Meeting with the Other

 Paulina Banasik, 2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Poland




 











“These other worlds, these other cultures, are mirrors in which we can see ourselves, thanks to which we understand ourselves better – for we cannot define our own identity until having confronted that of others, as comparison.” Ryszard Kapuściński

Intercultural contact is as old as the history of humanity. Each society has always had its own “Others” or “Strangers”. They can be present in day-to-day life: for example, in the form of newcomers from distant lands, people from nearby villages characterized by other traditions, sometimes neighbors with distinct religious beliefs and practices. The particular feature that connects all these kind of people is cultural baggage that they carry on, different than our own. It has been constructed piece by piece during the socialization process and is still under construction. Diverse baggage causes a natural tendency to see the world through ethnocentric glasses, categorizing the world in the terms of that what is our/well known and that what is their/unknown. “Unknown” is often equated to threatening life order to which we are used. Such cultural filters, despite the fact that they help us find ourselves in ongoing reality and create identity attachments, unfortunately very often are a source of negative attitude and discriminations towards certain groups which can be very easily observed nowadays in Poland.

There are two main tendencies that shape the globalized world. On one hand,  thanks to new technology, for the first time such grand scale distances between countries and people are shortened. This situation facilitates mixing of the cultural codes and growth of openness. On the other hand, the opposite process can be also noticed, characterized by closed attitudes towards other cultures, fear and walls building (either mental and physical ones). Permanent coexistence of these two tendencies create tensions and new challenges.

The case of Poland in this discourse is especially interesting. After Second World War diverse Polish society disappeared. The communist period limited minimum migration flows, strengthening  in this way the homogenous trait of citizens in Poland. After 1989 when the communist dictatorship collapsed, the borders were reopened and the situation started to change slowly. Although the immigration rates are still low and Poland is definitely an “emigrant country,” every year Poland becomes more and more popular as a destination for immigrants that are looking for a temporary or permanent home.  The crucial issue is if Polish society,  institutions, and administration are ready for the challenges it brings.

It is a particularly important question in the context of the refugee crisis and  Polish attitudes towards it. Unfortunately, very often politicians use it to manipulate and frighten people (nothing unites more than a common enemy) instead of to analyze the situation and work on the best solution that will allow Poland to avoid the mistakes committed by other countries in the context of cultural integration. So far Poland does not have any effective integration program for refugees or immigrants. After obtaining the protection status, refugees are engaged in a one-year Individual Integration Program, the main role of which is to provide small financial help. Even though social workers are supposed to help refugees integrate with the Polish society, there is no clear plan how to do it. A huge problem is also the housing – Polish government does not provide to refugees a place to live, which generates further obstacles.

The growth of discrimination incidents, hate speech, strengthening of  radical right-wing organizations, and actual government’s tacit acceptance of such developments about what we were discussing during the sessions, unfortunately do not bode well. The surge of hate crimes motivated often by national or racial differences is also very alarming and needs the immediate reaction of Polish authorities that is still imperceptible. Hopefully it will change and people will understand that the most important thing in the situation of meeting with the “Other” is to recognize in this person a partner for a mutual dialogue and negotiations of cultural identities and belongings. It is worth to mention the work of growing nongovernmental Polish sector that tries to fill up all these gaps in the system and start intercultural dialogue between the people instead of spreading fears and incomprehension.

Yes, Please, Thank You: The Value of Words in Social Activism

Alex Granato, 2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, USA

I am standing in a children’s playroom...tiny chairs, hand-painted posters, a cabinet packed with board games in softened, well-worn boxes.  I look around and in my head I count the words I know how to say in Polish: thank you, excuse me, yes, no, please, one, two.  I list them over and over again, forgetting pronunciation and practicing until they sound right again. They feel so meager, these scraps of language. I wonder how they could ever be enough to bridge the gap between my foreign, 22-year-old self, and the kids I am about to meet- the ones who consider this classroom a kingdom of their own making, who participate in this program (aptly called “Aim High”) after school every week, learning from each other and finding inspiration in all sorts of special projects.  The leaders here glow when speaking about them, showing off the latest bits of artwork and pointing to the equipment where the kids have been practicing circus routines (acrobatics and unicycles, to my amazement).  But they remind me, as well, that this organization was meant to serve a particularly underserved community.

