Meeting with Jacek Leociak during the Open Day of the Center of Yiddish Culture

Maria Zawadzka, 16 November 2016
On October 16th the Shalom Foundation organizes the Open Day of the Center of Yiddish Culture. On this day in the seat of the Center at 15 Andersa Street from 12 to 8 pm will take place various events, among them the concert of Geula Steet Keys – Boris Malkovsky and workshops for women: “Gender in the Space of the City”.

Another event which will take place during the Open Day is a meeting with Jacek Leociak, entitled “Memory of a Place – Muranów – Close-ups and perspectives”. In his research and experience as an academic teacher Jacek Leociak – author of the book „Ratowanie. Opowieści Polaków i Żydów” (“Rescuing. Accounts of Poles and Jews”) – often focuses on the topography of Warsaw. 

During his lecture Dr. Leociak will present the history of the place where the Center of Yiddish Culture is now located and will also talk about the history and architecture of the district of  Muranów.

He will also try to answer the questions: “What was located at 15 Andersa Street and in its neighborhood before the Second World War? What happened to this place during the war? How was Muranów created? What was it in the past and what is it nowadays?”. The lecture will be accompanied by a multimedia presentation, during the talk numerous photos and maps will be presented to give the audience an idea of the old Warsaw.

Jacek Leociak is Assistant Professor in the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBL PAN), director of the Holocaust Literature Research Center of IBL PAN, member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research. He is also a member of the team preparing the core exhibition of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

His research focuses on the forms of recording border-line experiences (in particular from the time of the Holocaust). Jacek Leociak is the author of the book “Text in the Face of Destruction. Accounts from Warsaw Ghetto Reconsidered“ and co-author – together with Barbara Engelking-Boni – of the work “The Warsaw Ghetto: A Guide to the Perished City”.

His newest book “Rescuing. Accounts of Poles and Jews” analyzes stories of Poles, who provided help to the Jews during the Second World War. Poles saving Jews are presented in this work in a complex and multi-dimensional way. The author describes various motivations of their deeds: both the human willingness to help and the greed, he also presents moral dilemmas connected with saving Jews during the war.

Other events that will take place during the Open Day of the Center of Yiddish Culture are: “The first Yiddish lesson”, workshops for children “Searching for forgotten books”, a meeting with Marcin Kowalski and a discussion about the book “Apte. Unfinished Story”, “Warsaw 1935” – a screening of the first 3-D film about Poland’s capital and a screening of the film “8 Stories that did not change the world”.