(In)Separable. Difficult Subjects in Polish-Jewish Relations

In 2019 the Evens Foundation joined the Galicia Jewish Museum in their effort to address and overcome key stereotypes and misunderstandings related to Polish-Jewish relations. Through a series of panel debates, some of the most recognisable Polish historians, researchers and experts explored difficult subjects in Polish-Jewish relations and confronted the most striking misconceptions.

The museum took the initiative as a direct response to a series of events that in recent times have threatened these relations and challenged the process of reconciliation. There are indications that society lacks basic knowledge, but is also led by misconceptions and anti-Semitic prejudices that determine the way Jews and the Holocaust are perceived. It is a global issue, but in Poland – due to our common history – particularly acute.

In the first edition of the project, we invited the audience to seven panel debates held from March to November 2019 in the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow. The panels were led by Adam Szostkiewicz, author and journalist at Polityka. The programme included following topics:

• Righteous or Shmaltsovniks (blackmailers)? Polish Attitudes towards Jews during the Second World War (March 2019)
• Strategies of Survival: The Fates of Jews in Occupied Poland (April 2019)
• Jews and Israel. The Attitudes of Jews from the Diaspora toward Israel (May 2019)
• Polish Anti-Semitism. The Sources and Scale of Anti-Semitism in Polish Society (June 2019)
• Catholic Church and the Jews (September 2019)
• Do the Jews Rule the World? Conspiracy Theories (October 2019)
• The Jews and Communism (November 2019)

To amplify the educational dimension of the project, short videos and fact-sheets were produced summarising the most important facts and data from each debate, tackling related ‘fake facts’ and stereotypes. These materials are designed as a practical tool for teachers and are available to download online.

The final event of the series, #Others: Media and Prejudices (carried out under the Evens Foundation Media Meets Literacy label) on 28 November 2019 in Warsaw framed all the issues discussed during the project and analysed them in a wider European context. Prof. Michał Bilewicz (Center for Research on Prejudice, University of Warsaw), Anna Górnicka (Outriders) and Draginja Nadaždin (Amnesty International Poland) were invited by Adam Szostkiewicz (Polityka) to discuss methods that media could deploy to counteract prejudices and hate speech towards minority groups. The debate was preceded by an interactive experience designed to enable the guests to explore the tensions between media representation and identity.

You can see the full photo report here.

Following the great reception of the initiative we continued our partnership with the Galicia Jewish Museum in 2020 – the point of departure for the second edition’s eight debates was the issue of the emotions that Polish-Jewish relations evoke. Adam Szostkiewicz hosted – among others – Ambassador Agnieszka Magdziak-Liszewska, Prof. Małgorzata Melchior, Prof. Andrzej Leder, Prof. Jacek Leociak, Paweł Piotra Reszka and Prof. Joanna Tokarska-Bakir. Topics tackled included:

• Betrayal? Anti-Polish Attitudes In Israel
• Harm? On The Rivalry In Suffering, Commemoration, And Mourning
• Love? Philosemitism in Poland
• Responsibility? Jewish Heritage in Poland

The pandemic forced us to move online but our audience stayed with us – as of the end of December 2020, the debates had been watched by over 3,800 viewers.

In 2021, in the third edition of the project, not only are new problems arising in the complicated field of Polish-Jewish relations being challenged but so too are the mechanisms of stereotyping of other minority groups. These issues will appear in all the discussions and the final debate will focus on the latter specifically. Particular attention will be paid in this series to the role, both positive and negative, of the media in shaping the attitudes and influencing the views of the public. The discussions stem from concrete visual examples, e.g. press excerpts or photography related to each theme. When accompanied by a commentary on the origin of the example, its societal or historical context, these examples will become a starting point for each conversation. This time the debates are led by Kazimiera Szczuka, literary historian and critic, former TV journalist and social activist.
Due to the high interest in previous debates, for the first time the debates are simultaneously translated into English, which allows the project to reach an even wider audience all over the world.