“The kids probably will not know much English,” I am told at least twice.  Some come from difficult circumstances, some from homes with violence, others with parents working so many hours they barely have time to spare at the end of the day.  I am warned that some of them might be closed off to me entirely, and that their trust is hard-won.  I stare at a homemade poster that keeps track of birthdays in neat marker script. I count my Polish phrases one more time. Yes, please, thank you. One, two.

In the years that I have been surrounded by activists, I have developed a near-religious appreciation for the power of language.  I have learned to read the nuance in every phrase, how to dig through ordinary sequences of words for traces of micro-aggressions, how to dissect connotations and denotations and note their relationship to the ever-elusive concept of inclusivity.  I have spent this month here with HIA considering the power of hate speech, historically and contemporarily.  And at the same time, this past week, I watched as the heartbreaking words of a rape victim, shared in the now-infamous “Stanford letter,” started a national conversation about the need to challenge political and cultural systems of my country.  In short, I believe in words.  I believe in their power to bring beautiful change. I believe in their power to bring incredible harm.

So today, standing in the Aim High playroom, I cannot help but feel at a loss. Today, I am without the double-edged sword I’ve spent a lifetime learning to wield.  Thank you, please, one, two.  This is all I have to offer now.         

But then the door opens. The door opens and three girls tumble in and I realize that childlike laughter is a sound that is neither English nor Polish. It needs no translation. The squeals, the rushing, the hugs and petted hair are all so familiar to me. I breathe out a little. I smile, remembering that this, too, is universal. 

They are curious, bright-eyed. They find a map and I show them home. We trail our fingers across a printed blue sea and we count together, in a Polish/English blend, the number of hours it took my plane to bring me here to them.  I hold my hands to my heart. I laugh. I speak with sounds…gasps and excited squeals and a tone of voice that says, “be careful.” I find a board game from my own childhood on the shelves. I learn the word for “cookie.”  I get a makeover with juggling scarves. I play Twister in a pair of borrowed jeans.  I am hugged, in earnest, and I learn that in Polish, the word for “hello” also means “goodbye.” 

And when I leave I feel lighter, walking in the sun with the other fellows, turning over in my mind a phrase I heard once but cannot recall where…childhood is universal. That it certainly is.

And of course, I still worship at the altar of language. I still believe in words to comfort, protect, empower, and heal. I still believe activists should exercise deliberateness and the sometimes exhaustive patience that thoughtful speech and writing require.  This is how we reshape attitudes. This is how we make lasting change.  But every now and then I believe we would also do well to remind ourselves that connection does not rely solely on language.  Comfort does not rely solely on language. Celebration, commiseration, even change.  For all the time that we spend pulling at the meaning of the smallest phrases, we should sometimes wipe ourselves clean. We should go where no one will understand us. We should appreciate with overflowing gratitude the other ways that two people can try to bridge a gap.  We should strip ourselves down to yes, please, thank you.  We might be amazed at the results.   

Disillusionment vs. hope

Daria Goriacheva
2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Ukraine

Bryant H. McGill once said, “Architects of grandeur are often the master builders of disillusionment.” Throughout the first two weeks of the program, HIA fellows, facilitators, and speakers have been collecting and deepening insights from multifaceted imperfections of humanity to build the path for change. United by common hope for a better future, we believed we were architects of grandeur. We were not ready for disillusionment part though. 

Going through this stage became possible thanks to Marek Dorobisz. Charismatic, straightforward, with big kind eyes, and the strategic copywriter and creative director of top Polish brands, Marek introduced the principles of social and advocacy campaigns in the most sobering way. He made it clear that except for a bunch of activists and, perhaps, victims of various manifestations of inequality, human rights issues are the last priority concern for most people. This seemingly obvious notion has become a discovery that threw off the rose-tinted glasses which were so comfortable to wear. 

