykocin and Bialystok in the interwar period and the current situation in the region. In return, Kamil and Joanna were invited to Germany. This meeting provided an opportunity for a joint Polish-German project in the future.

In September 2018, Kamil was invited to cooperation with the Jewish Foundation Learning from the Righteous in London. The invitation motivated him to improve his English to the next level.

Contributors

Project co-financed by The David and Anna Dlugie Kliger Scholarship Fund.