The list of the topics in the third edition includes:

• Between Fascination and Hate. The Image of Jews in Contemporary Poland. (March 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdn6zghE8ms
• Between Auschwitz and Oświęcim. Contrary Narratives on Poland. (April 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuQmqbf77eY
• Between Silence and Propaganda. The Evolution of the Narrative on the Righteous Among the Nations in Postwar Poland. (May 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtuBx55AQTY
• Between a Monument and a Product. The Processes of Commemoration and Commercialization of Post-Jewish Spaces. (June 2021)
• Between Tradition and Modernity. The Contemporary Polish-Jewish Community. (September 2021)
• Between Desire and Contempt. The Historic and Contemporary Images of Jewish Women. (October 2021)
• Between Us. Polish Fears in Media and Mass Culture (November 2021)

David Sypniewski

In 2019 the Evens Foundation joined the Galicia Jewish Museum in their effort to address and overcome key stereotypes and misunderstandings related to Polish-Jewish relations. Through a series of panel debates, some of the most recognisable Polish historians, researchers and experts explored difficult subjects in Polish-Jewish relations and confronted the most striking misconceptions.

The museum took the initiative as a direct response to a series of events that in recent times have threatened these relations and challenged the process of reconciliation. There are indications that society lacks basic knowledge, but is also led by misconceptions and anti-Semitic prejudices that determine the way Jews and the Holocaust are perceived. It is a global issue, but in Poland – due to our common history – particularly acute.

In the first edition of the project, we invited the audience to seven panel debates held from March to November 2019 in the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow. The panels were led by Adam Szostkiewicz, author and journalist at Polityka. The programme included following topics:

• Righteous or Shmaltsovniks (blackmailers)? Polish Attitudes towards Jews during the Second World War (March 2019)
• Strategies of Survival: The Fates of Jews in Occupied Poland (April 2019)
• Jews and Israel. The Attitudes of Jews from the Diaspora toward Israel (May 2019)
• Polish Anti-Semitism. The Sources and Scale of Anti-Semitism in Polish Society (June 2019)
• Catholic Church and the Jews (September 2019)
• Do the Jews Rule the World? Conspiracy Theories (October 2019)
• The Jews and Communism (November 2019)

To amplify the educational dimension of the project, short videos and fact-sheets were produced summarising the most important facts and data from each debate, tackling related ‘fake facts’ and stereotypes. These materials are designed as a practical tool for teachers and are available to download online.

The final event of the series, #Others: Media and Prejudices (carried out under the Evens Foundation Media Meets Literacy label) on 28 November 2019 in Warsaw framed all the issues discussed during the project and analysed them in a wider European context. Prof. Michał Bilewicz (Center for Research on Prejudice, University of Warsaw), Anna Górnicka (Outriders) and Draginja Nadaždin (Amnesty International Poland) were invited by Adam Szostkiewicz (Polityka) to discuss methods that media could deploy to counteract prejudices and hate speech towards minority groups. The debate was preceded by an interactive experience designed to enable the guests to explore the tensions between media representation and identity.

You can see the full photo report here.

Following the great reception of the initiative we continued our partnership with the Galicia Jewish Museum in 2020 – the point of departure for the second edition’s eight debates was the issue of the emotions that Polish-Jewish relations evoke. Adam Szostkiewicz hosted – among others – Ambassador Agnieszka Magdziak-Liszewska, Prof. Małgorzata Melchior, Prof. Andrzej Leder, Prof. Jacek Leociak, Paweł Piotra Reszka and Prof. Joanna Tokarska-Bakir. Topics tackled included:

• Betrayal? Anti-Polish Attitudes In Israel
• Harm? On The Rivalry In Suffering, Commemoration, And Mourning
• Love? Philosemitism in Poland
• Responsibility? Jewish Heritage in Poland

The pandemic forced us to move online but our audience stayed with us – as of the end of December 2020, the debates had been watched by over 3,800 viewers.