Marek Dorobisz showed the HIA fellows that reaching people’s hearts and, in case of luck, minds is a long deep process and tedious work. Any social campaign in the field of human rights requires combination of multi-layered research, smart creativity, and readiness to “kill your babies” – to be flexible enough to rethink and change your ideas. As an author of a successful campaign, you have to be capable of both understanding your own goals clearly and putting yourself in the shoes of your target group.

Most of the ideas for our social campaigns Marek met with tough critiques. It was painful, sometimes even offensive, but definitely brought us down to Earth. I believe there will be many times when we “go home and do it again” in our human rights initiatives within HIA framework as well as beyond. But in the moments of the most frustrating disillusionment, we will not give up. It is an inevitable part of grandeur, and we are on our way there.

Daria Goriacheva

What's next?

Adam Pakulski
2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Poland

June 16 was the 20th day of our Warsaw Fellowship. In-put phase has been completed and now we are working hard, using previously acquired knowledge and skills, to plan and conduct our social campaigns in the ongoing out-put phase. Thursday morning greeted us with beautiful weather, but we knew that the day, even promised to be fascinating, at the same time will be very busy.

First of all, it was our deadline for the publication of the first work results on our campaigns (after four days of work only!) both on-line and in reality. For the second, that was a day of the long-awaited visit of Judith Goldstein, PhD - Executive Director and Founder of the Humanity in Action. In which we presented the ideas for our future Action Projects that we will execute within a year after the end of the fellowship. And all this in just one day ...

Although, a majority of us have had a long night to get ready, we all showed up in the morning in Info Menora at Grzybowski Square - our principal place of meetings and workshops during this month adventure. Final touches and voila! 8 great ideas for campaigns have been created.

Campaign, which started earliest and was the most advanced at that time was - DOM.PL. The initiative created by Mikołaj, Angie L. and Paulina main motto is: "I love Poland for ...". They roamed the city in search for Warsaw's residents, those living in it ever since, but also those who are new in the city, those who are of Polish origin and those who chose or were forced by the geopolitical situation to leave their homes, villages and countries. A series of photographs of people with a plaque: "I love Poland for ..." and their responses wowed! What is more, this is just a one campaign out of eight! 

Another campaign is FeedFood, an ambitious campaign with global  potential. So how easy is to share food and encourage others to do so. Uwolnij orła (Free the eagle), because pride and patriotism do not belong to the extremists. Be a proud Pole as you are. Ona ma imię (She has a name) - so I do not agree on the disgusting taunts against women! Rasizm jest do d… (Rasism sucks) - a very literal way to show, how we treat xenophobia and racism. So What? - because all relationships are equal. Simple! Jedna na pięć (One out of five) - because every woman experiencing violence is a one victim too much. No Unsexy Questions - how to talk about sex to be not afraid of it and play safe. All in all, there are no unsexy questions! The effects and progress of our work you can follow on Facebook. Don't forget to like us! :)

Afterwards, has come time to present our ideas on Action Projects. I must admit that I was stressed out. It was at the same time as we were doing our campaigns, so we had no possibility to prepare carefully for the presentation. Moreover, we were told that Judith Goldstein will listen to us!

Interestingly, during the in-put phase many of us have changed own previous idea on the Action Project. It turned out that the lectures and workshops, in which we have participated for the past almost two weeks have inspired us to work in new ways and in new areas of activity.

The session with Judy was very enlightening! I think it was another great time, when we as fellows (but also our board members) surprised ourselves with our creativity and engagement for the action. there is nothing better to do than ... take an action! :)

Adam Pakulski

Polish democracy: an endangered species

Kasia Górnicka, 2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Poland

Someone could have said that after Solidarity movement public manifestations would never be the same and would never fight for the same cause as the trade unions during the dictatorship of communistic party. We do hope that we will never have to fight because of the same reason as in the past. At the same time, the other controversial question has appeared, is there any similarity between Solidarity movement and current marches and manifestations across the country? 

