26th Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków to Feature the Righteous

Mateusz Szczepaniak, 16 November 2016
This year's Jewish Cultural Festival in Kraków's Karzimierz district will be held from 25th June until 3rd July 2016. As well as the concerts, workshops and discussions, this year's Festival program will also feature events linked to the Righteous Among the Nations.

Kraków's Jewish Cultural Festival is Poland's largest showcase of contemporary Jewish culture and is one of the best-known festivals which take place in Poland. Every year, the Festival presents almost 300 events, drawing crowds of around 30,000 people from around the world. The theme for this 26th Festival will be "Diaspora".

In his invitation to this year's event, Festival founder and director Janusz Makuch wrote, "We will show the diversity and beauty of Jewish culture from around the world. The central point of reference will be Israel, emerging anew from the Diaspora. I hope that both the Jewish experience and the Polish experience will serve to help us better understand the transformation taking place before our eyes. These transformations arouse terror, aggression and hatred in those for whom the world is defined by one blood, one religion and one culture."

Within the 26th Festival's program, filled with events connected with both past and contemporary Jewish life, we also find events linked with the Righteous Among the Nations:

  • 29th June, 6:00pm at JCC Kraków, 24 Miodowa Street, a meeting with Righteous Among the Nations
  • 30th June, 12 noon at Galicia Jewish Museum, 18 Dajwór Street, a ceremony awarding the title of Righteous Among the Nations (by the Israeli Ambassador to Poland)
  • 1st July, 12 noon, Remu Synagogue courtyard, 40 Szeroka Street, wreath-laying ceremony at memorial plaque, with participation of Righteous Among the Nations

Admission to these events will be free. The Festival's detailed program can be viewed at www.jewishfestival.pl.

Honorary Patron of the 26th Jewish Cultural Festival is Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland.