POLIN Museum

24/02/2023

David Krakauer | POLIN Music Festival 2023

Traditionally, the POLIN Music Festival will open with a concert from Sinfonia Varsovia , but this time the POLIN auditorium welcomes back David Krakauer to the stage. He will be premiering a clarinet concerto that was developed during the pandemic with his partner. Before the concert begins, POLIN takes you behind the scences for an interiew with David. Hear about this special piece, and why it's titled, "The Fretless Clarinet."

🎼More on David Krakauer: https://www.polin.pl/en/news/2019/06/10/david-krakauer

🎼For more details on the POLIN Music Festival:
https://www.polin.pl/en/event/2023-polin-music-festival

24/02/2023

Today marks the one year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. On 24 February 2022, we in Poland and Europe woke up to a new reality. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, we watched. We are still watching, images which made us think of the past that we hoped was irretrievably gone; the Second World War.

presents the works of Andrzej Fogtt from the series titled “Bucha.” The artist painted them to express his objection to the criminal actions, and the atrocities of war. Commenting on the series and comparing it to “Goya’s Disasters of War,“ Marian Turski wrote:

“The two centuries that have passed since Goya produced a galaxy of painters—from both the East and the West—for whom the atrocities of war, the deplorable military actions pose a threat to the mankind and to humanity. I add Andrzej Fogtt to the list of artists who raise the voice of dissent.”

Make your way to to see this incredible exhibition of Andrzej Fogtt's work available to the public for a limited time.

🇺🇦For more details:
https://polin.pl/en/news/2023/02/22/bucha-paintings-andrzej-fogtt

(Photos: M. JAŹWIECKI)

23/02/2023

If you have heard about Irena Sendler, and the work she and her colleagues accomplished during the Holocaust. Then read this quick story about an , Anna Stupnicka-Bando, whose birthday is today, and was born in 1929 in Końskie, Poland.

During World War II she lived with her mother, Janina Stupnicka in the Żoliborz district of Warsaw. During the occupation, Anna Stupnicka-Bando's mother was responsible for keeping registration books and house administration, which gave her free entry to the Warsaw ghetto. In the winter of 1941, Anna and her mother led a Jewish girl named Liliana Alter, the daughter of Bund activist Hilary Alter out of the ghetto. Liliana remained with Ania and her mother for the duration of the war. Anna Stupnicka-Bando also worked as a nurse, organizing one of the insurgent medical points. After the end of the uprising, the whole family, together with Liliana, ended up in a transit camp in Pruszków. Anna Stupnicka-Bando became a neurologist, and like her mother, Janina Stupnicka, she was awarded the medal of the Righteous.

👉Read more at 's Polish Righteous website:
https://sprawiedliwi.org.pl/en/stories-of-rescue/the-story-of-the-stupnicki-family

(📷Pictures provided by the archive of Anna Stupnicka-Bando. 1st picture is of Anna as a young woman. The second is a more recent photo of her. The black and white photo of two girls is Liliana and Anna. Final picture is of Ania's mom, Janina Stupnicka).

22/02/2023

On this day in 1856 in Drohobych (today Ukraine), Maurycy Gotlieb was born. Gottlieb decided to become a Polish artist after coming into contact with the paintings of Jan Matejko. Thereafter he continued his journey to become one of the most notable painters in his generation, and his works are known throughout the world. Currently in POLIN Museum's Core Exhibition his piece, "Self-Portrait in Polish Nobleman’s Dress," (circa 1874) can be enjoyed.

Take a moment to read this article written by the chief curator of the collection at the Museum about Gotlieb's "Self-Portrait in the Attire of a Polish Nobleman."
https://sztetl.org.pl/en/tradycja-i-kultura-zydowska/kultura-i-nauka/jestem-polakiem-i-zydem-i-chce-dla-obu-gdy-bog-da-pracowac-maurycy-gottlieb-1856-1879

21/02/2023

Academic session: The Studies on Hunger Disease in the Warsaw Ghetto | Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN w Warszawie

Coming to 15 March 2023, special academic session titled, "The Studies on Hunger Disease in the Warsaw Ghetto" will be taking place. Registration is currently open until 14 March 2023. The program includes lectures and panel discussions. The final event will be a lecture featuring Argentinian journalist, Martín Caparrós, author of the outstanding work titled "Hunger."

