The Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Vilnius

The Polish Institute in Vilnius

The Polish Institute of International Affairs

„Confronting the Holocaust.

Documents on the Polish Government-in-Exile's Policy Concerning Jews 1939–1945”

Book Launch & Panel Discussion 

26 January 2023 (Thursday); 11:00–13:00 EET (Lithuania)

The Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History,

Naugarduko st. 10, Vilnius

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On 26 January 2023  - on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day - a  presentation of the Polish Institute of International Affairs source volume "Confronting the Holocaust. Documents on the Polish Government in Exile's Policy 1939–1945” - took place at the Gaon Jewish Museum in Vilnius.

The presentation started with the opening remarks of Urszula Doroszewska, Polish Ambassador to Lithuania, and Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein, Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania.

The discussion that concerned various aspects of the documentation included in the publication was attended by the scientific editor of the volume, Piotr Długołęcki (PISM), the director of the Gaon Jewish Museum in Vilnius Dr Simonas Strelcovas, the researcher from the SWPS University Dr Olga Barbasiewicz, the employee of the Sugihara Museu Dr Linas Venclauskas. Dr Andrzej Pukszto - from Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas - moderated the debate.

The final part of the discussion was the audience's chance to speak up. The questions involved various issues that the volume touched upon, which, in turn, presented the experts with an opportunity to give more profound comments on the topics related to their field of research.

11:00 Official welcome

11:15 – 12:15 Panel discussion 

Speakers:

Piotr Długołęcki,

Scientific editor of the presented volume, PISM, Warsaw

Simonas Strelcovas, PhD

Director, The Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, Vilnius

Olga Barbasiewicz, PhD

Researcher, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw

Linas Venclauskas, PhD

Researcher, The House-Museum of Chiune Sugihara, Kaunas

Chairman:

Andrzej Pukszto, PhD

The Department of Political Science in Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas

12:15 – 12.30 Q&A session

12.30 – 13.00 Glass of wine

Language: English

RSVP by 25 January 2023 at kvietimas@instytutpolski.pl

Type of event

The debate – based on the volume Confronting the Holocaust. Documents on the Polish Government-in-Exile’s Policy Concerning Jews 1939–1945 – is going to concern the activities undertaken by the Polish diplomatic and consular service during WWII

The publication contains 554 archival documents (as well as many others cited in footnotes) concerning the conditions and mechanisms of the actions implemented by the Polish Government in Exile towards the Jewish population during World War II. It illustrates the systemic and mass nature of the actions of the Polish diplomatic and consular service on the assistance and rescue of Jews during all stages of the war by bringing together the activities of the President, the Prime Minister and individual ministries and offices, but above all show the permanent work of the Polish diplomatic and consular posts and the relief agencies of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Polish Red Cross.

The archival materials included in the volume show the whole spectrum of efforts undertaken, documenting information activities (about the situation of Jews in occupied Poland), propaganda activities (aimed at mobilising the international community to prevent the Holocaust) and legal activities (undertaken with the goal to file criminal charges against the perpetrators). Above all, they illustrate direct aid activity consisting in finding safe havens or enabling people in danger to flee. They highlight that the extensive aid effort was not incidental, but was one of the most important aspects of the refugee policy of the Polish Government in Exile.

Among the questions we will discuss are:
 

• whole spectrum of efforts undertaken and motives behind them
• forgery or obtaining the necessary documentation
• importance of Jewish case within broader agenda of the WW2 Polish politics
• issue of Anti-Semitism
• Jewish refugees around the world
   

Prizes and awards

– Nomination for the Historical Awards of the "Polityka" weekly in the category of source publications

– 2nd prize in the "Historical Book of the Year" competition named after Karol Modzelewski

– 1st prize in the "Historical Book of the Year" competition named after Oskar Halecki in the category of source publications

– 1st prize in the Foreign Minister’s History Competition for best publications promoting the history of Polish diplomacy and Poland

More information about the presented volume see on the website – https://pism.pl/publikacje/confronting-the-holocaust-documents-on-the-polish-government-in-exiles-policy-concerning-jews-1939-1945