Why are there so many anti-Semitic graffiti on Polish walls? What was the behavior of Poles towards Jews during the Second World War? These and other issues are dealt with during the Difficult Questions in Polish-Jewish Dialogue Workshops.

These five-hour workshops seek to raise awareness about Polish-Jewish relations and show the diversity of accounts of the past. However, instead of listening to a lecture, the students participate in specially designed tasks and activities.

During the workshops, students may, for example, role-play an encounter between a Pole and a Jew who left Poland right after the war, and came back, for the first time, only in the 1990s. Thus, students come to understand the feelings of a person who emigrated from Poland, leaving only charred ruins. He comes back and sees anti-Semitic graffiti. What does he feel? How should Poles react and how should they fight such bigotry?

During the workshops, students also read chapters from a book published jointly by the Forum and the American Jewish Committee, Difficult Questions in Polish-Jewish Dialogue.

The workshops are moderated by experienced trainers. The Forum focuses on students' independent thinking. The trainers do ask questions, but they avoid giving oversimplified answers. In this way, tolerance, which is the underlying aim of the workshops, becomes a part of students' worldview.

We offer schools the following workshops:

"Anti-Semitic Graffiti"

This workshop focuses students' attention on the "wall sickness" of contemporary cities, as well as on other forms of anti-Semitism and racism. It encourages students to fight any manifestation of discrimination present in their environment. The specially designed script allows students to enter into the skin of an "Other". This  makes it possible for them to see reality from the perspective of the person at whom these graffiti and murals, present in towns and cities, are targeted. This activity fosters sensitivity and empathy, and helps students to overcome their own prejudices.

"Is it Safe to be a Jew in Poland"
This workshop deals with the problem of anti-Semitism and intolerance towards fellow citizens. The students read texts concerning the life of Jews in contemporary Poland, they discuss the issue of safety, and try to understand the situation of ethnic or religious minorities. The workshop's crucial part is a mock debate, during which students can listen to various opinions about whether contemporary Poland is a safe place for Jews.

"What would have been if..."
During this workshop the students familiarize themselves with the history of the Holocaust and the social and political reasons for genocide. The main focus of this activity is a specially designed text and a personal analysis of the possible ways of changing the course of history by grass-roots action taken by individuals and groups. The prepared materials are designed in a very attractive and engaging way.

"Criticism of Israel or Anti-Semitism"
This workshop point students' attention to the phenomenon of the "new anti-Semitism," often masked as criticism of Israel's politics. It also raises their awareness about the persistence of certain stereotypes and their relative similarity in various epochs. The students learn how to distinguish between covered anti-Semitic attitudes and relevant criticism of the state of Israel and its politics. They also learn basic facts of the conflict in the Middle-East.

"The Forum's workshops teach history in a new way; they combine the transmission of knowledge with an appealing format. Young people are forced to find answers to the most difficult issues on their own."

Maciej Kozłowski, historian, former Polish Ambassador to Israel