The academic session will commemorate the work of the Warsaw Ghetto doctors, and will highlight the importance of their research into hunger & disease.
🔳Click here for more details and to register: https://bit.ly/session-hunger-warsaw-ghetto
🔳FB event page: https://fb.me/e/29eNEYGBQ
🔳Register today: https://bit.ly/form-session-hunger
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Special thanks to our patrons of the event: Polish Humanitarian Action, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Polskie Towarzystwo Lekarskie, & Naczelna Izba Lekarska.
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Wykład otwarty wygłosi Martín Caparrós, autor głośnego reportażu "Głód".

21/02/2023

Happy International Tourist Guide Day | POLIN Museum

Today is International Tourist Guide Day. 💁‍♂️ is proud to have an amazing group of professional tour guides that take people from around the world through our Core and Temporary Exhibitions. No matter the size of the group, from students to international VIP guests. Our guides give 💯% and provide the best tour experience possible.

👍Give this post a like if you have had a guided tour at , and write a comment about your experience.

For more details on how to reserve a guide for your next trip:
https://www.polin.pl/en/zaplanuj-wizyte/area-for-guides#guides

💁‍♀️

20/02/2023

Tickets are going fast for this weekend's performances. Visit our website now to get your tickets to see David Krakauer live this Friday performing alongside Sinfonia Varsovia. You don't want to miss Michael Guttman, Jing Zhao, Alexey Botvinov, Śląski Quartet, Bastarda Trio and more. Visit our website for the full program of events and detail.

🎼https://www.polin.pl/en/event/2023-polin-music-festival

18/02/2023

Today we celebrate the 168th birthday of Aleksander Rajchman (18 February 1855-Warsaw). Rajchman was a Polish-Jewish journalist, music and theater critic, and organizer of musical life. He is probably most known for being one of the initiators of the Warsaw Philharmonic. He graduated from school in Warsaw and completed his higher studies in Lwów and Munich. Later he was a co-editor of "Ognisko Domowe," "Tygodnik Ilustrowany", "Kurier Warszawski" and "Gazeta Handlowa."

🎼Concerning being a part of establishing the Warsaw Philharmonic. From its establishment in 1901, he held the position of director until 1908. During the 1907/1908 season, he also directed the opera house of the Government Theatres. He resigned from the position of director of the Warsaw Philharmonic as a result of a sharp conflict with the Warsaw music community. For several years he ran a concert agency in Paris. From 1914, he was again the director of the opera at the Grand Theater in Warsaw.

https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/3559-rajchman-aleksander

17/02/2023

invites you to attend a special open lecture by Martín Caparrós. Caparrós is one of Latin America’s leading journalists and writers, and is the author of the acclaimed book titled "Hunger." There are few places in the world where the policy of starvation was carried out in such a systematic and extreme manner as in the Warsaw ghetto. Can we learn anything from discussing these events today in 2023? This is a question of particular importance to Caparrós, who has family ties to the Warsaw Ghetto. His grandfather, Wincenty Rosenberg, left Warsaw for Argentina in 1928. Wincenty’s relatives, including his uncle who was a doctor, and perished in the Warsaw ghetto. Plan on joining us in person or for the transmission on our ENG FB profile.

🔳Event details:
▪15 March (Wednesday), 6:30PM–8PM
▪POLIN Museum, auditorium
▪Lecture will be in Spanish. Simultaneous translation & free broadcast on POLIN Museum ENG FB page.
▪Free tickets for the event will be available for collection from 1 March 2023.

https://polin.pl/en/event/martin-caparros-hunger-now

17/02/2023

“Yesterday at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, I received the nomination for the next three years of managing POLIN Museum. It was said by Dr. Arnie Eisen, Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America that
“it is not often that a museum makes history as well as chronicles it.” This comment was made on the Museum’s grand opening. That is precisely how I think of POLIN Museum, and of my running this unique institution.

