The Forum conducts dialogue in various spaces. In 2012, we organized a series of debates at Chłodna 25, one of Warsaw’s popular cafes. In 2013, we continued this project in the newly opened Państwo miasto café club.
In the course of these meetings, which aroused considerable interest among the general public, we tried to address current issues that are important for the future of Polish-Jewish relations and for supporting the dialogue between the two nations.

Very often we discussed the ongoing events – cultural, social, those important to Poland’s Jewish community. We did not avoid difficult nor controversial topics.

First and foremost, creators of Difficult Questions deserve our words of gratitude. It is my hope that the book will garner many readers, not only among young people.

Paweł Smoleński, Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, February 13, 2007

The book “Difficult Questions in Polish-Jewish Dialogue” is a collaborative work of Forum for Dialogue and the American Jewish Committee. The project was created after analyzing over one thousand questionnaires from Poland, US, Israel, Canada and Australia. In them, young Poles and Jews posed questions regarding the past, present and future of Polish/Jewish relations. Editors selected 50 most difficult and most frequently asked question for the book and had experts from Poland, Israel and the United States provide the answers.

Where did Jews in Poland come from? How could it be that Poles allowed Germans to build concentration camps in their neighborhoods? Why has the Israeli army shelled districts where Palestinian civilians live? Answers to these and other questions can be found in the book Difficult Questions in Polish-Jewish Dialogue.

”We set out to identify which themes present the greatest difficulty for dialogue among young Poles and Jews. But we realized the difficulty these young people had in even formulating many of the “difficult questions” they would have liked answered; they worried that even putting them into words might offend the “other side.” When such questions did arise in the course of a Polish/Jewish encounter, the result was open contention – some people became agitated, others burst into tears.”– explain book editors in the preface.

The book is the first endeavor in Polish publishing to build bridges of understanding between Poles and Jews. The history which is learned in school by young American and Israeli Jews is an entirely different version from that which young Poles are taught. “Difficut Questions” aims to present perspectives of both sides.

This book, built around actual questions raised in Polish/Jewish encounters, is our way of acknowledging two central points. First, the topic of Polish/Jewish relations is immensely important – not just for considering the past, but, every bit as much, for charting the future. And second, let’s be honest; there have been some tough issues. But rather than either bury them or simply talk past one another, we believe they should be thoughtfully and constructively considered, which is precisely what this book aims to do.

David A. Harris, AJC executive director (excerpt from the Preface)

To learn more about topics the book discusses, visit the following website 

30 000 young Jews from Israel, USA, Canada, Australia, France and other countries visit Poland each year. Forum of Dialogue organized meetings between Polish and Jewish young people for eight years, enabling their participants to challenge their own preconceptions. They come to a country which they often regard as the cemetery of the Jewish people and that visiting it must be a difficult experience. The aim of Forum of Dialogue was to show these young people contemporary Poland as well. Every meeting was carefully prepared by a group of Forum’s experts and educators, basing on field-tested scripts.

The educators suggested integrating activities aimed at broadening the participants’ knowledge about Polish-Jewish relations and facilitating mutual understanding. Young people talked about love, music and sport, but also about life in present-day Poland and Israel, about the Jewish diaspora and about the Holocaust. Their actions brought great results. When Forum sociologists conducted a survey among participants, it turned out that already after one such meeting, the Polish young people showed 20% more positive feelings towards Jewish youth – and vice versa. The program was being implemented between 2003 and 2011, and in the years 2008–2010 in cooperation with the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

From the very beginning, Forum for Dialogue aimed to save from oblivion and reconstruct the continuum of Gliwice’s history in the minds of the people connected to this town; as well as to build a foundation for the benefit of future generations. Meanwhile, almost in the heart of the city stood an empty plot of land after the local synagogue; a token of what had happened to the local Jewish community. At the time when Forum for Dialogue operated out of Gliwice, the local memory and knowledge about Jewish residents, culture and religion, all of which had so significantly contributed to the town’s development, was still meager.

The foundation endeavored to change this state of affairs and to commemorate Gliwice’s Jewish community by inscribing it into the town’s collective biography.

We did not limit our interests to wartime history, but included the more distant past as well, where the different cultures merged to create the unique character of Gliwice.

