Wodzisław Śląski: Week of Jewish Culture

Maria Zawadzka, 16 November 2016
The Week of Jewish Culture in Wodzisław Śląski will take place from October 22nd to October 31st, 2010. It is organized by the Association Jerusza-Dziedzictwo (Jerusza-Heritage), which was founded in order to revive and maintain the memory of the prewar local Jewish community.

Among the events deserving particular attention are the screenings of the film “Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler”, which will take place from October 22nd to October 24th. The film is a Polish-American co-production.

According to its title, its main character is Irena Sendler, Righteous Among the Nations, activist of the underground Council to Aid Jews “Żegota” working in the Welfare Assistance Department of the Warsaw Administration, who saved 2,500 children during the Second World War. Irena Sendler was awarded with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations in 1965. In 2007 the Righteous was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She passed away on May 12, 2008 in Warsaw, at the age of 98. More about Irena Sendler. 

The main character is played by Anna Paquin, awarded an Oscar for her part in the film “The Piano” by Jane Campion. The film was directed by John Kent Harrisom. Its screenplay was based on the book of Anna Mieszkowska “Mother of the Children of the Holocaust”.

In this production participated Polish actors, among them Danuta Stenka, Maja Ostaszewska and Krzysztof Pieczyński. The music was composed by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek and the author of the cinematography is Jerzy Zieliński.

Among other events that will take place during the Week of Jewish Culture in Wodzisław are: workshops of Yiddish singing and Jewish dance, the play of Teatraedr Theater “Na ulicy Szewskiej” (“On Szewska Street”), the screening of the film “Osiem historii, które nie zmieniły świata” (“Eight Stories that Did not Change the World”). The inhabitants of Wodzisław will also have the opportunity to take part in a photo session with Rafał Betlejewski (the project „Tęsknię za Tobą, Żydzie” – “I miss you, Jew”), to see the film presenting his controversial artistic action “Płonie stodoła” (“Burning Barn”), to listen to the lecture “The Role of the Woman in Judaism” of Katarzyna Czerwonogóra (Jagiellonian University) and to see the exhibition „Shalom Loslau!”, devoted to the history and culture of the Wodzisław Jews.

The exact program of the festival can be found on the of the website Association Jerusza-Dziedzictwo