New campaign highlighting history of Polish Jews and Polish-Israelis to be launched

A new campaign expected to be launched by the Shared Roots initiative will focus on the history of Polish Jews and Israelis with Polish roots, presenting the stories of the unique heritage and its connection to Jewish cultural, religious and social life, according to a press release from Shared Roots.

As part of the initiative, the story of Polish Jews will be shared online with viewers through films and virtual tours of places in Poland, such as Warsaw. In addition, a new gallery in the Polish Museum will be dedicated to prominent Polish Jews and their cultural influence of their achievements.

The campaign, conducted in conjunction with the Institute of Jewish History in Poland and the Polish Museum, will cover over 1000 years of Jewish history in Poland.

The film to be presented as part of the campaign is called Poland, Warsaw – In a Movie, specially produced for the occasion, and will take the viewer on a virtual tour of important places in Polish-Jewish history, including places such as the Nozik Synagogue.

Prior to the outbreak of World War II and the Holocaust, Poland was one of the centers of the Jewish world, with a pre-war population of three million Jews. However, approximately 90% of Poland’s Jewish population was murdered by the Nazis and local collaborators in the Holocaust.

The films will be available on the Polish Museum’s YouTube channel, with Hebrew subtitles.

Likewise as part of the campaign, an exhibition will be dedicated to prominent Polish Jews and their cultural influence, which will include figures of significance representing the fields of art, literature, music, cinema, theater, sciences and humanities, law, education, economics, politics and religious thought.

Among those to be features are Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates Isaac Bashevis Singer and Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israel’s first prime minister David Ben-Gurion, cosmetics entrepreneur Helena Rubinstein and educators Janusz Korczak and Sarah Schenirer. 

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