Polish-Israeli Youth Meetings An Overview from an Israeli

Polish-Israeli Youth Meetings An Overview from an Israeli perspective Avigail Moshe Adam le'Adam

Israeli youth delegations to Poland Timeline 80’s- The first Israeli groups visiting Poland. 1989 - Opening the opportunity for more schools. 1991 -A course for group guides. Yad Vashem and the Ministry of Education. 1996 - Educational goals and binding regulations under the title “I seek my brethren” (Genesis 37: 16)

Israeli youth delegations to Poland Educational Philosophy “The educational system in Israel sees itself obligated to endow the full historical, moral and educational significance, both Jewish and human, of the Jewish fate, to our children as they grow-up and continue to shape the future and existence of the Jewish people and the state of Israel”

Israeli youth delegations to Poland Educational Philosophy “The Ministry of Education will encourage and assist Israeli students in visiting the traces of Jewish communities and the extermination sites in Poland. This journey is meant to strengthen the students’ sense of belonging to the Jewish people and its heritage”

Israeli youth delegations to Poland The preparation process • The Jews in Poland until the German occupation • Poland during WWII • Nazi ideology • The Jews in Poland during the Holocaust • Righteous among the nations

Israeli youth delegations to Poland The preparation process • Holocaust survivors • Holocaust remembrance in today's Poland Israel • Jewish - Polish relations after the war • Today’s Poland • Meeting with Polish youth

Israeli youth delegations to Poland The journey moves in three circles: The Jewish past Poland the Polish people The Holocaust

Israeli – Polish youth meetings “Getting Closer” • Meetings based on personal initiatives were held since the very beginning. • In the year of 2005, establishment of cooperation between: The Israeli and the Polish Ministry of Education and

Israeli – Polish youth meetings “Getting Closer” • Training for Polish and Israeli teachers, twice a year in Israel and in Poland • Polish and Israeli youth meetings, during Israeli students’ journeys to Poland, aiming to:

Israeli – Polish youth meetings “Getting Closer” 1. Start the dialogue between young people 2. Create connections based on common interests 3. Stimulate contacts and cooperation between schools 4. Form in the young generation the attitudes of patriotism, tolerance and respect for human rights

Israeli – Polish youth meetings “Getting Closer” – my observations • An increased openness for the option of meetings • Personal connections between the teachers – role models • A successful meeting will become a tradition of corporation

Israeli – Polish youth meetings “Getting Closer” – my observations • The meetings give the opportunity of dealing with issues that are not in the common discourse of the other community • The meetings helps both Polish and Israeli students to break stereotypes and challenge common conceptions about the “other” • The young students are eager to find common interests. Avoiding the “difficult questions” in favor of contemporary immediate encounter

Israeli – Polish youth meetings “Getting Closer” – my questions • The effectiveness of a one time meeting? • The majority of schools are not willing to add the meeting component into their program. Why? • Are the students’ journeys to Poland serve as the best frameworks for such encounters?

Adam le'Adam Aims to give young Israelis the opportunity to live in Poland for several months, and volunteer in different initiatives that are dedicated to the preservation of the Jewish past. Create a new Israeli-Polish dialogue, based on the preservation of Jewish heritage in Poland as an element of shared identity, and as a source of reconciliation and bonding between the two Peoples.