Each year, more schools that completed the School of Dialogue program continue their involvement in activities related to the Jewish heritage in their local area. Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the year 2020 was particularly challenging, both for teachers and students. Many planned activities in remembrance of the Jewish community could not take place. The events that often constituted a fundamental part of school activities were made difficult or even impossible, such as organizing meetings, trips, walks, or looking after cemeteries. However, even in the midst of a pandemic, a wonderful group of teachers managed to work with their students on Polish/Jewish history and relations to address issues of multiculturalism and tolerance.

An Ordinary (Hi)story

Actual change can happen only when we decide to integrate something into  our everyday lives. The work of a teacher consists primarily in meeting students during class: by continuing their engagement in the program, the teachers continue to strive to ensure that the history and culture of Polish Jews are treated as an integral part of the general Polish history and culture. Topics related to the history of Polish Jews are  regularly discussed during history, cultural studies, and religion classes in schools such as those in Kikół, Krzepice, Proszowice, or Przeworsk. Some schools look into their own history, for example in Brzesko, the students learn the history of their school, whose founders  include Henoch Klapholz. In the Queen Jadwiga High School in Warsaw, first grade students start their education at school by learning about Stefania Wilczyńska, who worked alongside Janusz Korczak in the orphanage in Warsaw Ghetto, and prior to that used to sit in the very same classrooms they do now.

Not Only During Classes

Students are very willing to engage in activities that enable them to  thoroughly explore a given subject. Because a focused perspective is the best approach to understanding complex history, continuing schools often center their activities around  individual stories. Examples of such an approach include students from Szydłowiec preparing a film on the story of Józef Mincberg, a Survivor from their town. In Trzebinia, a student group drew up the biography of Michał Pasierbiewicz, a power plant employee who organized aid for prisoners of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Every year, students from the Queen Jadwiga High School in Warsaw explore biographies of Jewish students who attended their school in the past. Students from Warta carry our projects inspired by the local cemetery’s groundskeeper, Ireneusz Ślipek. In 2020, they took part in an art competition, expanded their knowledge on different religions, and tidied up the Jewish cemetery. Students in Bydgoszcz and Brzesko created and posted films. As part of a Center for Citizenship Education project, the Bydgoszcz students told the story of Jews from one of the town’s districts, Old Fordon, and students from Brzesko, who helped organize the March of Memory to commemorate the anniversary of the Brzesko Jews deportation, documented the ceremony on film. In 2020, the Stefan Żeromski High School in Warsaw addressed the subject of Poles helping Jews during WWII, mostly by drawing on family memories. Students in Proszowice interviewed  elderly family members  to learn about their prewar Jewish neighbors. The teachers and students from Janów continue to search for information on the Jews of Janów, especially on Mr Dov Wexler’s family, with whom they have managed to establish a direct relationship.

During this year’s celebration of their town’s 600th anniversary, the history of the Jewish inhabitants of Janów will also be celebrated thanks to their discoveries. In Pniewy, a school club of Oxford debates has been established. The discussions held during the meetings focus on subjects related to the Holocaust.

Expanding Knowledge

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, trips and visits to museums, which often constituted an essential part continuing schools’ activities, were rendered impossible. While following the Jewish heritage sites or visiting Holocaust memorials, the students would always broaden their knowledge about the history and culture of Polish Jews. Some schools decided to visit the museums and institutions engaged in the history of Polish Jews online. In Krzepice, the students took advantage of the virtual offer of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, in Szamotuły they explored the Museum of the Former Death Camp located in Chełmno, and in Radoszyce, they cooperated with the “Świętokrzyski Shtetl” Educational and Museum Center. Many schools also took advantage of the virtual classes offered by the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

From Students to Students

Participants who, with their teachers, are involved in the School of Dialogue in subsequent years often take on the responsible role of guides for their younger peers. In Pniewy, the graduates of the 2019 School of Dialogue conducted classes on Jewish traditions and culture for other students as part of their history and civics course and prepared a webinar on the Ringelblum Archive. In Włocławek, at the initiative of the project group, all students took part in workshops on hate speech, and the most engaged students together with their teacher led a seminar for first-graders to celebrate  the International Day of Tolerance. In Szamotuly, Wieluń and Wałbrzych the students invited their schoolmates  to take part in tours of their town’s Jeiwsh past. The students from Wałbrzych also provided refreshments inspired by traditional Jewish food during the tour.

