Language:
English
Pages:
248 Seiten
,
Ill.
Year of publication:
2015
Keywords:
Ausstellung
;
Juden
;
Krakau
Abstract:
The theme of the temporary exhibition We Were, We Are, We Will Be. The Jewish Community of Kraków after 1945 organised at the Old Synagogue, a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków, concerns the lot of Kraków Jews during the past seventy years. The title of the exhibition is significant in the reference it makes to the uninterrupted existence of the Jewish nation in spite of the Holocaust and World War II with their tragic consequences. Some of the survivors set off for the Middle East, looking to contribute to the building of the longed-for home of their nation – the State of Israel. Those others that stayed behind were made to tackle the challenges of the anything but easy new reality of the system imposed on Poland by the USSR. This is the most comprehensive exhibition yet to deal with the obscure subject of the presence of Jews in Kraków and in Poland after the Holocaust and the rebirth of Jewish social and religious life over the past two decades. It seeks to introduce visitors to a range of themes, encompassing the successive stages of Jewish emigration, the revitalisation of Kazimierz and Jewish places of worship, the life of the Congregation, and everyday problems (such as access to kosher meat). Matters pertaining to the adaptation to the new socio-political situation, the two-faced policy of Poland’s Communist administration, and government-inspired antisemitism have also been brought up. This event is yet another one in the series of historical exhibitions held at the Old Synagogue, and it has been conceived as part of the permanent exhibition at a New Jewish Museum in the future. Chronologically, it spans the period from 1945 (marking the end of the occupation of Kraków by the Germans and the beginning of Jewish returns to the city) to 2015. On the one hand, the title refers to the lot of Jews centred around the Congregation, which has always had tradition at its core, but on the other hand, it alludes to the Jews placing themselves outside the orbit of that institution. The structure and texts of the exhibition are based on the concept devised by Doctor Edyta Gawron of the Department of Jewish Studies at the Jagiellonian University and on her doctoral thesis, Społeczność żydowska w Krakowie w latach 1945–1995 [The Jewish community of Kraków in 1945–1995]. The exhibition consists of six sections having different times as their dividing lines: the time of decision, the time of assimilation, the time of trial, the time of hope, time versus identity, and the time of rebirth.
URL:
http://www.mhk.pl/exhibitions/252
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