After the Polish parliamentary elections in 2015 and the victory of the rightwing Law and Justice Party something in society has crushed. The new government and a party, which became for the first time in history of post-communist Poland the major force with ruling majority in the Parliament, started to reform country in the way, which led to discredit the well-known democratic values, like freedom of public media or independence of courts. What is the most important, it all started with the Polish high court, Constitutional Tribunal, which remain as a Polish supreme court, ensuring that the rule of law is always upheld. The ruling party has passed a law, which paralyzed the country’s highest legislative court and removed important checks on the government’s power. To the great surprise and fury of the government tens of thousands march in Warsaw and other cities in Poland to support the Tribunal and finally: to defend the democracy. What the Polish government and the participants of marches didn’t expect either, was the fact, that they captured attention of foreign media and European Union, which since that moments has started to pay more attention and actively act against violation of democracy.
The  initiative to held demonstrations was undertaken by a Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD), who consider themselves as a social movement, gathering together people, who are not against democratically chosen parliament and its major party, but against undemocratic acts of law. At the same time, while the marches organized by KOD became more and more popular some journalists were trying to compare KOD and Solidarity movement as  Polish phenomena.
In the context of recent events the meeting with Mr Konstanty Gebert, a member of Solidarity and opposition activist, was more than interesting. Although he haven’t compared those two movements, he gave us a strong expertise and familiarity on what Solidarity meant in 80’s and how we perceive it now. What can be seen as most crucial is the fact, that Solidarity is consider a peaceful political symbol. Regardless of the circumstances, needs of different groups of interests and against all expectations the Solidarity’s goal remained the same – free elections. Mr Gebert said: “Solidarity was about basic human rights and freedom; the aim was to go to strike for any demands”.
We all know, that eventually Solidarity won, but the crucial essence of this movement was that people allowed themselves to dream again and at the same time, for the first time after World War II people have the possibility to express their group identity. Thanks to this national uprising the vicious dictatorship disappeared without one drop of blood. During the 80’s Solidarity movement made it clear: there is no way we scale down our dreams. In the end, it’s all about human dignity. Finally, there is one proper conclusion, we cannot compare both movements, because we cannot agree on the fact, that the background, time or social situation are the same. Fortunately there is one certain thing. As a society we are capable of gathering together to protest and to manifest our disagreement towards the violation of the core values and of the democracy.

Standing Up to the Man – A Case for Grassroots Activism

Heather Murray
2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, USA

It’s been no secret throughout this fellowship that Poland has problems. But who’s responsible for fixing them? Who can make a difference? In our session on grassroots activism, Fellows were challenged with understanding the issues Warsaw faces, studying rising levels of hate speech in Poland, and training in the art of using social media as a tool for activism. Though the surface of these sessions makes each topic seem disconnected, we probed deeper into what they had in common: each case showed that anyone--even you--can make a difference, even with no resources other than your own voice.

Our first session, Challenges for Modern Cities, was led by 2008 HIA Senior Fellow and leader of The City is Ours initiative Jan Spiewak and Kuba Grzegorczyk of the Warsaw Tenant Association. Together, Spiewak and Grzegorczyk captivated our Fellows with their outlines of the state of Warsaw politics and their theory of “right to the city,” the idea that every citizen--regardless of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation--has a right to a space in public life. Though this theory might seem like common sense to some, the current politics of Warsaw as presented by the speakers painted a different picture: the neediest districts in Warsaw are in desperate need of renovation, historical neighborhoods are being gentrified at the expense of long-time residents who can no longer afford to live in their homes, the air quality of the city is very low in comparison to other EU cities, and public spaces such as benches are being designed with barriers for the purpose of keeping the homeless from sleeping on them. These issues, which are often ignored or supported by politicians, threaten the right to the city for Warsaw citizens. Spiewak cited his own foray into politics as a councilman and his opponents’ attempts to fight his anti-corruption rhetoric with lawsuits (which Spiewak won).

