1000 YEAR HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS – the core exhibition
daily except Tuesdays. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays: 10 AM
– 6 PM, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays: 10 AM – 8 PM
admission PLN 25, concessions PLN 15
HOW TO MAKE A MUSEUM? – a temporary exhibition
24 October 2014 – 2 February 2015
daily except Tuesdays. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays: 10 AM
– 6 PM, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays: 10 AM – 8 PM
admission PLN 12, concessions PLN
THE FACE OF THE GHETTO. PICTURES BY JEWISH
PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM THE LITZMANNSTADT GHETTO,
1940-1944
27 January – 30 March 2015
daily except Tuesdays. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays: 10 AM
– 6 PM, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays: 10 AM – 8 PM
free admission
JANUARY
05 6 PM
Does the contemporary world witness the
decline of religion? – debate (F)
07 6 PM
Curator–guided tours of the core exhibition (PLN 40/PLN 30, R)
6 PM
Where should we look for our ancestors?
Introduction to genealogical studies –
workshop (F, R)
7 PM
Hospital of the Transfiguration (Szpital
przemienienia) – film screening and
discussion (F)
10 4 PM
Commemoration – guided tour of the
exhibition (PLN 35/PLN 25, R)
11 4 PMCommemoration – guided tour of the
exhibition (PLN 35/PLN 25, R)
12
10 AM – 5 PM
How do we make museums?
– a seminar (F)
6 PM
The Jews in Poland and Russia – meeting
with Professor Antony Polonsky (F)
14 6 PMFrom the Middle Ages until today – how
many Jews lived in Poland and where?
– curator-guided tours of the core
exhibition (PLN 40/ PLN 30, R)
7 PMLiebe Perla – film screening
and discussion (F)
15 7 PMSinfonia Varsovia at POLIN Museum
concert (PLN 35/PLN 20, R)
17 4 PM
Commemoration – guided tour of the
exhibition (PLN 35/PLN 25, R)
18 11 AM – 2 PM First Encounters – workshop (F, R)
1 PM
The Memory of the Holocaust
– workshop (F, R)
4 PM
Commemoration – guided tour of the
exhibition (PLN 35/PLN 25, R)
6 PM
On-site Inspection ( Wizja lokalna)
– meeting with Włodzimierz Erlich (F)
19 6 PMThe Third Reich’s Policy towards
Minorities – lecture (F)
21 6 PMCurator-guided tours
of the core exhibition (PLN 40/30, R)
6 PM
Where should we look for our ancestors?
Introduction to genealogical studies
– workshop (F, R)
7 PM
Bent – film screening and debate (F)
24 4 PM
Commemoration – guided tour of the
exhibition (PLN 35/PLN 25, R)
25 4 PM
Commemoration – guided tour of the
exhibition (PLN 35/PLN 25, R)
7 PM
Tsigan. The Gypsy Poem.
– theatre performance (F)
26 6 PMThe Face of the Ghetto – Pictures by
Jewish Photographers from the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, 1940–1944
– exhibition preview (F)
7 PM Between the documentation of crime
and the panorama of life – lecture
by Dr Ingo Loose (F)
27 6 PM
The Memory Project – workshop (F, R)
28
29
30
31
6 PMFrom the Middle Ages until today – how
many Jews lived in Poland and where?