In 2021, in the third edition of the project, not only are new problems arising in the complicated field of Polish-Jewish relations being challenged but so too are the mechanisms of stereotyping of other minority groups. These issues will appear in all the discussions and the final debate will focus on the latter specifically. Particular attention will be paid in this series to the role, both positive and negative, of the media in shaping the attitudes and influencing the views of the public. The discussions stem from concrete visual examples, e.g. press excerpts or photography related to each theme. When accompanied by a commentary on the origin of the example, its societal or historical context, these examples will become a starting point for each conversation. This time the debates are led by Kazimiera Szczuka, literary historian and critic, former TV journalist and social activist.
Due to the high interest in previous debates, for the first time the debates are simultaneously translated into English, which allows the project to reach an even wider audience all over the world.

The list of the topics in the third edition includes:

• Between Fascination and Hate. The Image of Jews in Contemporary Poland. (March 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdn6zghE8ms
• Between Auschwitz and Oświęcim. Contrary Narratives on Poland. (April 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuQmqbf77eY
• Between Silence and Propaganda. The Evolution of the Narrative on the Righteous Among the Nations in Postwar Poland. (May 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtuBx55AQTY
• Between a Monument and a Product. The Processes of Commemoration and Commercialization of Post-Jewish Spaces. (June 2021)
• Between Tradition and Modernity. The Contemporary Polish-Jewish Community. (September 2021)
• Between Desire and Contempt. The Historic and Contemporary Images of Jewish Women. (October 2021)
• Between Us. Polish Fears in Media and Mass Culture (November 2021)

David Sypniewski
News | Online Debate June 2021

Between a Monument and a Product: the Processes of Commemoration and Commercialisation of Post-Jewish Spaces

The historic Jewish districts, streets, and areas around former synagogues – former ‘Jewish spaces’ – are adapted, modified, and, above all, redefined. To what extent have they been accustomed to the local community? What are they becoming now? Are they functioning as memorial sites that encourage reflection? Or maybe they are being smoothed over and beautifully packaged into products of tourism? To what extent have they retained their authenticity or have they been changed into theme parks? Or perhaps, have they been deprived of their Jewishness altogether and changed beyond recognition, where they have become places ‘without history’?

Discussion participants: Dr Edyta Gawron, Dr Natalia Romik and Wojciech Wilczyk
Led by: Kazimiera Szczuka

News | Online Debate May 2021

Between Silence and Propaganda: the Evolution of the Narrative on the Righteous Among the Nations in Postwar Poland

Many of the people awarded the Righteous Among the Nations medal, the honour bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to assist Jewish people during the Holocaust, have been Poles. However, until 1989 this group was barely present in public debate. This changed in the 1990s but, in time, the discourse on the Righteous took a disturbing direction: instrumentalisation and trivialisation. The image of the Righteous as brave, extraordinary people who committed heroic deeds was replaced by another narrative: a whole nation of Righteous who, despite their own suffering and oppression under German occupation, en masse and altruistically helped the Jews. This discussion will address these narratives, their causes and their effects.

Discussion participants: Anna Bikont, Prof. Tomasz Żukowski and Prof. Dariusz Libionka
Led by: Kazimiera Szczuka

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate April 2021

Between Auschwitz and Oświęcim: Contrary Narratives on Poland

The discussion will ask whether it is possible to combine into one coherent whole the narratives which surround the names for the same geographical place: Oświęcim, Oshpitzin and Auschwitz. Each symbolises a different narrative around Poland, the history of Polish Jews and mutual relations.

This debate will be led by Kazimiera Szczuka and feature Tomasz Kuncewicz, Dr Annamaria Orla-Bukowska and Dr Tomasz Cebulski.

Discussion participants: Tomasz Kuncewicz, Dr Annamaria Orla-Bukowska and Dr Tomasz Cebulski
Led by: Kazimiera Szczuka

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate March 2021

Between Fascination and Hate: The Image of Jews in Contemporary Polish Culture and Media

Discussion participants: Prof. Joanna Michlic, Prof. Ireneusz Krzemiński and Dr Joanna Preizner
Led by: Kazimiera Szczuka

You can watch the panel debate here.

