The 6^th National Leaders of Dialogue Conference, an annual gathering of activists from all over Poland dedicated to the preservation, commemoration and documentation of their communities’ Jewish history took place on June 8-10, 2018. The conference was a fantastic educational and networking opportunity, as well as  a very moving get-together of Forums friends, supporters and allies celebrating the organization’s 20th Anniversary.

National Conferences provide a unique space for learning and interacting with experts as well as a support network for activists from all across Poland. During the 2018 Conference the participants had ample opportunities to attend workshops, lectures and panel discussions, including the opening keynote speech by Konstanty Gebert. The famous Polish journalist and Jewish activist talked about the broader political perspective of the amendment to the scandalous National Remembrance Institute Act and damages it caused in Polish/Jewish relations. In his address to the Leaders, Gebert also thanked them for making Poland a home for Polish Jews.

The following days of the  Conference offered a variety of activities and topics, including mini-conferences on Education, Commemoration and History as well as workshop-based discussions of dialogue in modern Poland. The program also gave the  Leaders opportunities to share their experiences, good practices and challenges, as well as provide their unique perspectives  on how to engage young people and local communities of all ages in learning about Jewish history, to commemorate local Jewish communities in a smart and effective way, and to reconstruct the micro-history of their towns.

This year, for the first time, Forum introduced a new way of bringing Leaders and other experts on Polish/Jewish relations closer together: the  thematic tables, which allowed more informal discussions on difficult issues, such as the relations of Jews and the Catholic Church, using Jews and Righteous for ideological purposes, how to counter the radicalization of attitudes among Polish youth, Polish/Jewish relations in the discourse and imagery of the Polish Right or the reception of J.T. Gross’s publication in the context of the recent scandalous law.

Though marred by the shadow cast by this law amendment, the Conference was an incredible opportunity to recharge  activist batteries. As in years previous, we were in awe of the quality and diversity of the Leaders’ engagement with their local Jewish heritage. The gathering was also a chance for the Leaders to share the ways in which the scandal over the law impacted their work, a space to voice their responses to and concerns over their work after the scandal and its aftermath. Surprisingly, although unanimous in their condemnation of the law, the Leaders’ perceptions of its actual effects varied widely: some expressed concern that it created an atmosphere which encouraged local officials to withhold support for commemorative or educational projects, while, by contrast, others spoke of how they obtained increased support and recognition from their neighbors in an apparent backlash to the hostility the law engendered. Regardless of these differences, however, the Leaders were united in their commitment “to continue the work, because it is the right thing to do.”

photo: P.Kęska

”I feel I could move mountains. I know it’s hard, but seeing you and talking to you, made me feel that I am not alone, and each one of my activities contains a piece of each and every one of you. With a resilient heart and a humble soul, time to change the world? Only with you!”

Kamil Mrozowicz, Leader of Dialogue from Kucze Wielkie and Jedwabne

The Leaders’ Conference also provided an occasion to bring together the Leaders and more than fifty of Forum’s Polish supporters and allies at a dinner that was another in the series of events commemorating the organization’s 20th Anniversary. Both the immediate and long-term importance of the ensuing encounters cannot be overstated. For our guests, being able to meet and speak to the Leaders and thus learn first-hand of how the support of the Leader’s efforts is directly instrumental in changing attitudes throughout the country. On the other hand, the Leaders – often from places far removed from Warsaw – could see how deeply their local efforts resonated to those in the capital and, indeed, all over Poland.

Although a single highlight of the Conference is difficult to isolate, it may have come during the public statements of gratitude to the Leaders for their accomplishments.

The Polish Commissioner for Human Rights, Adam Bodnar, whose ongoing commitment to the protection of liberal values is famous throughout Poland, emphasized the deep significance of their work at a time when the country in the midst of a battle over its historical narrative. In turn, Daniel Turbow, the Chair and President of the U.S. Friends of the Forum, spoke of how their work is driven solely by the desire to achieve what is moral and right, and thus, in these difficult times, gives proof  to the words made famous by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

photo: P.Kęska

”We would have never met, if you had not brought us together.”

Anita Rucioch-Gołek, Leader from Dialogue in Zbąszyń

Contributors

Project co-financed by Ledor Wador Foundation.

In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this educator training program. Through recovering the assets of the victims of the Holocaust, the Claims Conference enables organizations around the world to provide education about the Shoah and to preserve the memory of those who perished.