– curator-guided tours of the core
exhibition (PLN 40/ PLN 30, R)
7 PM
The Forgotten Genocide. Europe’s Gypsies
in World War II – film screening and
discussion (F)
6 PM
The Memory of Holocaust
– a curse or a rescue? – meeting with
Halina Birenbaum (F)
6 PMThe memory of Auschwitz from
the perspective of other acts of genocide i
n the 20th century – lecture (F)
11 AM – 5 PM Around the core exhibition
– workshop (F, R)
4 PMCommemoration – guided tour of the
exhibition (PLN 35/PLN 25, R)
THE MUSEUM OPENING HOURS:
Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays: 10 AM – 6 PM
Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays: 10 AM – 8 PM
Tuesdays: closed
Core exhibition admission:
Adults PLN 25
Concessions PLN 15
On Thursdays admission to the core exhibition is free of charge
Temporary exhibition admission:
Adults PLN 12
Concessions PLN 8
GUIDED TOURS
A thousand year tour of the core exhibition
Guided tour (2 hours):
Saturdays, 11 AM and 5 PM (in Polish)
3 PM (in English)
Saturdays, 11 AM and 3.30 PM (in Polish)
3 PM (in English)
Adults PLN 35
Concessions PLN 25
We also offer joint tickets (the core exhibition plus temporary
exhibitions), group tickets and guides
or audio guides. The complete offer is available at
www.polin.pl or at the museum’s ticket office.
Legend:
(F) free admission
(R) advance booking required
Prominent partners:
We also invite you to take advantage of our free educational offer!
Booking and online ticket purchases:
www.bilety.polin.pl
Telephone information and booking of educational offer
phone: 22 471 03 01
(Mondays to Fridays, 9 AM – 5 PM,
Saturdays and Sundays, 10 AM – 5 PM)
Group booking
phone: 22 471 03 34 (Mondays to Fridays, 9 AM –5 PM)
Unless stated otherwise, all events are held
at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews at 6 Anielewicza Street.
Supported from the Norway and EEA Grants by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
WWW.POLIN.PL
Museum of the History of Polish Jews
6 Anielewicza St.,
Warsaw 00-157, Poland
+48 22 471 03 00
[email protected]
www.eeagrants.org, www.norwaygrants.org
The Museum’s program
activities are supported by:
Joint Institution of Culture
DEBATES
CONCERTS
LECTURES
PERFORMANCES
EXHIBITIONS
MEETINGS WITH AUTHORS
FILMS TOURS
PROGRAM
01.01-31.01 2015
CORE EXHIBITION
1000 YEAR HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS
POLIN Museum’s core exhibition is a journey from the Middle Ages to contemporary times. You will find out where from and when Jews came to Poland.
How did Poland become home for the world’s biggest Jewish community, how
did that come to an end and how is Jewish life being restored? We show that
the history of Polish Jews is an integral part of Poland’s history, and the history
of Jews is incomplete without the Polish chapter. We talk about cooperation
and neighbourhood, competition and conflicts, separation and assimilation.
It is a narrative exhibition: we present history through historic objects, poly-
chrome, interactive installations, models, multimedia and texts. For example,
you will see a 13th century coin minted in Poland and books printed in Jewish
printing houses 400 years ago, breathtaking reconstruction of a wooden synagogue’s ornamented roof and a unique multimedia street.
The exhibition is open every day daily except Tuesdays. Mondays,
Thursdays and Fridays: 10 AM – 6 PM, Wednesdays, Saturdays
and Sundays: 10 AM – 8 PM
Admission PLN 25, concessions PLN 15
CORE EXHIBITION ACCOMPANYING EVENTS
Curator guided tours
We invite you to visit a selected gallery together with its curator on the
first and third Wednesdays of the month. It is a unique opportunity to
find out more about subsequent historical eras and discuss the solutions
adopted for an exhibition. The January tours will be devoted to the Forest
and First Encounters galleries, which commence the journey through the
thousand years of history at the POLIN Museum exhibition. Tour guides:
Kalina Gawlas and Magdalena Dopieralska.
7 and 21 January, 6 PM, admission PLN 40, concessions PLN 30,
advance booking required
The A–Ż of the history of Jews – tours of the core exhibition
We are launching a new series of topical guided tours of the POLIN Museum
core exhibition. You will find out more about selected issues from the history of Polish Jews on every second and fourth Wednesday of the month.
In January, we will offer a closer look at the Jewish settlement in Poland.
Ewa Małkowska-Bieniek will lead a tour titled: From the Middle Ages until
today – how many Jews lived in Poland and where?
14 and 28 January, 6 PM, admission PLN 40, concessions PLN 30,
advance booking required
TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
HOW TO MAKE A MUSEUM?