The School of Dialogue alumni share their knowledge of the Jewish community not only during classes, but also around the school space. In Janów, Szydłowiec, Dobra and Szamotuły, teachers and students prepared showcases, posters , and mini-exhibitions. As a result these schools have a fixed space in the hallways where history of local Jews is always preserved and on display.

photos by: Szlakiem Wieluńskich Żydów, Zespół Szkół nr 2 im. Stanisława Staszica w Szamotułach, XL Liceum Ogólnokształcące z Oddziałami Dwujęzycznymi  im. Stefana Żeromskiego w Warszawie, Zespół Szkół Samochodowych im. Tadeusza Kościuszki we Włocławku

Memory that Lasts

The constant presence of topics related to Jewish history and culture in the curriculum in continuing schools makes students feel a responsibility to remember their former neighbors’ heritage and often they are the most important actors in safekeeping this local  memory. Teachers and students remind other residents of important anniversaries related to the Holocaust. In January, groups from Włocławek, Wieluń, Zbąszyń, Bydgoszcz, Przeworsk, Radoszyce and the Stefan Żeromski High School in Warsaw commemorated the International Holocaust Remembrance Day by burning candles in Jewish cemeteries and at monuments commemorating the Holocaust, taking part in offline ceremonies and participating in the #WeRemember action on social media. On the local level, Holocaust took also the form of deportations of Jews from ghettos to death camps. Students and teachers from Wieluń and Dąbrowa Białostocka participated in the commemoration of these tragic events. The groups from Brzesko and Legionowo took part in Marches of Memory, and in Szydlowiec, as usual, an information banner was hung at the Jewish cemetery. Although in 2020, distribution of paper daffodils on April 19th was not possible due to the pandemic, students did not forget about the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and engaged in various online activities offered by the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. In Dąbrowa Białostocka and Romuald Traugutt High School in Warsaw teachers and students participated in the celebrations of the Judaism Day in the Catholic Church. Meanwhile in Zbąszyń, an important anniversary of the beginning of the so-called Polenaktion, which in 1938 resulted in the expulsion of about 17 thousand Jews from Poland from the Third Reich, was commemorated.

Preservation of Material Jewish Heritage

Responsibility also means taking care of the Jewish heritage in one’s locality and creating local alliances. The schools from Kikoł, Dąbrowa Białostocka, Zbąszyń, Szydłowiec, Wałbrzych, Brzesko, Krzepice and Warta look after Jewish cemeteries. The students from Wałbrzych devoted an entire  day to clean-up works, for which they were recognized by the the Jewish Community in Wrocław.  Adam Bodnar, the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights personally praised the actions of the students from Warta. In Wałbrzych students managed to meet with the vice President of the town to discuss commemorative plaques, while the school from Szamotuły has built a broad coalition that will soon lead to the commemoration of the Szamotuły Jewish cemetery. The students and teachers from Zbąszyń participated in the virtual broadcasting of the laying of the Stolpersteine – the memorial stones in memory of the Grunberg, Wajman, and Grzybowski families.

