Between August 1^st-8^th, once more we had the pleasure to host a group of nine leaders of the American Jewish Committee in Poland  in the frame of the Polish-Jewish Exchange Program organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

The participants represented various branches of the organization from such cities as Washington, Los Angeles, Seattle, Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Dallas.

During their stay in Poland, our guests visited Warsaw, Lodz, Lublin, Belzec, Oswiecim and Krakow, taking part in meetings devoted to the past and present of Polish-Jewish relations. They had the opportunity to listen to ambassador Maciej Kozlowski, Ambassador-at-Large for Polish-Jewish Relations at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland; professor Dariusz Stola, vice-president of Collegium Civitas; father Marek Nowak, member of the Polish Council of Christians and Jews and Mr. Tomasz Hen as well as participate in a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw with the Deputy Chief of the Mission, Mr. William Heidt.

The schedule included also a study tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Museum and Memorial in Belzec as well as sightseeing of sights related to the prewar history of Warsaw, Krakow and Lodz. Additionally, the participants visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum, the Galicia Jewish Museum and Auschwitz-Jewish Center.

Last but not least the program would not be complete without the ceremonial evening meetings with the Israeli Ambassador to Poland, Zvi Rav-Ner and the Righteous Among the Nations, Mr. Jozef Walaszczyk or the reception with Polish Alumni of the Polish-Jewish Exchange Program and Shabbat dinner with young members of the Jewish Community in Krakow.

In October, within the second part of the exchange, Polish delegation will visit U.S. to get to know more about the life of Jewish community in Washington, Chicago and New York.

We would like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland for supporting the project.