“Though it can be said that we are meeting here because of a great evil that happened eighty years ago, our presence is evidence that this evil has not prevailed,” said Anna Włodek to people gathered at the Jewish cemetery in Tarnowskie Góry last Monday to commemorate the Jewish inhabitants of the city murdered during the Holocaust.

We were honored to participate in this moving event, which was the culmination of months of work of the Gliwicka 66 Association and specifically, Anna Włodek, a member of the Forum for Dialogue Network. The ceremony was attended by the descendants of Eliezer Nawarski, who was among those commemorated. Holocaust Survivor Anna Lewkowicz, his daughter, and Zvika Navarsky, his grandson took part in the ceremony. A unique commemoration: 78 plaques each bearing a name of one of the murdered people – was unveiled during the event. Students of the local high school, regular participants of Anna’s commemorative and educational efforts, read all these names out loud.

Photos by Barbara Zwalińska

“In Honor of our Neighbors” project by Anna Włodek and the Gliwicka 66 Association was co-financed by Forum for Dialogue as a part of 2023 Grant Competition.

In 2023, the program for activists belonging to Forum for Dialogue Network, 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.

Last weekend, the activist Anna Brzyska together with the “Memory and Dialogue. Shared History” Association organized a three-day event on the 81st anniversary of the deportations of Brzesko Jews to Majdanek, Bełżec, and Auschwitz. Over 40 descendants of Brzesko Jews joined the activists, authorities, and students of local schools for commemorative events and the common celebration of restored memory of Brzesko Jewish community. Due to Anna’s work a unique plaque dedicated to Mala Zimetbaum, Brzesko-born prisoner of Auschwitz, was unveiled in the town to commemorate her heroism. Moreover, joint effort of Anna and Brzesko high school board resulted in the updating of the commemorative plaque on the school building. 62 names of Jewish students have been added to the plaque that before had included only Christian Poles who perished during the Second World War. “Brzesko: United in Memory” events included a Shabbat dinner, an exhibition dedicated to Poles from Brzesko who saved Jews during the Holocaust, and a concert of klezmer music as well. We are glad to be able to support this incredible work of Anna!

Photos by Krzysztof Wasyłek

“Recovering Memory: Comemorative Plaque Honoring the Memory of Murdered Jewish Students” project by Anna Brzyska and the “Memory and Dialogue. Shared History” Association was co-financed by Forum for Dialogue as a part of 2023 Grant Competition.

In 2023, the program for activists belonging to Forum for Dialogue Network, 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.

What an evening! Yesterday, we celebrated Forum’s 25th Anniversary together with the participants of the first study visit to Poland since the pandemic hiatus, who are our longtime friends and donors. More than 150 people gathered at the Polish Theatre in Warsaw to join us for this event, including our international supporters and allies, as well as Polish friends and donors, current and former staff members, activists, and members of the Forum for Dialogue Network.

Although they couldn’t join us in person in Warsaw, Warsaw-born Holocaust Survivor and our mentor George Elbaum and his wife Mimi Jensen prepared a video message to share with the audience gathered at the Polish Theater.

Reflecting on the story of his involvement with the Forum and its programs, George emphasized the importance of dissolving barriers of ignorance and introducing common interest and communality between today’s audiences and the past.

Thank you to all who came and made this night as well as the past 25 years possible! This community has made Forum what it is today and what it will be in the future.

Photos by Alicja Szulc

“We have brought back the names of a thousand of victims. We have commemorated those murdered and those buried at the cemetery. We have met with the families of descendants at the town hall and listened to their stories. We have felt a sense of community and togetherness”: Urszula Antosz-Rekucka and Marek Rekucki, activists from our Network, marked the 81^st anniversary of the Holocaust of Mszana Dolna’s Jews with the unveiling of a plaque listing the names and ages of Mszana Dolna Jews murdered on August 19, 1942.

The events surrounding the unveiling and commemorative ceremonies started the day before and included an urban game about Mszana’s Jewish heritage prepared by scouts, Hebrew calligraphy workshops, lectures about Jewish culture, and klezmer concert.

