Before the II World War, every third inhabitant of Warsaw and every tenth resident of Poland was of Jewish descent. In some of the towns, Jews constituted half or even greater majority of the inhabitants. This community was very diverse  with regard to the degree of assimilation, education as well as religiosity. Today, this Warsaw and this  Poland do not exist anymore. However, it is crucial for youth to learn the history of the Jewish nation as it has been an inseparable part of the Polish culture and history. It is even more important for an open and increasingly multicultural society where nevertheless prejudices and false stereotypes still occur.

The program comprises of four meetings with Forum's educators: two tours and two workshops. First and foremost, they aim at acknowledging students with the Jewish past of Warsaw. Secondly, all four meetings should gradually prepare students for carrying out their own project commemorating the pre-war Jewish community of the Polish capital.

For the first meeting we propose one of the three tours of Warsaw: The Stones that Speak (a visit to the Jewish cemetery); Prozna Street- Yesterday and Today (a walk along the Prozna Street- the only one remaining from the Warsaw Ghetto, and a visit to Nozyki Synagogue) or the tour of Jewish Praga. Each of them aims at acknowledging students with basic terms connected to the culture, religion and tradition of Polish Jews as well as presenting the rich history of the pre-war Warsaw. Although the tours are conducted in different parts of the Polish capital, they were designed to touch upon the same issues. Thanks to that, each school can decide individually which tour the students will attend.

The second meeting is organized at school in a form of a workshop. Participating students get to know individual histories of Jews and Poles in the 20^th century. The workshop presents the diversity of attitudes towards history as well as how different were the lives of Poles and Jews before and after the II World War. Young people have the opportunity to discuss their points of view on the attitudes of engagement and disengagement in the light of the Holocaust, "bench ghetto"( a form of official segregation in the seating of students at universities) or the communism era in the post-war Poland. We ask them about the present-day attitude towards history, if it really teaches us something and taking that into consideration if we can look at Warsaw as a monument.

For the third meeting we take students on a  Tour of the Non-existing City - The Warsaw Ghetto - one of our most popular activities, which form was inspired by urban games. During the walk of the City Center and Muranow district, participants discover the existing traces of the destroyed city and learn stories of the places that do not exist anymore. Forum's  educators give them most important information about the history of the Warsaw ghetto.  At the end, we explore the post-war Muranow, trying to provoke  casting a fresh look at yet classical questions of the legitimacy of building and living on ruins.

The fourth workshop concludes the program in a logical manner. Students are asked to gather all the experience from previous meetings and to confront it among themselves. We debate various ways of commemorating the history and try to look into what they aim at. Furthermore, we discuss to what extent the history influences the present life of Warsaw inhabitants. In the second part of the workshop we prepare students for working on their own project.

The main aim of the students' project is to bring back the unknown history of Warsaw Jews. We invite them to learn the history of the districts they live in, search for forgotten memoirs, places etc.  Secondly, we ask them to prepare such form of commemoration of the story they choose, which they find most appropriate. It can be a tour, a happening or an new media project. Forum's educators supervise the preparations and give students their support though no longer in a form of a workshop.  At the end, students are asked to send a report from their project which then takes part in a competition organized by the Forum.

The winning group of students has the chance to present their project during a festive gala that concludes the program- a gathering of all the laureates and representatives of participating schools during which the titles of "The School of Dialogue" are awarded.

We cordially invite you to send your applications (in Polish)

The list of schools - participants of previous editions of the program