The Museum’s mission statement reads: the dramatic history of Polish Jews serves as a point of departure of sorts to talk about the challenges of today’s world. It is a living history, relevant to both the present and the future. We believe that getting acquainted with it, may help develop empathy and respect for people of different religions and cultures. We would like as many visitors and participants in our programs, to discover a deeper and unvarnished notion of Polish-Jewish relations.

This is the strategy I am going to pursue together with the team in the upcoming years. I wish to extend my graditude for the trust bestowed upon me by the Museum’s organisers: The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the City of Warsaw, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland the and the POLIN Museum staff.”

-Zygmunt Stępiński

16/02/2023

Irena Sendler, the Polish woman who rescued Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto

Polish social worker Irena Sendler, born on this day in 1910, rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. She took a stand against cruelty and injustice - at great risk to her own life.

Learn the facts about the Holocaust at www.AboutHolocaust.org

16/02/2023

The is just a week away. This year the program boasts of 5⃣ concerts, Polish premieres of outstanding pieces, and incredible artists. Tickets are going fast, so visit our website today to get yours!
🎼https://polin.pl/en/event/2023-polin-music-festival

See below for the program for the festival:
🎼24 February (Friday), 7PM
David Krakauer- clarinet, Michael Guttman – violin, Jing Zhao – cello, Sinfonia Varsovia, and featuring condutor, Margaryta Grynyvetska.
🎼25 February (Saturday), 6PM
Śląski Quartet – premiere of ”Mieczysław Wajnberg. Complete String Quartets.”
🎼25 February (Saturday), 8PM
Bastarda Trio "Nizozot" – music of the three Hasidic dynasties: Modrzyce, Szapiro and Koźnice.
🎼26 February (Sunday), 4PM
Karol Rathaus Ensemble – monographic concert of Karol Rathaus’ music.
Guest appearance: Michael Guttman – violin.
🎼26 February (Sunday), 6PM
Odessa Classics, Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw

15/02/2023

Coming to next month. Our 'Thou Shalt Not Be Indifferent' program for the 2023 year invites the public to an academic session titled, "The Studies on Hunger Disease in the Warsaw Ghetto." The event takes place on 15 March 2023 at POLIN Museum, and registration opens today.

The academic session will commemorate the work of the Warsaw Ghetto doctors, and will highlight the importance of their research into hunger & disease. The session will be complemented by a lecture given by Argentinian journalist, Martín Caparrós, author of the outstanding work titled "Hunger."

🔳Click here for more details and to register: https://bit.ly/session-hunger-warsaw-ghetto
🔳FB event page: https://fb.me/e/29eNEYGBQ
🔳Register today: https://bit.ly/form-session-hunger
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks to our patrons of the event: Polish Humanitarian Action, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Polskie Towarzystwo Lekarskie, Naczelna Izba Lekarska.
_________________________________________________

15/02/2023

Irena Sendler and Jadwiga Piotrowska | Personal Stories

Today marks the 113th birthday of Irena Sendler (15 February 1910-Warsaw). She is one of the best known Polish Righteous Among the Nations. She was granted this title for her honourable deeds during the Second World War. She was active in the underground, and in the “Żegota” Council to Aid Jews. Irena Sendler was a mastermind behind the scenes to rescue Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto. Together with a group of female associates she managed to save the lives of several hundred children.

🌹In honor of her birthday, we'd like to share this video about her from our "Personal Stories" series.

🗨Adjust the CC for ENG.