In an attempt to commemorate Gliwice’s Jewish community and inscribe it into the town’s collective biography, Forum for Dialogue created a website that presented the local Jewish history. This project was implemented with the help of the State Archive and Gliwice Museum that not only made their collections accessible, but also helped to prepare the sources. With the help and support of Hilde and Max Kochman, whom we reached in the course of our work on the project, our idea to commemorate Gliwice Jews could become a reality.

Aside from archival materials, biographies of famous Jewish residents and studies on Jewish-related issues and Jewish heritage sites, the website was enriched by private, intimate life stories of Holocaust survivors and their families, who often had lived in Gliwice for many generations. Through these personal recollections it was possible to re-construct the history of the town in its full scope and to commemorate its prewar residents. Thus, the project became a bridge linking contemporary residents of Gliwice with those from the past. We also became interested in the dilapidated pre-funeral home at Gliwice’s Jewish cemetery and took first steps toward restoring it to the memory of contemporary town residents.

Many years later, through joint efforts of Gliwice municipality and local activists, the building became home to a museum and an education center: House of Memory of the Jews of Upper Silesia.

The grand finale of local activism in Gliwice for Forum for Dialogue came in 2003, when the unveiling ceremony of the plaque commemorating the town’s Jewish residents and a meeting between descendants of local Jews with contemporary Gliwice residents were organized. We managed to locate and invite thirty Gliwice Holocaust survivors and their descendants to this event.

The “Difficult Questions in the Polish-Jewish Dialogue” workshops had the form of hours-long meetings, aimed at raising sensitivity towards the issue of Polish-Jewish relations, and presenting the different perspectives on historical events. They were based on the book of the same title, published by the Forum of Dialogue in 2006, in cooperation with the American Jewish Committee. Why are there anti-Semitic inscriptions on walls? Does criticizing Israel count as anti-Semitism? What were the Poles’ attitudes towards Jews during the Holocaust? Polish high-school students discussed those questions, actively participating in dedicated activities and tasks. The workshops were conducted by experienced Forum educators, who put special emphasis on students’ independent work. They asked questions but did not force any answers.

During the workshops, high-school students played out scenes of, for example, a Pole meeting a Jew who left Poland just after the war and only came back in the 1990s. By impersonating both characters, they were able to understand the feelings of an emigrant who had left behind only ruins. Upon coming back, s/he sees anti-Semitic inscriptions on the walls. How does this make him/her feel? How should Poles react to anti-Semitism, how should they fight it? During these sessions, students also read excerpts from Difficult Questions in the Polish-Jewish Dialogue, a book published by Forum of Dialogue and the American Jewish Committee. Forum’s offer for high schools included four kinds of such workshops:

“Anti-Semitic Captions”
The workshop drew the students’ attention to the “wall sickness” and other displays of anti-Semitism and racism, and encouraged them to actively stand up against acts of discrimination in their neighborhoods. Thanks to specially designed activities, the students had the opportunity to step into the shoes of the “Other” – this allowed them to look at the world through the eyes of the person against whom the anti-Semitic captions and drawings on the walls of cities and towns are addressed.

These sessions raised sensitivity and empathy among students, and made them become aware of their own biases.

“Is It Safe To Be a Jew In Poland?”
The workshop focused on the problem of anti-Semitism and lack of tolerance towards fellow citizens. Students read texts about the emotional state of Jews who live in Poland today, and discussed questions of safety, trying to empathize with members of ethnic and religious minorities. An important part of the workshop was the staging of a debate, where the students had the opportunity to become aware of different opinions regarding the question whether contemporary Poland is a safe place for Jews or not.

“What If…”
During this workshop students had the chance to expand their knowledge about the Holocaust and the social and political underlying of the genocide. Particular emphasis was put on text readings and the students’ individual reflection on the possibility that particular behaviors and attitudes adopted by groups and individuals can change history. The educational materials had an attractive form and encouraged students to actively participate in the workshops.

“Criticism of Israel and Anti-Semitism”
This workshop made students aware of the so-called new anti-Semitism, usually masquerading as criticism of Israeli politics. It also made them aware of the persistence of stereotypes and how unchanged they remain throughout the ages. The students were given an opportunity to acquire tools allowing them to distinguish between anti-Semitic statements from justified criticism of Israel and its politics. They also learned the basic facts connected to the Middle East conflict.