Photos by Wiktor Król

“Plaque Honoring the Memory of the Victims of August 19, 1942” project by Marek Rekucki and the Mszana Dolna Shtetl Foundation was co-financed by Forum for Dialogue as a part of 2023 Grant Competition.

In 2023, the program for activists belonging to Forum for Dialogue Network, 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.

On August 16, Białystok marked the 80th anniversary of its ghetto uprising with the unveiling of city’s first Stolpersteine thanks to the efforts of Mariusz Sokołowski from our Network cooperating with City of Białystok. The memory of Holocaust Survivor Samuel Pisar’s family was honored by laying memorial cobble stones laid on the sidewalk by the apartment they occupied before the war. Apart from this permanent commemoration, Mariusz invited Białystok’s youth to participate in his “Białystok Remembers!” educational program, focused on the story of a ten-year-old Holocaust victim Frieda Pisar, whose biography inspired participants to create an art installation of stories, letters, and drawings.

Photos by Hanna Gospodarczyk i Bartosz Duszyński

“Białystok Remembers!” project by Mariusz Sokołowski and the Open Education Foundation was co-financed by Forum for Dialogue as a part of 2023 Grant Competition.

In 2023, the program for activists belonging to Forum for Dialogue Network, 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.

Ireneusz Socha, an activist from our network working in Dębica, has been organizing Jewish Community Remembrance Days since 2016. This year, the ceremony honoring the memory of the victims of Dębica ghetto was followed by a concert by Yaron Klein Trio. Yaron Klein, Israeli violinist living in the U.S., is a grandson of Miriam Grünspan from Dębica. His trio’s amazing performance prompted a standing ovation from nearly 200 guests from Dębica, Poland, and abroad gathered at the local culture center.

Photos by Przemysław Sroka

Life/Live concert was co-financed by Forum for Dialogue as a part of our 2023 Scholarship for Local Activism Competition.

In 2023, the program for activists belonging to Forum for Dialogue Network, 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.

August 1-3, 2023, Forum’s representatives participated in the Powell Holocaust Summer Institute, made possible by the vision and investment of the Powell Family Foundation, at the Holocaust Center for Humanity in Seattle WA, USA. Hanna Gospodarczyk, Forum’s Program Team Manager, and Katarzyna Łaziuk, a member of our activist network from Mińsk Mazowiecki, took part in a session focused on challenges and good practices in teaching about and commemorating the Holocaust in the local context. Our participation in Powell Holocaust Summer Institute was enabled by the generous support of Nancy Powell and Carol Heller.

We are pleased to announce that Agnieszka Mysakowska, a member of our Leaders of Dialogue network from Wieluń, received the Fr. Stanisław Musiał Award of The Club of Christians and Jews ‘Covenant’. The award recognizes people working towards Christian/Jewish and Polish/Jewish dialogue and reconciliation. Agnieszka Mysakowska was awarded alongside historian Małgorzata Międzobrodzka, author of the “Jews of Wieliczka” monograph.

Agnieszka Mysakowska teaches students about the history and culture of Wieluń region Jews. Thanks to her numerous initiatives, organized trips to Israel as well as the cooperation with The Jewish Organization of Wielun in Israel, young Poles and their Jewish counterparts learn of the importance of mutual understanding.

Teresa Jabłońska, member of Leaders of Dialogue network, together with the Września Children Foundation, has just finished an educational project about the history and culture of Jews in Poland. The project was addressed to both students at local schools and seniors, attendees of the University of the Third Age. They all joined culinary workshops on Jewish dishes, which included a tasting at the end. The project also included a klezmer music concert organized in cooperation with the municipal authorities and the local Cultural Centre.

There were also educational activities organized at schools, such as an urban exploration of local Jewish heritage. The participants listened to eyewitness accounts of history and visited the Regional Museum, Museums of Martyrdom in Poznań and Żabikowo, and the Death Camp in Chełmno.

“The History and Culture of Jews in Września. Września Youth at Sites of Memory” project was co-financed by the Forum for Dialogue in the 2022 Grant Competition.

photos courtesy of Teresa Jabłońska

The Leaders of Dialogue program, including grants and scholarships, was financed thanks to the generosity of Friends of the Forum, LEDOR WADOR Foundation, 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.