🌹For more resources on Irena Sendler, visit our Polish Righteous site:
https://sprawiedliwi.org.pl/en/o-sprawiedliwych/irena-sendler

14/02/2023

When people think about what took place in the Warsaw Ghetto, it's hard to imagine an image of people being in love. However, love was a powerful force that kept people alive and fighting. On Valentines Day, we want to take a moment and share some resources with you about two couples, that against all odds, fought for dignity and demonstrated the power of love at the same time. Today we're highlighting the relationship between Mordechaj Anielewicz and his girlfriend, Mira Fuchrer. Also one of the most famous couples from the Uprising, Icchak Cukierman & Cywia Lubetkin.
🔻Click below to read the bio's of the couples.

🔴Mordechaj's story: https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/2050-anielewicz-mordechaj
🔴Mira's story: https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/192246-fuchrer-mira
🔴Icchak's story: https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/2400-cukierman-icchak
🔴Cywia's story: https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/3187-lubetkin-cywia

13/02/2023

In many parents are enjoying winter break (ferie zimowe⛄) with their kids. The Museum has a great headset/ticket deal for you. Wander through six galleries of our Core Exhibition, and travel back a thousand years in time to discover when the first Jews arrived in Polish lands. Keep going until you reach a street from interwar period, and then head upstairs to see what schools were like for Jewish children before the War. Lots of excitement and adventure awaits!
👉Hey kids & students! If you are between the ages of 7-26 years old, you can get into the Museum for just...a ZŁOTY! This is a limited time offer and is a part of our "Museum for a zloty" promotion for winter break.
👉Tickets comes with a free audio guide (the exception is free Thursdays).

👶Families with toddlers and babies will also be comfortable in our King Matt area (ask our front desk).

💁Learn about our audio guides for kids! https://www.polin.pl/en/news/2020/02/05/audio-guide-families-new-polin-museum

(Photo credit: Ładne Bebe, Ewa Przedpełska)

13/02/2023

📻Today is WORLD RADIO DAY. Do you still listen to the radio, or do you prefer to listen to streaming platforms? Times have definitely changed, but radio is still with us. In the past, radio played an enormous role, especially during and after WW2. Today we want to share the story of an incredible lady, an unsung hero, and a person who spent some years in Polish radio.
🔘Helena Merenholc was a Polish-Jewish educator & child psychologist. During the War she escaped the Warsaw Ghetto, and helped other Jews on the "A***n side" by acting as a liaison officer for the “Żegota” Council to Aid Jews. She was active in this work throughout the duration of the War.
After the War, Helena worked for the Central Committee of Jews in Poland (Polish: Centralny Komitet Żydów w Polsce). In 1949, she found employment in Polish Radio where she worked as the literary manager of the Editorial Office for Children’s Programming until 1981.

10/02/2023

The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies of the University of Miami invites you to a lecture this upcoming Monday, 13 February, 2023 at 4:00 PM EST. Featuring Dr. Zachary Mazur of , who will be discussing the topic of, “Battles over the Holocaust: Polish-Jewish Memory wars.” This lecture will be available to attend in person or online via Zoom. Please see below for more details.
We look forward to seeing you there.

🔸When: Monday, 13 February, 2023 at 4:00PM EST
🔸Where: Miller Center Auditorium Merrick Building, Room 119
5202 University Drive Coral
Gables, Florida 33146
🔸Zoom link: https://miami.zoom.us/j/92142468375
Meeting ID: 921 4246 8375
Passcode: 958610

Questions Contact the Miller Center at [email protected]

10/02/2023

Symcha Rotem | Hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Today marks the 99th birthday of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising hero, Symcha Rotem (10 February 1924). Symcha Rotem, AKA "Kazik," was a member of Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB), and during the uprising he took an active part in the fighting in the central ghetto. After eleven days, he received orders to prepare an evacuation of ghetto fighters to the ‘A***n side.' On the anniversary of his birthday, watch this rare interview with Kazik that was filmed at .

🔠Adjust CC for ENG subtitles.

