Poland and Judaism Today: Understanding a New Era in Polish-Jewish and Polish-Israeli Relations
February 6th, 2007
Copley Formal Lounge
Cosponsors: Program for Jewish Civilization, Center for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies, Office of the President
The symposium featured an introduction by President Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland 1995-2005. The three panels consisted of the following topics:
9:15 AM Poland and Israel: Assessing a Healthy Relation Between Two Sovereign Nation States
11:15 AM Confronting the Past: The Debate over Jedwabne and its Implications for Poland and Her Jews
2:15 PM Jews in Poland Today: Rebuilding Communities
Participants included:
Ambassador David Peleg, Israeli Ambassador to Poland
Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland
Guy Billauer, American Jewish Committee
Ruth Ellen Gruber, Author, Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish Culture in Europe
Janusz Makuch, President and founder of the Jewish Cultural Festival in Krakow
Professor Antony Polonsky, Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University
Jonathan Webber, UNESCO Chair in Jewish and Interfaith Studies, University of Birmingham; Vice-Chairman, Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies