TRIPS

Bridge To Poland offers small group study tours to Poland that focus on Jewish life – but, these are not Jewish roots tours. Bridge To Poland trips look at 1000 years of Jewish life in Poland and they are for anyone of any religion or of no religion interested in Polish Jewish history and in how it is being commemorated and also Jewish life in Poland today. Bridge To Poland trips also look at the experience of non-Jews in Poland as that cannot be separated from the Jewish experience. Each year one or two trips are offered that are open to all.

Trips can also be custom designed for schools, synagogues, churches, interfaith groups, families and individuals in cooperation with you.

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Bridge To Poland creates trips tailored to your group’s interests. Whether your group is multi-faith or all one faith, Bridge To Poland will open up participants’ eyes and hearts and minds. Together we will explore Jewish history in Poland, not only the recent tragic 20th-century history but also the rich Jewish life which flourished there for centuries. We will examine how Poles today are incorporating Jewish history into their own historiography and see first hand several different ways this is being done. From the new Museum of Polish Jewish History (POLIN), to a performance of an Isaac Bashevis Singer story by a non-Jewish Pole, to a sing-along of Polish and Yiddish songs, participants will witness the perhaps surprising “renaissance” of Jewish culture in Poland today.

 

Complex questions will be dealt with on Bridge To Poland trips:

  • How do we honor the suffering of the Poles without forgetting the unique experience of Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland?
  • What was the relationship between Christian and Jewish Poles before, during and after World War II?
  • How is collective memory of World War II and the Holocaust different for Poles of Christian and Jewish origin?
  • How can we honor the Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to save Jews during World War II?
  • Can we celebrate the rich, cultural legacy and vibrant lives of the Jews of Poland (90% of whom were murdered in the Holocaust) and not view them only as victims and martyrs?
  • How do we honor both those who perished and those Jews who live in Poland today.