• School of Dialogue

    Teaching about the Past to Ensure
    a Better Future

From March to June 2021, Forum has run another round of School of Dialogue workshops. Due to concerns over health safety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, all the workshops in participant schools were conducted online.

For both students and teachers, who have been learning and teaching remotely since the beginning of the school year, taking part in an extracurricular activity was a challenge. This is why we are in such awe of those who did take part in the most recent edition of the program.

In the spring semester we had 11 schools joining the two projects run by the Forum.

The first project, co-financed by Friends of the Forum, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, and individual donors from Poland and abroad featured four schools:

• Queen Jadwiga Bilingual High School no 9 in Rzeszów
• Maria Skłodowska-Curie Elementary School no 1 in Mysłowice
• Karol Adamiecki Economics School Complex in Dąbrowa Górnicza
• John Paul II Academic High School in Biała Podlaska.

The second project made possible by the Active Citizens Fund – National financed by the Norwegian and EEA funds featured seven schools:

• Cpt. Stanisław Skarżyński Elementary School in Warta
• “Elementarz” Foundation Elementary School in Jackowo
• Fr. Jan Twardowski Elementary School no 5 in Biłgoraj
• Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński School Complex in Kadzidło
• John Paul II Elementary School in Zielonki
• Stanisław Staszic School Complex in Stąporków
• Wedel-Tuczyńscy Family Elementary School in Tuczno.

During the spring semester, 170 students and 15 teachers took active part in the program.

In all locations, the participants commemorated local Jewish communities both on and offline. They created online maps of Jewish sites, walking routes, and guides (in Polish, English, and German), interviews with eyewitnesses, history quizzes, and social media profiles. The students also organized meetings with guest speakers online, and during periods of relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions also events and walking tours following the traces of Jewish communities in their towns.

The outcomes of commemorative projects submitted by students participating in the spring 2021 and fall 2021 edition of the School of Dialogue program will be evaluated in January 2022 by an expert jury that will select the most accomplished submissions.

Project co-financed by Friends of the Forum, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, and individual donors from Poland and abroad.

The project is made possible by the Active Citizens Fund – National financed by the Norwegian and EEA funds.