Isolated islands? : memory of the Holocaust in formal and informal education : the case study of post-communist Poland

The conflicts associated with the memory of the Holocaust in Poland reflect educational gaps in the Polish education system (lack of bad memory). Comparison with other similar studies in Europe and beyond allows one to reveal affinities and divergences in patterns of behaviour in various states in relation to the historical past, social identity and collective memory. This text looks at the consciousness of young Poles, in terms of attitudes toward Jews, the Holocaust and memory of the Holocaust. The data presented are the preliminary results of the author’s longitudinal study “Attitudes of Young Poles toward the Jews and the Holocaust”. Quantitative and qualitative studies include field studies and participant observation of educational projects in Tykocin, Treblinka, Warsaw, Lublin, Bodzentyn and Kielce. The number and scope of initiatives in Poland attempting to bring back the memory of Jewish neighbours indicate that civic institutions and individuals are intensifying their efforts toteach their fellow citizens about the Holocaust, however their impact should be assessed in detail

Encounters with the Holocaust in Poland

Repressed memories remain active and their outcomes bring undesirable effects for education about the Holocaust. How can facts and events that have been repressed or dismissed from the individual and collective memory be reintegrated into social consciousness? When will the memory of the Holocaust in Poland become a shared, collective legacy for Poles? How can education about the Holocaust deal sensitively with the Polish national sense of martyrdom? This remains a crucial question for Polish society. Can memorial sites, museums, historians, writers, educational institutions and civic organizations in post‑communist Poland create space where the voice of Jewish victims and second and third generations can be heard and where communities of memory can integrate? Or will Polish society continue to be characterized by rivalry between competing memories? These questions form the foundation of my empirical studies and trigger interest in the evaluation of existing educational programs. A qualitative research, namely a participant observation of the Forum for Dialogue among the Nations program ‘School of Dialogue' in Warsaw, will attempt to answer the above question

Historical politics, melted citizenship and education about the Holocaust : interview with Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs

Dear Professor Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, you are an icon for education about the Holocaust in Poland, you are very well regarded abroad and well known for that reason. I will start with some simple questions to get our conversation going. First question: Would you say that there are challenges in the preservation of memory about the Holocaust and challenges for the preservation of historic objectivity