Abstract: This volume examines how people in Poland learn about Jewish life, culture and history, including the Holocaust. The main text provides background on concepts such as culture, identity and stereotypes, as well as on specific topics such as Holocaust education as curriculum, various educational institutions, and the connection of arts and cultural festivals to identity and culture. It also gives a brief overview of Polish history and Jewish history in Poland, as well as providing insight into how the Holocaust and Jewish life and culture are viewed and taught in present-day Poland.
This background material is supported by essays by Poles who have been active in the changes that have taken place in Poland since 1989. A young Jewish-Polish man gives insight into what it is like to grow up in contemporary Poland, and a Jewish-Polish woman who was musical director and conductor of the Jewish choir, Tslil, gives her view of learning through the arts. Essays by Polish scholars active in Holocaust education and curriculum design give past, present and future perspectives of learning about Jewish history and culture.
Contents:
Introduction
Culture, Identity and Stereotypes
The Historical Context
Jewish Student NGOs in Present-Day Poland (1999–2013): Being Here by Piotr Goldstein
Jewish Studies and Holocaust Education at Polish Universities
The Center for Holocaust Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków: Studies, Research, Remembrance by Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Elisabeth Büttner and Katarzyna Suszkiewicz
Holocaust Education in Polish Public Schools
The Legacy of the Holocaust in Poland and Its Educational Dimension by Piotr Trojański
NGOs and Their Role in Holocaust Education and Jewish Studies
Memory, Non-Memory and Post-Memory of the Holocaust: Coming Out of Amnesia in Post-Communist Poland? by Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs
Museums: Their Role in Holocaust Education and Jewish Studies
The Role of the Arts in Holocaust Education and Jewish Studies
Teaching About the Holocaust through Music by Izabella Goldstein
Jewish Culture Festivals in Poland
Conclusion