Third Edition of Debate Series (In)Separable

Following great interest in two previous series, the new edition of the “(In)Separable” panel discussions series will begin on Monday 29 March at 18:00 CET (online). The Evens Foundation continues to be a proud partner of the Galicia Jewish Museum programme and these debates will challenge not only the most persistent misconceptions and conflictual issues in the Polish-Jewish dialogue but also the stereotyping of other minorities.

Special attention will be given to the role that the media plays in shaping the attitudes and views of the public. The discussions will take visual examples (such as press excerpts and photography) as a starting point for each of the conversations, with each discussion analysing specific ambiguities.

News | Online Debate November 2020

Lie? The Image of Jews and Other Minorities in the Media

In what way does the media shape the image of different minority groups, including Jews? What is the approach of the traditional media and social media? Is there a more common tendency to lean towards objectivism, or perhaps do the media tend to use stereotypes which only seem to be neutral, objective information?

Discussion participants: Prof. Agnieszka Szymańska, Paweł Smoleński, Dr. Joanna Talewicz-Kwiatkowska
Led by: Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”)

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate November 2020

Love? Philosemitism in Poland

How did the view of Jews in Poland change throughout the years? What is philosemitism? Is it a widespread phenomenon? Can philosemitism become a form of oppression?

Discussion participants: Dr. Elżbieta Janicka; Prof. Roma Sendyka
Led by: Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”)

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate October 2020

Hate? Anti-Jewish Pogroms On Polish Soil

In what context were pogroms carried out against the Jewish population on Polish soil? Who participated in them, and for what reasons? How do these pogroms influence today's Polish-Jewish relations? How do they shape the image of Poland and Poles?

Discussion participants: Prof. Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, Dr. Kamil Kijek, Prof. Artur Markowski
Led by: Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”)

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate September 2020

Dissonance? Perception Of Jewish Roots: Pride And Stigma

Who are contemporary Polish Jews, and who do they feel they are? How are they perceived in a non-Jewish environment? Why are some people attributed with having Jewish roots in the public discourse, while some are denied these roots and perceived as Polish?

Discussion participants: Prof. Małgorzata Melchior, Prof. Stanisław Krajewski
Led by: Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”)

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate July 2020

Harm? On the Rivalry in Suffering, Commemoration, and Mourning

Reflection on the difference between Polish and Jewish memory of the Second World War and the Shoah. Do memorial sites connect or divide? What is their future?

Discussion participants: Dr Edyta Gawron and Prof. Jacek Leociak
Led by: Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”)

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate June 2020

Betrayal? Anti-Polish Attitudes in Israel

What do contemporary Israelis know and think about Poland? What influences the way Poland is perceived by the Israelis? Is there an anti-Polish attitude in Israel?

Discussion participants: Dr. Daniel Wolniewicz-Slomka, Ambassador Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszewska, Dr. Sebastian Rejak
Led by: Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”)

You can watch the panel debate here.

News | Online Debate May 2020

Greed? (Post-)Jewish Property in Poland

Who took over the property of Polish Jews during the occupation and immediately following the war? What were the mechanisms and circumstances of taking over Jewish real estate and movable property? What were the attitudes of the new owners of Jewish property towards Jews? What was the course of the retrieval of property by Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust and their descendants after the war? What are the problems faced today in the field of the restitution of Jewish property?

Discussion participants: Paweł Piotr Reszka, Dr. Łukasz Krzyżanowski, Nawojka Cieślińska-Lobkowicz
Led by: Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”)

You can watch the panel debate here.

Second (online) Edition of Debate Series (In)Separable

We are pleased to invite our Polish speaking audience to the second edition of the (In)Separable. Difficult Subjects in Polish-Jewish Relations discussion series. The Evens Foundation partnered again with the Galicia Jewish Museum in Cracow to continue this well-received initiative. This time our panelists hosted by Adam Szostkiewicz (“Polityka”) will be exploring above mentioned difficult subjects through the lens of emotions that they evoke: harm, greed, betrayal, love...

For the time being we moved online – the panel debates are published monthly and available to watch here.