Jews
After Visiting Poland, Arab Youth Discuss Holocaust’s Impact
Dozens of Arab youths in the National Service (Sherut Le’umi), who serve as counselors in the No’ar Oved Ve’lomed youth group (associated with the Labor Party), participated in a Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony on Sunday night. Continue reading
Jewish museum in Poland unveils synagogue roof
A Jewish history museum in Warsaw has unveiled a reconstructed synagogue roof with an elaborately painted ceiling modeled on a 17th-century structure, presenting the first object that will go on permanent display in the highly awaited museum. Continue reading
World War II and the impossibility of Polish history
The adage “history is written by the winners” is no more than a half-truth. Losers, too, have always written history and, more important, enshrined their losses in memory. A new history of Poland in World War II thus has particular significance. Continue reading
Polish Culture Ministry cancels funding of Holocaust journal
Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage will not continue funding a Holocaust journal.
The decision not to renew funding for the journal Holocaust Studies and Materials, published by Polish Center for Holocaust Research, was announced last week. Continue reading
Statue of praying Hitler in Poland sparks emotion
A statue of Adolf Hitler praying on his knees is on display in the former Warsaw Ghetto, the place where so many Jews were killed or sent to their deaths by Hitler’s regime, and it is provoking mixed reactions.
The work, “HIM” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, has drawn many visitors since it was installed last month. It is visible only from a distance, and the artist doesn’t make explicit what Hitler is praying for, but the broader point, organizers say, is to make people reflect on the nature of evil. Continue reading
Museum of the History of Polish Jews
The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, built on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, will honor and celebrate 1000 years of Jewish life and culture in Poland. This film documents the Museum’s development from its groundbreaking in 2007 and includes footage of volunteers building the replica of the 17th-century Gwoździec Synagogue, a keystone of the Core Exhibition. Continue reading
Israel names six Polish families as Righteous Among the Nations
Israel’s Ambassador to Poland Zvi Rav-Ner awarded Righteous among the Nations certificates to the descendants of six Polish families that risked their lives without recompense to help Jews in trouble during the Nazi occupation. The ceremony took place Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s Office in Warsaw. Continue reading
Polish court reportedly rules against allowing ritual slaughter
A constitutional court in Poland reportedly has ruled against allowing Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter in the country.
The Warsaw court’s ruling, which was made known on Tuesday, said the government had acted unconstitutionally when it exempted Jews and Muslims from stunning animals before slaughtering them as their faiths require, according to Piotr Kadlcik, president of the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland. Continue reading
The ghosts of Muranow: A journalist’s mission to illuminate Poland’s haunted past
When Polish journalist Beata Chomatowska walks the streets of Muranow, she can’t stop thinking about the horrible things that happened there.
Present-day Muranow, a district of Warsaw, Poland, is built on rubble and the remains of Jews who perished there during World War II, but many residents are ignorant of the area’s past. Continue reading
Anti-Semitic camp calls for overthrow of Poland on republic’s Independence Day
Young Polish nationalists and anti-Semitic extreme rightists called for the overthrow of Poland at the republic’s Independence Day march.
At Sunday’s event, the groups established a new nationalist organization called the National Movement. Continue reading