On May 14-15, the alumni of Polish/Jewish Exchange Program (PJEP), organized by Forum for Dialogue together with AJC and the Polish Friends of the Forum met in Łochów near Warsaw for the annual reunion meeting. The busy program included a visit to Mińsk Mazowiecki, where they met with students from junior high school, participants in the School of Dialogue program. The students shared their project with guests and, despite the rain, took the guests on a walking tour following the footsteps of the Jewish community of the town. The participants also had a chance to watch a short documentary “800 Jews from our Town” and met with its director, Filip Luft. It was a good occasion to reinforce participants’ commitment to Forum’s mission.

On May 5, at Beth Radom Synagogue in Toronto, Canada, Andrzej Folwarczny and Olga Kaczmarek from Forum for Dialogue gave a talk about what it means to bring Jewish memory back to Poland. Andrzej, Forum for Dialogue President, presentedt how Forum connected those who got involved in organizing the first in decades Passover Seder in Radom.

On May 10, during the two-day visit to Poland, the AJC delegation headed by David Harris, Chief Executive Officer of the American Jewish Committee, met with Forum for Dialogue representatives in our office in Warsaw. For Forum for Dialogue it was yet another opportunity this year to meet with AJC, with which Forum has been cooperating for over a decade.

On April 22, probably for the first time in decades, a Passover Seder was organized in Radom as part of the Jewish Culture Festival “Trace”. This moving interfaith event was a result of cooperation of Friends of the Forum and former study trip participants Sharon Grosfeld and Hilda Chazanovitz, whose families come from Radom, with Zbigniew Wieczorek, one of the participants in our Leaders of Dialogue program. They met last year, during our Friends of the Forum Journey to Poland. Earlier in the day, before the Seder, guests from the U.S. were taken on a walking tour following the footsteps of Jews of Radom by students participating in the School of Dialogue program. For us at the Forum, it was inspiring to see our various programs bear fruit in this one amazing moment. Congratulations to all who were involved in bringing back this special holiday to Radom.

On April 19, students participating in the School of Dialogue Program in Mikołaj Kopernik High School in Radom, took the Polish Ombudsman, Adam Bodnar, on a walking tour in the footsteps of the Jewish community of their town. Taking the role of guides, the students showed Adam Bodnar traces of the Jewish community, the place where the synagogue used to stand and the monument commemorating the Jewish residents of Radom. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to show their work and involvement in the School of Dialogue program and to share their knowledge about the Jewish history with such an important guest. During the walk, the students were accompanied by the high school teachers, Ewa Kutyła and Agnieszka Brzeska-Pająk, participants in our Leaders of Dialogue Program.

The Forum for Dialogue delegation completed its visit to the U.S., as part of the Polish/Jewish Exchange Program organized by Forum for Dialogue and the American Jewish Committee. The group visited Washington, Chicago and New York. For the participants, it was a chance to look into the life of the Jewish community in the US and see how the Jewish organizations contribute to the civil society, but also to learn more about the Jewish perspective on Polish/Jewish dialogue. It was a fantastic program and Forum is already looking forward to the visit of the AJC’s leaders to Poland.

The Fourth Nationwide Leaders of Dialogue Conference, organized on April 15-17 in Warsaw, has come to an end. It was an important and inspiring event, creating a perfect platform for discussion for Leaders from Poland involved in the Polish/Jewish dialogue. On Saturday, the conference participants took part in thematic workshops and had an evening dinner with a special guest, professor Jan Tomasz Gross. On Sunday, they participated in a discussion panel with Jacek Kozłowski, former Governor of the Mazowieckie Province, Barbara Imiołczyk, former Chair of the Committee on Local Government and Regional Policy of the Polish Sejm and Jarosław Zatorski, former mayor of Chmielnik. The Conference was rounded up by a session with a special guest, Adam Bodnar, Polish Ombudsman. The event was organized with the support from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and the Pratt Foundation.

We had the pleasure of meeting with Yeshiva University High School for Boys’ students who are participating in the “Names, Not Numbers” Holocaust Documentary Project. We discussed Forum’s work across Poland in School of Dialogue and Leaders of Dialogue program. It was a good opportunity to present our work to young people and hear their thoughts. We’re looking forward to learn more about how their documentary project develops.

Forum for Dialogue is featured at a pioneering exhibition “Can we talk about Poland” which opened in Melbourne at the Jewish Museum of Australia on March 6. It shows photographic works of Arnold Zable and Lindsay Goldberg which capture their individual experience when journeying to Poland. Visitors can also learn about Forum’s programs and consult an impressive map of the Landscape of Polish/Jewish Dialogue marked with more than 160 towns where the School of Dialogue workshops were organized for young students.