International conference „He is From My Fatherland, He is Human”

Maria Zawadzka, 16 November 2016
On June 28th, 2010 in the Hotel Andel's in Krakow (3 Pawia Street) from 1:30 to 6:15 pm took place the international conference „He is From My Fatherland, He is Human – Polish Righteous Among the Nations”, organized by the Foundation Institute for Strategic Studies and the National Center for Culture. The conference was devoted to the memory of the Poles awarded with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations. The goal of the organizers was to promote positive standards of behavior and values through presenting the heroic conduct of the Righteous and the stories of their lives. The organizers of the conference would also like to develop academic and public debate about civic responsi...

On June 28th, 2010 in the Hotel Andel's in Krakow (3 Pawia Street) from 1:30 to 6:15 pm took place the international conference „He is From My Fatherland, He is Human – Polish Righteous Among the Nations”, organized by the Foundation Institute for Strategic Studies and the National Center for Culture. The conference was devoted to the memory of the Poles awarded with the title of the Righteous Among the Nations. The goal of the organizers was to promote positive standards of behavior and values through presenting the heroic conduct of the Righteous and the stories of their lives. The organizers of the conference would also like to develop academic and public debate about civic responsibility and memory of the past. "The Righteous live among us.After the Second World Wary many of them for years have not admitted that they were helping Jews during the Nazi occupation. Decency was not in vogue at that time" - said Anna Szymańska-Klich, president of the Foundation Institute for Strategic Studies".

The opening lecture was given by Prof. Władysław Bartoszewski. In the conference took part outstanding academics and educators, among others Prof. Feliks Tych from the Jewish Historical Institute, Dr. Dariusz Libionka and Dr. Robert Kuwałek from the State Museum at Majdanek, the Ambassador of Israel to Poland Zvi Rav-Ner, Ambassador Dr. Maciej Kozłowski, the Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev, academics from the Institute of National Remembrance, the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Polish Center for Holocaust Research. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews was represented by Łucja Koch, the coordinator of the program “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten Memory”. Members of the Polish Society of the Righteous Among the Nations from Krakow were guests of honor at the conference.

This event was held under the patronage of TVP Historia, TVP Kraków, Gazeta Wyborcza Kraków and Radio Kraków. The conference is part of the program of the 20th Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow. It was held in English and Polish and consisted of three discussion panels: “Righteous – Living History”, “Memory of the Righteous in the post-war years” and “The Righteous in the 21st century”.