A temporary exhibition devoted to the creation of POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews from the first steps undertaken in 1993 to the launch of a
new building 20 years later. At the exhibition, we reveal how a modern museum is created: fundraising and diplomatic efforts, formulating the mission and
vision of the place, developing a historical narrative, design, production and
assembly of the exhibition, collecting documentation, an architectural competition and the construction. We reveal how we prepared our cultural and
educational activities. You will see the history of the museum written in documents, letters, films and photographs. We show dilemmas and questions that
the museum’s creators had to face and choices they had to make. Which of
the 11 architectural designs to choose? What logo design would best reflect
the idea behind the museum? Which solutions would work at the exhibition?
Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays: 10 AM – 6 PM,
Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays: 10 AM – 8 PM
Admission PLN 12, concessions PLN 8
THE FACE OF THE GHETTO. PICTURES BY JEWISH PHOTOGRAPHERS
FROM THE LITZMANNSTADT GHETTO, 1940–1944
An exhibition of pictures taken by photographers who documented the life
in the Łódź (from 1940 – Litzmannstadt) ghetto, as commissioned by the
Jewish Council of Elders. Of 12,000 preserved photographs over 50 have
been selected, and this so far unknown collection has been presented to
the public for the first time. The photos are accompanied by a chronicle of
events and accounts of the surviving inmates. Thousands of pictures were
aimed to preserve the dynamics and productivity of the Łódź ghetto which,
according to the strategy of Chaim Rumkowski, the Judenrat Chairman,
were to ensure its survival. The exhibition was prepared by the Berlin-based
Topography of Terror Foundation in collaboration with the State Archives in
Łódź. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue in Polish and English.
The exhibition is open daily except Tuesdays from 27 January to 30 March 2015.
Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays: 10 AM – 6 PM, Wednesdays, Saturdays and
Sundays: 10 PM – 8 PM, free admission
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF COMMEMORATION IN MEMORY
OF THE VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST
27 January 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. To commemorate the event, POLIN Museum invites visitors to a temporary exhibition, a theatre performance, workshops, lectures,
film screenings, meetings and a special tour of the core exhibition.
No right to live. Third Reich’s racial policy – films and debates
One of the most important elements of the Third Reich’s propaganda was
the Lebensunwertes Leben doctrine – life unworthy of life. According to the
doctrine, those considered a burden to society – Jews, Romas, Sinti, the mentally ill, disabled and homosexuals – were deprived of their right to live. In our
January film and debate series commemorating the 70th anniversary of the
Auschwitz Birkenau camp liberation, we will focus on the Nazi racial policy
and its victims.
7 January, 7 PM, Hospital of the Transfiguration (Szpital przemienienia),
directed by Edward Żebrowski, 1978, Poland, 90 mins, feature film.
Debate with Tadeusz Nasierowski, author of the book entitled.
The Extermination of People with Mental Disorders in the Occupied Poland
(Zagłada osób z zaburzeniami psychicznymi w okupowanej Polsce)
14 January, 7 PM, Liebe Perla, directed by Shahar Rozen,
Israel, 1999, 56 mins, documentary.
Debate with Dr Magdalena Gawin of the History Institute of the Polish
Academy of Sciences, author of books on eugenics
21 January, 7 PM, Bent, directed by Sean Mathias, 1997,
Great Britain/Japan, 105 mins, feature film.
Debate with Joanna Ostrowska, doctoral student of Judaic Studies at
the Jagiellonian University who, among other subjects, researches the
situation of homosexuals in the Third Reich
28 January, 7 PM, The Forgotten Genocide. Europe’s Gypsies in World War II,
directed by Idit Bloch and Henriette Asseo, France, 2011, 75 mins, documentary.
