In a friendly and festive atmoshpere, the Forum for Dialogue office team sat together in our conference room to talk about our achievements and plans for the future. It was good to catch up and reflect on our mission.
We would like to wish all our friends and supporters a Happy New Year, hoping that 2017 will bring new opportunitites for connections and dialogue!

Take a look at this short film about the efforts of the students in Sosnowiec, who upon completing the School of Dialogue program, decided to commemorate the Jewish victims in their town. Guided by the feeling of responsibility, the students obtained a permit from the local authorities and raised the funds to install the plaque commemorating the anniversary of the execution of Jewish people. It’s overwhelming to see young students wanting to make a lasting change in their local community.
Congratulations for this important initiative!

We have finished a week-long study trip to Poland for our guests from Israel and the US. After visiting Warsaw, participants continued to Gliwice, Krakow, Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial, and in Skierniewice met with students involved with the School of Dialogue program there. The group also met with Karolina Jakoweńko, a participant in our Leaders of Dialogue program, who told our guests about her work in preserving the Jewish heritage of Gliwice and Będzin. Take a look at some more photos from the December study trip. We would like to thank all the participants for this meaningful journey!

The participants of our December study trip to Poland met in Będzin with Karolina and Piotr Jakoweńko, Dariusz Walerjański, the three participants in our Leaders of Dialogue program, and with invited guests to celebrate a Shabbat dinner together. In the premises of a former House of Prayer looked after the Brama Cukermana Foundation, they sat together at one table to learn about each other and connect. This meeting was very meaningful for everyone present there. Take a look at some photos from this amazing evening!

photo: T.Slutzky

Ewa Koper, this year’s recipient of The David and Anna Dlugie Kliger Scholarship has returned from her research trip to Israel. The scholar, who works at the Bełżec Museum and Memorial, has decided to use the scholarship for a 10-day research trip to Israel, during which she interviewed 12 survivors, to record their war-time stories. Have a look at the pictures from the intense trip!
Forum for Dialogue has been awarding The David and Anna Dlugie Kliger Scholarship with the support of Alan Metnick and The David and Anna Dlugie Kliger Fund since 2014. Every year one scholarship is given to a participant of the Leaders of Dialogue program to assist them in personal and professional development.

Forum for Dialogue organized another study trip to Poland for our guests from Israel and the United States. A dinner with Andrzej Folwarczny, President of the Forum, opened the study trip, and the next day participants, despite the snow and cold, were touring Warsaw and city’s Jewish sites.

On November sForum for Dialogue have organized the study trip to Poland for four Jewish leaders from the U.S.
From Warsaw, the group continued to Wieluń, where they met with the School of Dialogue alumni. After getting to know each other, the students took our group on a walking tour around Jewish sites of the town. Krakow was the last stop of this study trip.
Project is co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

Here are some more photos of the study trip! Braving the cold, our guests went so far on a tour of Warsaw and city’s Jewish sites, visited POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Zabińskis’ Villa at the Warsaw ZOO. They met for discussions with distinguished speakers, as the Ambassador of Israel to Poland Ms. Anna Azari, as well as with experts and representatives of the Jewish community. From Warsaw participants continued to Wieluń where they met with students of the School of Dialogue program.

Congratulations to Karolina Panz, a participant in our Leaders of Dialogue program, who was announced yesterday winner of the Israel Gutman Award for the best academic article on the Holocaust in 2015. Her work about Jewish victims of armed violence in Podhale between 1945-1947 appeared in the eleventh volume of the Holocaust. Studies and Materials. The Israel Gutman Award is given by The Polish Center for Holocaust Research and honors authors for their reliable studies of the subject. The award ceremony will be held on December 5 in Warsaw. Once again congratulations to Karolina!

We welcomed four Jewish leaders from Tacoma, Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia, USA, who came to Poland to take part in a study trip organized by Forum for Dialogue. At the opening dinner, trip participants met with Olga Kaczmarek, Director of International Relations at Forum, who introduced them to the program and Forum activities. The next day, the group has taken a tour of Warsaw, visited POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and discussed Christian-Jewish relations over dinner with Zuzanna Radzik, Forum Board Member.