Jewish history and culture course. The Jewish Experience in Poland. Jewish culture and Jewish history in Poland. Auschwitz Tours. Jewish historical and cultural tours in Krakow. Polish Jews in Poland. Jewish-Polish relations in Poland. Jewish Holocaust history. History of the Jewish people in Poland.

Bimah in Kazimierz Old Synagogue in Krakow (Cracow)

For almost 800 years Jewish religion and culture flourished in Poland. Our 2-week seminar-styled course on Jewish history and culture in Poland will be led by Professor Robert Cohn. Dr. Cohn currently holds the Philip and Muriel Berman Chair in Jewish Studies at Lafayette College in Easton PA.

Jewish Cultural Experience in Poland Main Page Title

The Cracovia Academy proudly presents a new Jewish History & Culture Course for 2006:

The Jewish Experience in Poland

July 02 - July 16 in Krakow, Poland

The virtual disappearance of Jewish life in communist Poland after World War II makes it easy to forget the fact that for almost 800 years Jewish religion and culture flourished in Poland.

Jewish Doors Inside Remu'h Synagogue in Kazimierz district of Krakow (Cracow)

While Jewish culture often developed separately from that of Poles in "small town” Yiddish-speaking shtetl settings and cities such as Kazimierz, Jews were also an important integrated part of the fabric of what was Polish urban society in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Indeed, pre-WWII Warsaw was somewhat like contemporary New York, where many Jews would have not had a problem in identifying themselves fully as Jews, Warsavians and Poles, without the need for a separation of identity based on religious background. At the same time, some Polish political parties sought to isolate Jews and prevent their integration into Polish society. The tragedy of the Nazi occupation of Poland and Holocaust of the Second World War, combined with the post-war communist legacy has led to many problematic issues both in academic and wider circles concerning Polish-Jewish relations. While the 20th century saw great tragedy, there is also a rich and colourful past that represents an important and often ignored historical legacy not only for Jews but for Poles. Moreover, the rebirth of Jewish life in the last two decades and Polish interest in its Jewish past are phenomena worthy of serious consideration.

Our 2-week seminar-styled course on Jewish history and culture in Poland will include the following topics: Jewish social, economic and religious life in old Poland (pre-1800), messianic movements, Hasidism, Jews in partitioned Poland, Jewish nationalism and culture in interwar Poland, Jewish-Catholic relations, Jews and Poles during the Holocaust, postwar antisemitism, Jews in Polish memory and the politics of commemoration, “New Jews” in contemporary Poland.

For more information on "The Jewish Experience in Poland" including the course syllabus, click here.

OTHER PROGRAMS OF INTEREST IN KRAKOW:

Jewish Cultural & Historical Tours in Krakow*:

* Please Note: Our Jewish cultural & historical tours can be supplemented with airport transfers as well as hotel or apartment accommodation during your stay in Krakow.

Our Krakow Jewish Cultural and Historical Tours, include:

- Tours of Jewish Kazimierz and Podgorze (including tours of Krakow's historic old Jewish quarter and other important places of Jewish cultural and historical importance such as Schindler's factory, etc.)

- Trips to and tours of the Nazi German Concentration Camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau* in Oswiecim

* Please Note: Tours of the Martyrdrom Complex and Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau can take many forms. Basic tours include return transport from Krakow to the camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Auschwitz tours can be supplemented with private tour guides and additional educational activities (such as additional films and historical lectures). For those interested in a truly exceptional historical experience, we can also arrange for private tours given personally by senior staff of the Auschwitz Center and Jewish Museum in Oswieciem, allowing visitors to enter areas that are usually closed to the general public. In addition to tours of the Nazi German Concentration Camps, we can also arrange for historical tours exploring the important pre-WWII Jewish cultural elements of the town of Oswiecim itself.

- Trips to and tours of other places of significant Jewish cultural and historical importance in Poland, inlcuding: Warsaw, Tarnow, Lodz, Lancut, Lezajsk, Tykocin, etc.

If you are interested in a very special Jewish cultural or historical tour experience in Poland, a private Krakow tour, accommodation in Krakow or transport (including airport transfers) in the Krakow area, contact us at:

tours@polishsummer.com

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