Debate with Lidia Ostałowska from the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, author of
reportages and publications about the Roma
Guided tour: Commemoration
A topical guided tour of two galleries of the core exhibition: Holocaust
and Postwar Years. We will talk about the Holocaust and about the revival
of Jewish life after the war. We will try to refer to the discussion on the
Holocaust that has been taking place in the West since the 1960s, including the attempts at Holocaust denial. We will also discuss political games
around commemorating Jewish tragedy in the communist Poland and
about contemporary aspects of debates about the Holocaust.
10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 and 31 January, 4 PM, admission PLN 35,
concessions PLN 25, advance booking required
Memory of the Holocaust
Workshop on the memory of Jews, Poles and other groups exterminated
during World War II. The workshop will focus on the Holocaust (19391945) gallery, which is part of the Museum core exhibition, as well as extracts from articles and visual materials.
18 January, 1 PM, free admission, advance booking required
Lecture: Third Reich’s policy towards minorities
Professor Eugeniusz Cezary Król of the Polish Academy of Sciences’ Political
Studies Institute will talk about Nazi persecution of the Jewish community
and groups that are often referred to as Holocaust victims absent from the
collective memory, including Jehovah witnesses, mentally and physically
disabled, Romani, Sinti, homosexuals and transsexuals.
19 January, 6 PM, free admission
Tsigan. The Gypsy Poem.
Theatre performance based on the book by Cecilia Woloch, a US writer
and poet who writes about the history of her own family: Carpathian
Romani. The performance, featuring the author, will take us on a personal and lyrical journey in search of identity, in the footsteps of ancestors,
intertwined with stories of wartime trauma. It is a story filled with music
and dance which is a moving testimony to the cultural and historical
heritage of the Romani.
25 January, 7 PM, free admission
Preview of the Face of the Ghetto – Pictures by Jewish Photographers from
the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, 1940–1944 exhibition
An inauguration of the exhibition prepared in collaboration with the Berlin-based Topography of Terror Foundation and the State Archives in Łódź
(more deatils in the Exhibitions section). Lecture: Between the documentation
of crime and the panorama of life will be presented by Dr Ingo Loose – a historian, researcher of the Łódź ghetto, employee of the Institute of Contemporary
History (Munich-Berlin) and co-editor of a multi-volume publication on the
crimes committed against European Jews by Nazi Germany in 1933-1945.
26 January, 6 PM – opening of the exhibition,
7 PM – lecture, free admission
The Memory Project
A workshop run by painter Roz Jacobs and producer Laurie Weisman from
New York focusing on exploration of the issues of memory and the sense
of loss through art. It was inspired by the story of a boy who was killed
during the war. Workshop participants will create portraits using charcoal
and pastels and they will describe the person they have drawn. You can
bring your own photograph or use one available at the workshop.
27 January, 6 PM, free admission, advance booking required
The Memory of Holocaust – a curse or a rescue? – meeting with Halina Birenbaum
Halina Birenbaum is a Holocaust survivor and Polish-Israeli writer, translator and poet. In 2001, the Polish Council of Christians and Jews granted her
Człowiek Pojednania (Man of Reconciliation) title. During World War II, Birenbaum was in the Warsaw ghetto and survived the Majdanek, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbrück and Neustadt-Glewe camps. She emigrated to Israel in 1947.
The meeting, co-organised by the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia, will be moderated by Tok FM radio presenter Anna Wacławik-Orpik.
29 January, 6 PM, free admission
The memory of Auschwitz from the perspective of other genocide acts of the 20th century
A lecture by Małgorzata Wosińska from the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the Polish Academy of Sciences will be an attempt to
look at genocide from an anthropological perspective. Auschwitz will be a
starting point for the lecturer to analyse other, post-war acts of genocide.
30 January, 6 PM, free admission
WORKSHOPS
The History from the Inside – meeting no. 1: Where should we look for our
ancestors? Introduction to genealogical studies
First in a series of 10 meetings for those interested in discovering their own
family stories. Beginner genealogists as well as those with some experience
in uncovering their past may participate. The inaugural workshop will be
conducted by specialists from the Genealogy Section of the Jewish Historical Institute. Together we will ponder on why and where to look for our own
roots. The History from the Inside series is part the POLIN Museum’s Resource Centre activity program
7 and 21 January, 6 PM, free admission, advance booking required
First Encounters – family workshop
In order to introduce the youngest visitors with the POLIN Museum core
exhibition, we invite you to family workshops devoted to selected galleries.