(Video: Wirtualny Sztetl / Portal Muzeum POLIN)
🌼

09/02/2023

One of the most outstanding Yiddish authors | Chava Rosenfarb

Today marks the 100th birthday of Yiddish author, Chava Rosenfarb (9 February 1923, Łódź). Her family lived in Łódź, and when the N***s occupied the city, the Rosenfarb's ended up in the Łódź ghetto. When the ghetto was being liquidated, their hiding spot was revealed, and the family was sent to Auschwitz. She was selected to be sent to another camp. It was at this time she decided (if she survived), that she would write the truth of about the Łódź ghetto.

She did in fact survive, and kept her word. She wrote her acclaimed novel, "Der boym fun lebn [The Tree of Life]." It has since been translated into English, Hebrew, and Polish. She was responsible for authoring a large variety of written works throughout her years, and is considered one of the most outstanding Yiddish authors.

✒Click the link from Wirtualny Sztetl / Portal Muzeum POLIN for her bio:
https://sztetl.org.pl/en/biographies/194190-rosenfarb-chawa
(📷Photo of Rosenfarb family: https://chavarosenfarb.com)

08/02/2023

The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies of the University of Miami invites you to a lecture next Monday, 13 February, 2023 at 4:00 PM EST. Featuring Dr. Mazur of , he will be discussing the topic of, “Battles over the Holocaust: Polish-Jewish Memory wars.” This lecture is available to attend in person or online via Zoom. Please see below for more details. We look forward to seeing you there.

🔸When: Monday, 13 February, 2023 at 4:00PM EST
🔸Where: Miller Center Auditorium Merrick Building, Room 119
5202 University Drive Coral
Gables, Florida 33146
🔸Zoom link: https://zoom.us
Meeting ID: 921 4246 8375
Passcode: 958610

Questions Contact the Miller Center at [email protected]

08/02/2023

Today marks the 83rd anniversary of the 'order to establish the Łódź ghetto' (8th February 1940). The concept of setting up a ghetto in Łódź was first formulated in December 1939. The German occupation authorities decided that it would be impossible to deport all the Jews from Łódź quickly, and on a mass scale, so they eventually decided to relocate them to the northern part of the city.

⬇⬇⬇Click below to read more:

The German plans were published in February 1940, when the decision was communicated in a local newspaper, “Lodzer Zeitung." The territory of the "residential district for Jews" covered the area of the most neglected districts of Łódź, which consisted of Bałuty and the Old Town. Most buildings there lacked sewerage and running water, and wastewater flowed down the streets in gutters.

By the 29th of February, all Poles and Ethnic Germans (Volksdeutche) had to leave the area. The Jews, in turn, were to gradually moved into the ghetto. Eventually, when the gates closed on the ghetto on 30 April 1940, it covered the area of 4.13 square kilometers. In the spring of 1940 the ghetto held over 160,000 people. Moreover, in the autumn of 1941, the ghetto absorbed almost 20,000 Jews from Western Europe, and several thousand Jews from the liquidated ghettos in the nearby towns. At its peak, the Łódź Ghetto was inhabited by over 180,000 people.

Click here for the full articles on the history of the Łódź ghetto:
https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/l/497-lodz/116-sites-of-martyrdom/48287-lodz-ghetto

https://www.jhi.pl/en/articles/lodz-ghetto-the-largest-slave-labor-camp,253

(📸Pictures courtesy of Virtual Shtetl)

07/02/2023

Get your tickets now for the annual POLIN Music Festival taking place at the end of February 2023. This year our program features David Krakauer, Michael Guttman, Jing Zhao, Alexey Botvinov, The Śląski Quartet, The Bastarda Trio, and two of Poland's top orchestras (Sinfonia Varsovia & the Polish Radio Orchestra).

🎵Program and ticket info.: https://www.polin.pl/en/event/2023-polin-music-festival

More details:
🔸The festival takes place 24-26 February, 2023 in the POLIN Museum auditorium.
🔸Concerts will not be live streamed.
🔸Individual or combo tickets are available.