Our next speaker, Milosz Hodun of the Hejtstop initiative, presented the facts on hate speech to our Fellows. He described the process of dehumanization those who are subjects of hate speech undergo and how the image of someone as less than human helps those who hate to justify violence against that group. Hodun also noted how accepting or ignoring hate speech on a daily basis can lead to a trend of accepting or ignoring hate crimes. Finally, the presentation gave a list of options for people to use in response to hate speech, such as using the report option on social media posts that include hate speech, reporting illegal hate speech to authorities, removing hate graffiti from buildings, and combatting public hate speech with public anti-hate speech initiatives.

Our day ended with a presentation from social activist Alexey Sidorenko on how to use the platform of social media to amplify the voice of a cause. He helped our Fellows to identify their online competition (hate speech and animal videos), form a timeline for posting (6 times a day is recommended, with high-impact messages saved for high traffic hours), and understand different mediums of communication (photos, videos, infographs, memes, .gifs).

Each speaker told stories of using few resources and a lot of passion to create impactful change. Grassroots activism is what we as activists are all about: the people being affected by an issue work together to solve problems and bring their community closer together. It is the most equitable form of activism because anyone can be a part of it--it doesn’t take a fancy NGO job or an internship with a government agency. You can make a difference. What’s stopping you?

Heather Murray 

Do I own my story only for myself? Do I bare responsibility to share?

Judyta Nędza, 2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Poland

Two days session on Introducing to Community Organizing was with its first part not much as I expected that. Thinking about the training on how to raise the public awareness and organize people around the problem, I was rather imagining learning from the experience of successful social campaigns, training on traditional and social media tools, which came after, but before that, my mind was exercised in one of the most challenging ways.

I have always thought that having own story in the ideas, actions, for which one advocates, is an asset, helping to better realize and address the issue. Nothing gives better understanding of the problem than direct involvement in it. But is that necessary? Does it always have to be an own experience behind the idea?   Maybe, I still do not know, or rather I am not sure. I have this struggle inside, which is connected with the philosophical thought of Immanuel Kant or John Stuart Mill, that self-interest is intrinsically non moral. It is independent on others` interest and does not matter how courageous and others-oriented it is, still it is motivated by self-centrism. The struggle is real, because during the session on “Owning Your Story”, which was the part of the workshop, I have found my own, in the future action plan I am planning to manage. This story and interest is quite personal, however most of the stories shared during the session were like this.

And here comes the next concern which has remained in my mind for a long time after the workshops. Do we have the story behind just for ourselves to bear in mind to stay on track pursuing the aim or do we have the responsibility to share? Will it empower anybody? Will it help? I guess, we will not know, until we reveal it, but this part seems the most difficult. There is always this fear if the experience is powerful and impactful enough to share, or sometimes if the narrative given to it can make a change. I would be very far advocating for using personal experience as tool in empowering in social campaign, until the “story holder” is ready to share and feel comfortable and confident with his/her emotional attitude towards it. But what if there is a temptation to share even traumatic experience in a sake of saying to others: “I went through that and now I am stronger”, or “The problem is not that minor as it seems, it affected me”. There is a huge burden on the person having own story to use it right and if sharing, using that in the very right moment. 

Judyta Nędza

About Me, Women, LGBTIQQPA+ and why I want to talk about Rape!

Levke Burfeind
2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Germany

Who am I? And from which perspective do I see the world?

Did you ever think about it?

For us as social activist, it is in particular important to explore where we stand in this world. Identity is a multilayered construct and our trainer Dominika Cieślikowska explained a simple and widely used distinction; primary layer and secondary layer surround our nuclear identity - the first one is understood to be permanent, whereas the second one is flexible. Various fellows felt uncomfortable with notions such as nationality and sexual orientation placed in the primary layer and it is certainly a very controversial question. However, as much as we'd like to question categories, we have to acknowledge as well, that the power of definition does not exclusively lay in our hands. One is constantly defined by others. Even if we perceive certain categories as obsolete, they do matter in the social reality of discrimination. We live in a world shaped by categories and our belonging to the one or the other does very often influence the access to power. Another important aspect in terms of identity and hegemony is the question of majority and minority. Who has the power of definition? Who is excluded? While considering those questions from a meta perspective one notices quickly that majority and minority are not necessarily questions of quantity, but of power.

