In Dialogue: Polish-Jewish Relations

Conference Co-presented by the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University, Fordham University, and the YIVO Institute Admission: Free Watch the video

View the conference program

This past year, tensions between the Polish government and the international Jewish community rose following a controversial law making it an offense for anyone to accuse Poland of participating in the Holocaust or other Nazi crimes.

According to the U.S. State Department, this law “could undermine free speech and academic discourse.” In this context, exploring the history of Polish-Jewish relations is more pertinent than ever.

The 2018-2019 In Dialogue: Polish-Jewish Relations series explores the complex history of Poland, with its shifting borders, focusing in on a shared—but much misunderstood—past of Polish Jews and Christians. It provides historical and cultural tools to foster better understanding of Poland’s history, and of the tensions between history and memory, exclusion and belonging, national ideologies, identities, and antisemitism.

The series culminates in this daylong conference on Sunday, May 5, discussing Polish-Jewish relations in the post-war era, including contemporary issues such as Poland’s controversial law.