On this occasion we invite children and the accompanying adults to the
First Encounters gallery, where we will learn about the first Jewish communities. Participants will find out what places played a vital role in the life of a
Jewish community and what happened in a synagogue, a mikveh or a cheder. After the tour, we invite you to a workshop where we will make a model
of a shtetl together.
18 January, 11 AM – 2 PM, free admission, advance booking required
Around the core exhibition
Workshop for youth and adults inspired by the main motifs from the Forest
gallery and related to searching for the roots. We will discuss what it means
to be a Polish Jew. We will debate this issue from the perspective of legends,
myths, personal relations and genealogical research.
31 January, 11 AM – 5 PM, free admission, advance booking required
MEETINGS
Does the contemporary world witness the decline of religion? – meeting
within the Believe in the Museum?
At the Believe in the Museum? monthly meetings we discuss issues of great
importance for a modern man, being inspired by sections of the Torah (Pen-
tateuch), or the first five books of the Bible that constitute the foundation of
both Judaism and Christianity. The meetings are chaired by Halina Bortnowska, a journalist, philosopher and theologian, and Professor Stanisław Krajewski, a philosopher. Warsaw University sociologist Professor Ireneusz Krzemiński will be a special guest. The Open Republic association is the series partner.
5 January, 6 PM free admission
The Jews in Poland and Russia
A meeting with Professor Antony Polonsky devoted to his latest book entitled The Jews in Poland and Russia, which is a synthesis of the political, social,
economic, religious and cultural history of the Jewish Diaspora in Poland and
Russia from its medieval beginnings to the 21st century. Antony Polonsky is
a historian and professor at the Lown Center for Judaic Studies, Brandeis
University, and the POLIN Museum’s chief historian. Dr Hanna Węgrzynek
will chair the meeting.
5 January, 6 PM free admission
On-site Inspection – a debate
We invite you to a debate on Włodzimierz Erlich’s book titled On-site Inspection (Wizja Lokalna). It is a story about searching for identity and an
attempt to understand Polish-Jewish relations, full of both conflicts and
mutual fascination. The meeting with the author will be chaired by Sergiusz
Kowalski. B’nai B’rith Polin is the main organiser of the event.
18 January, 6 PM, free admission
CONCERTS
Sinfonia Varsovia at POLIN Museum
The musical year 2015 at POLIN Museum will start with real stars. The Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra, conducted by Ewa Strusińska, will be accompanied by prominent singers Urszula Kryger and Agata Zubel, piano virtuoso
Maciej Grzybowski and prominent violist Krzysztof Chorzelski. In the pro-
gramme: Witold Lutosławski – Chantefleurs et chantefables, Roman Maciejewski – Kołysanka and Allegro concertante, Aleksander Tansman – Wariacje
Na Temat Girolamo Frescobaldiego, Paweł Szymański – Drei Lieder nach Trakl
and Benjamin Britten Lachrymae. Reflections on a Song of John Dowland op. 48a.
15 January, 7 PM, admission PLN 35, concessions PLN 20
SEMINARS
How do we make museums? – a discussion seminar
The launch of activities in the new building in April 2013 and the opening of the core exhibition on 28 October 2014 concluded the process of
creating POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. On this occasion,
we invite you to a seminar attended by representatives of museums that
are currently being constructed and institutions planning to open new permanent exhibitions. Representatives of POLIN Museum, Museum of Polish
History, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Museum of Warsaw, Museum
of Warsaw’s Praga, Silesian Museum in Katowice, the Emigration Museum
in Gdynia, the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk and the Józef
Piłsudski Museum in Sulejówek will exchange experiences and plans.
12 January, 10 AM – 5 PM, free admission