Anita Rucioch-Gołek i Wojciech Olejniczak

The project is addressed to Zbąszyń students, educators, and residents, and involves commemorating the Jews deported from Zbąszyń in 1938, on the 85th anniversary of the Polenaktion. It also aims to share knowledge about that deportation action through three central activities, designed by the project’s coordinators, Anita Rucioch-Gołek and Wojciech Olejniczak, on the basis of their previous experiences of working in the Zbąszyń region. The first activity is a theatrical performance of a play written together with local students on the basis of letters sent by deported Jews to their families. The performance will be workshopped by the students with the support of an experienced theater educator.

Together they will decide on the stage design, music, and form of the play. The performance will be designed for an audience of their peers, young people aged 14-18, and their families. The second component of the project is a conference for teachers, educators, and employees of cultural institutions on the memory of the Polenaktion and ways of teaching this part of Polish/Jewish history. The conference, also available online, will bring together researchers and practitioners together. Finally, the grantees will publish an updated guide to Jewish Zbąszyń, a publication that may serve as resource for future Jewish history-related activities in the city.

In 2023, the Leaders of Dialogue program, including grants and scholarships, is financed thanks to the generosity of Friends of the Forum, LEDOR WADOR Foundation, United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad and individual donors and institutions from Poland and abroad supporting Forum for Dialogue. Scholarships for personal development are possible thanks to The David and Anna Dlugie Kliger Scholarship Fund.