Communication

An important part of continuing schools’ efforts is also promoting their activities in their towns or cities. Teachers from Wieluń, Szydłowiec, Włocławek, Dąbrowa Białostocka, and the Stefan Żeromski High School in Warsaw run their own Facebook pages describing their achievements. Many schools, including Janowo, inform about their activities on school websites and contact local journalists. Sometimes, discovering the often forgotten history of one’s locality also involves the tedious historian’s work. In 2020, the teachers from Koronowo, Dobra, and Pniewy published academic articles about Jews from their towns, thus popularizing their history.

photos by: XLV Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Romualda Traugutta w Warszawie, Zespół Szkół Budowlanych w Bydgoszczy, Zespół Szkół im Korpusu Ochrony Pogranicza w Szydłowcu, Zespół Szkół im. gen. Nikodema Sulika w Dąbrowie Białostockiej

Interesting Partnerships

Being an expert in the subject of Polish/Jewish history also results in cooperation with other institutions and organizations. The school in Bydgoszcz, together with the Old Fordon Society  organizes trips; the schools in Wałbrzych cooperate with the Cukunft Association and participate in the Lower Silesian Festival of Jewish Culture. Students and teachers in Szamotuły take part in an interdisciplinary project Chaim/Life, which aims to spread knowledge about the Jewish people’s presence in Poznań and the Greater Poland Province.

Maintaining Bonds

Another vital element of the schools’ activities is the contemporary Polish/Jewish dialogue. On the anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto, students and teachers in Częstochowa held a virtual meeting with the president of the Society of Częstochowa Jews in Israel. In Janów, there is an ongoing communication with Dov Wexler, a Survivor, while the students in Dobra held a meeting with professor John Crust. Moreover, despite the pandemic, Polish and Israeli schools maintain various virtual interactions in lieu of their annual student exchange programs. Teenagers from Częstochowa and the Queen Jadwiga High School in Warsaw talked to their Israeli peers using several communication channels.

Broadening the Context

The conversation about Jewish history and culture constitutes an excellent opening to bring up multiculturalism and awareness of discrimination. During the classes concerning World War II and the Holocaust, teachers in Szamotuły engage their students in discussions on exclusion mechanisms. In 2020, students from the Stefan Żeromski High School in Warsaw participated in classes concerning Islam and the role of women in Turkey. Students from the Romuald Traugutt High School in Warsaw visited an Orthodox cemetery and an Orthodox church, while students in Warta took part in workshops on the world’s religions. In Częstochowa, workshops on fighting against prejudice were organized. The students in Trzebinia discussed the topic of inclusive language, and the students from the Queen Jadwiga High School in Warsaw discussed tolerance and multiculturalism during their classes.

List of continuing Schools of Dialogue in 2020:

• Mikołaj Kopernik High School in Brzesko
• Juliusz Słowacki High School in Częstochowa
• Nikodem Sulik School Complex in Dąbrowa Białostocka
• School Complex in Dobra
• Marshal Józef Piłsudski Elementary School in Janowo
• Elementary School no. 4 in Jędrzejów
• Ignacy Antoni Zboiński Elementary School in Kikół
• Correction Facility and Shelter for Minors in Koronowo
• School Complex in Krzepice
• Maria Konopnicka High School in Legionowo
• Ursuline Sisters High School  in Pniewy
• Tadeusz Kościuszko Elementary School no. 1 in Proszowice
• King Władysław Jagiełło High School no. 1 in Przeworsk
• General Antoni Heyda-Szary Elementary School in Radoszyce
• Stanisław Staszic School Complex no. 2 in Szamotuły
• Border Protection Corps School Complex in Szydłowiec
• Technical and Service School Complex in Trzebinia
• Maksymilian Tytus Huber School Complex no. 5 in Wałbrzych
• “Energetyk” Polytechnic School Complex in Wałbrzych
• Captain Stanisław Skarżyński Elementary School in Warta
• Queen Jadwiga High School no. 10 in Warsaw
• Romuald Traugutt High School no. 45 in Warsaw
• Stefan Żeromski High School no. 40 in Warsaw
• Janusz Korczak High School no. 2 in Wieluń
• Tadeusz Kościuszko Automotive Vocational School in Włocławek
• Stefan Garczyński High School in School Complex no. 1 in Zbąszyń