| 2018 |
Przemystka
Ziemia Kujawska High School Complex – Center for Continuous Learning
Ziemia Kujawska High School Complex – Center for Continuous Learning
| 2018 |
Music broadcast by RMF MAXXX radio station slowly fades away. For a split second there is complete silence. Then a red light flicks on in the recording studio – the transmission begins! Radio journalist Bartłomiej Seklecki gives a warm welcome to Patrycja Radzimska and Weronika Michalska, who came to talk about the School of Dialogue project they have been involved in. Multiple questions are asked. Were it not for time constraints of the show, the conversation would go on and on. In spring 2018, tuning in to RMF was not the only way to learn about Radziejów region’s Jewish history. Numerous articles were published in local media, including Gazeta Pomorska and Powiatowe ABC. Activities organized by freshmen from Radziejów’s Economic Technical High School and sophomores from Ziemia Kujawska High School Complex – Center for Continuous Learning in Przemystka was the buzz of the town.
An unexpected coda of the whole project aiming to rekindle the memory of Jewish Radziejów was the official School of Dialogue Gala in the National Opera in Warsaw on February 26, 2019.
In the annual overview of the project, in the presence of over 1200 guests including Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, deputy Marshall of the Polish Senate Bogdan Borusewicz, Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich, Israeli Ambassador to Poland Anna Azari and Chairman of the Forum’s Board of Trustees Henryk Wujec, school students from Przemystka received the first prize in the “Local community impact” category.
The jury honored the engagement and devotion demonstrated by youth from Radziejów and Przemystka in the activities they undertook, which went well beyond organizing a Jewish walking tour for senior citizens from the University of the Third Age as part of the School of Dialogue final project. Among others, high school students met with their peers as well as elementary and middle school students and even children from a local preschool to tell them about Jewish holidays and traditions. These were no ordinary lessons: children learned to spin the dreidel and made their own masks for Purim. Residents of Radziejów and Przemystka also had an opportunity to take part in a volleyball tournament commemorating the local Maccabi team, established in 1930.
And food gourmands had a chance to try Jewish dishes as part of “I know what I eat” event, during which passersby were offered matzoh and hamantaschen cookies made by the students.
Through all these different activities residents of Radziejów learned that their town was one of the first in Kujawy region to be inhabited by Jews – first mentions of their presence date back to 1432. Local Jews were mostly merchants – in 1919, all of the town’s twelve existing shops were owned by Jewish families. Right before the outbreak of World War II Jews accounted for 20% of the town’s population. Unfortunately, the Jewish history of Radziejów ended with the mass extermination that began in March 1942.
Through their School of Dialogue project and under the guidance of Forum’s educators, participants learned about local Jewish history and deconstructed stereotypes.
Furthermore, they passed their knowledge on to their peers and neighbors. This pedagogy method empowered local youth to take matters into their own hands, which – as participants admit – was key to their success.
However, the project would not have taken place without the support of local partners that the youth had found. These included the principal and teachers of ZSRCKU school in Przemystka, Regional Chamber owners in Radziejów, Franciszek Beciński Municipal Library and Radziejów mayor Sławomir Bykowski. Prizes were funded by local companies.
Another success of the group is that the project is far from over. The group continues to initiate activities. The history they presented has gained importance and lives on among residents of Radziejów region.
School: Ziemia Kujawska High School Complex – Center for Continuous Learning
Students: 1st year students at Economic Technical High School and 2nd year students at High School
Teachers: Mariusz Bentkowski, Anna Watkowska
Educators: Karolina Jastrzebska-Mitzner, Stanisław Niemojewski
Project cofinanced thanks to the generosity of Friends of the Forum, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and individual donors and institutions from Poland and abroad supporting Forum for Dialogue.
In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting the School of Dialogue educational 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.