The next session was leaded by Sylwia Wodzińska, a Humanity in Action senior fellow, founder of #mamyglos initiative (https://www.facebook.com/mymamyglos/?fref=ts) and a soon-to-be-married-feminist. At first sight the situation of women in Poland seems great - long maternity leave and chauvinist men in Poland. What else could a women want? Well, for example the right to the own body. Recently a new law proposal has been pushed forward, which makes abortion almost impossible and potentially even criminalizes women in case of unfortunate miscarriage. Another alarming aspect in terms of women's right and protection is the discrepancy in surveys concerning sexual violence and rape. NGOs devoted to women's right reveal more than five times higher numbers of Polish women, who suffered from sexual violence than surveys conducted by the EU. The problem seems to be the silence and the shame of many women to talk about their experience. My personal take away is the hope for us to find ways to talk about rape. It has to become a public topic, in order to combat it. If personal trauma stay in the shadows of our patriarchal society, circumstances will hardly change. Feminism is a rising, but still small movement in Poland which has the potential to influence the public debate in a vital way. However, feminism has as well its struggles; next to internal controversies it does often dismiss the reality of the majority of women and remains therefore inaccessible for many. Feminism is very often limited to academic, middle class women and to radicalized. Therefore, let's talk about rape and let's make feminism accessible!

After this emotional session we had the pleasure to meet an activist from KPH - Campaign against Homophobia. He explained to us the struggles of the organization, especially in regards to hopes for legal changes. The current government leaves very limited, maybe no ways at all, for organizations to improve the legal situation of couples of the same sex. Therefore the organization focuses on education.

LGBTQQIPA+ or Gender and Sexual Diversity? The last session was guided by two fellows. We discussed important internal controversies within the LGBT+ community and how complex gender and sex are. Indeed, not every attempt of inclusion does necessarily address the problem appropriately and sometimes even encourages the binary construct within gender and sex. An insightful summary offers the Genderbread Person (http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/03/the-genderbread-person-v2-0/), by showing the distinctions between gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, sexual attraction and romantic attraction.

Levke Burfeind

The Metastasis of Hate

Joy Liu, 2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, USA

One of the worst ironies of cancer is that it’s caused by our own cells. A part of us turns against the body it once protected. How can something that once functioned within us become harmful? How can a previously natural part of us become foreign?

The language of hatred is filled with words of sickness. Parasite. Germ. Disease. By using this language, the narrative turns to a simple one of power, pitting us against a common enemy. In this way, we can dismiss refugees, Roma, Jews, and other groups as not part of us because they do not come from us.

But maybe this analogy is wrong. Instead of an infectious disease, it is cancer. It is not an invader, it is not foreign. It is taking something within our society, identifying and thinking that it is harmful until it spreads and hurts the entire body.

What happens is mutation. As a social psychology researcher from the Center for Research of Prejudice at Warsaw University presented to us today, hate speech and discrimination have a way of metastasizing. It has been shown to affect psychological well-being and suicide rates among minorities. It can cause the minority group to place blame on an entire majority group. Hate speech can have a desensitizing effect. Ironically, this measure that’s used to protect a part of the body may be hurting the entire self.

What if the cancer is not a group of people that are perceived as threatening, but the words of hatred that multiply to become such a large part of our society that it swallows what is good? Then we would have to bear the tragedy of one day realizing that what we were purging was always a part of us—what made us a whole body and a full society.

What should be remembered?

Maria Babińska, 2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Poland

What should be remembered? Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews as a stand for the importance of a holistic approach to collective memory. Second World War and Holocaust remembrance play an important part in collective memories all around the world. The tragedy of individuals and communities within the process of mass murder are reflected upon and commemorated in various ways - sometimes by symbols, sometimes by statues, testimonies, movies and in many other ways.

In the Polish context the issue of commemorating is even more critical. The Second World War can serve as a point of reference and a possibility of manipulation for all sides of the political spectrum. By focusing the collective memory on the tragedy of genocide, people easily forget, that Poland wasn't just the place where Jews perished. Since the Middle Ages Polish lands were home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. PolinMuseum of the History of Polish Jews was created to address this void in remembrance and convince the public (both Polish, Jewish and international) that Jewish life in Poland shouldn’t be  remembered only through Auschwitz. The main goal of the museum is to preserve the memory of a vibrant community that used to live on these lands and to show, that the Holocaust wasn’t the logical end to their story. As one of the creators of the permanent exhibition of the museum, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, explained, the aim was to focus on the history narrated by voices from the past. Therefore, the visitor won’t find any unnecessary academic commentaries. He is mostly spoken to by sources from the time - citations, books, letters, charts, maps, images and all that aiming to show, the diversity of Polish Jewish life on these lands. The museum also gives the message, that the history of the Jewish community in Poland doesn’t end in 1945 but continues until this day. Surprisingly the Jewish minority in Poland is still growing, as some people discover their roots and decide to get involved in the revival of Jewish life.

Whereas for many due to the World War II atrocities Poland can be seen as a graveyard, the Polin museum is fighting against this understandable but still simplistic view. Polish-Jewish relations are clearly complicated not only in the context of collective memory. Unfortunately antisemitism is still present in Poland. Also, it often serves as vocabulary for hateful comments towards other groups, like Muslims. While clearly there is still a lot of work to be done, one thing is sure: the presence and the activity of Polin Museum is beneficial in fighting against all kinds of prejudices and can be serving as a platform for communication between Poles and Jews and other groups through dialogue on common history.

Maria Babińska

The Significant Other In Poland

Yosef Palanker, 2016 Ideas Incubator Fellow, Poland

Today, we attended a short lecture by the wonderful director and curator of the Polin museum, Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. She addressed the functions of museums by posing the question of “what does it mean to be a witness?” and discussed how we, as witnesses through active engagement can produce and in many ways revive culture and heritage, namely Jewish culture within Poland.

Following the speech, we explored the magnificent award winning museum. Through the many forms of multimedia, we traced Jewish life in Poland during the middle ages until today. We celebrated how Warsaw once became the epicenter of Jewish life in the Jewish Diaspora and mourned for how it met its terrible fate during the Holocaust. But ultimately, we explored how Poland, which was once a very diverse state became, following World War Two and the Holocaust a very homogenous nation. Witnessing this cataclysmic transformation of homogeny, we further explored how Poland is at a crucial standstill, faced with the upcoming surge of a very visible and rapidly diverse newcomers.

We heard from two keynote speakers, Anna Zielińska, a leader in Warsaw’s Jewish community and Daniel Slomka, a senior HIA fellow about contemporary anti-Semitism in Poland. After defining anti-Semitism and providing a short and simple history of its ideology, they addressed how defacement of Jewish property like Jewish cemeteries and commemorative sites are a continual problem within Poland. Within many of these cases, the perpetrators are rarely ever found and brought to justice and those hateful messages take weeks and sometimes months to be scrubbed clean. These acts of anti-Semitism, perpetuated by however small group of bandits displays how unique the phenomenon of anti-Semitism is within Poland considering its small population of Jews.  Furthermore, Poland’s anti-Semitism has become cloaked with anti-Zionism rhetoric, where some rallies for Palestinian nation are transformed into a verbal blood bath of the world’s Jewish Problem. All of these problems for a community, following the exodus of 1968 that was left at a mere 7000 for the entire state.

Once the lecture was over, our two fellows Yosef and Joanna orchestrated a conversation with the group. They addressed the positives and negatives about the comparative study of genocide. Can we benefit through possible forms prevention by comparing the Holocaust to other genocides or do we ultimately reduce the unique experience of each terrible moment, like the Holocaust in the world’s consciousness? Within this line of thinking about the Holocaust, we addressed issues of authenticity in representing the Holocaust. Is there a hierarchy in Holocaust artifacts like photographs, testimony, or videos when representing the Holocaust? Can photographs bring us closer into the horrors of the Nazi regime or should we bow to the horror as unimaginable and unrepresentable. 

Yosef Palanker