Osher Marin Jewish Community Center

Exhibit continues through

February 2013

SEE WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING…

"Schwarz's photos are striking, incisive and heartbreaking..."

—Jewish Exponent, February 11, 2010

"Wonderfully detailed... highly readable... evoke[s] a rich texture of memory and tradition and loss and even hope."

—Ruth Ellen Gruber, author of National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe


"A stunning tribute to the Jewish heritage of Polish Galicia.... A treasure for future generations."

—Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, author of Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage

"Polish-Jewish relations have long suffered from stereotypes and false accusations on both sides, and this is a major attempt to right the wrongs of the past."

—Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland

The Koret Taube Center for Jewish Peoplehood invites you to a Special FREE Gallery Opening Reception Featuring:

Traces of Memory: A Contemporary Look at the Jewish Past in Poland

Photographs by Chris Schwarz, Research and Texts by Jonathan Webber

On loan from the Galicia Museum in Krakow, Poland, the exhibition features photographs by the late Chris Schwarz and texts by Prof. Jonathon Webber (UNESCO Chair of Jewish and Interfaith Studies, University of Birmingham, UK). Over a period of twelve years, Schwarz and Webber worked together to gather material that offers a completely new way of looking at the Jewish past that was destroyed in Poland. The exhibition pieces together a picture of the relics of Jewish life and culture in Polish Galicia that can still be seen today, interpreting these traces in a manner which is informative, accessible, and thought-provoking.

Keynote by Jakub Nowakowski, Director of the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland

Keynote Topic: “The Galicia Jewish Museum & Jewish Life in Poland: Past, Revival & Future”

The Galicia Jewish Museum exist to commemorate Jewish past but also – to build Jewish future in Poland.  But is this future even possible in the land of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Sobibor? How much has been done during the last twenty years to commemorate the history of Jews in Poland and how much has been forgotten in last 70 years after the Holocaust. Who are the Jews of Poland today and who are the non-Jews that are trying to preserve the memory? What is the role of the Galicia Jewish Museum and other institutions in the processes that are taking place in present day Poland.

East European & Jewish Soul Food

Food will be provided by Old World Food Truck. Owner, Chef and Mensch, Kenny Hockert, prepares all the food himself – including the pickling, curing and

smoking. He is adamant that "sustainable" and "Eastern European" are not mutually exclusive.

"The flavor profiles of the region work well with sustainability," he told the Jew and the Carrot (the Jewish Forward’s blog). "There is a vibrant seasonal food culture in Eastern Europe that people are not aware of. For instance, in the summer, Eastern Europeans eat a lot of chilled fruit soups, which is something that will work great here in California."

Live Klezmer & Folk Music

Provided by keyboardist, song writer, composer and arranger Jef Labes, who formerly played with Van Morrison and Jessie Colin Young.

FREE – RSVP Required

We kindly request your RSVP by 11/30 to Alaina Yoakum, 415-444-8080, ayoakum@marinjcc.org

The exhibition at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center has been made possible through generous support from the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture.

ABOUT JAKUB NOWAKOWSKI

Jakub Nowakowski was born and raised in Kazimierz, the former Jewish district of Kraków. He’s been connected with the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków since 2005, and in 2010, was appointed as the new director. Nowakowski is the co-author of several museum publications, including “Guide to Oskar Schindler’s Kraków” and “Map of the Jewish Kazimierz,” and is a co-editor of “Poland: A Jewish Matter: Proceedings of a symposium exploring contemporary Jewish life in Poland,” marking the close of Jewish programming for Polska! Year. His exhibition credits include “Fighting for Dignity: Jewish Resistance in Kraków” (2007), “A City Not Forgotten: Memories of Jewish Lwów and the Holocaust” (2010/2011), and “On the Other Side of the Torah: Wartime Portraits from Tübingen” (2012). He has an MA in History from the Department of Jewish Studies at the Jagiellonian University, having written his thesis on Jewish resistance in Kraków during the Second World War. He also has a postgraduate diploma in Management and Marketing from the Kraków School of Economics and Computer Science, and holds a Tour Leader’s Licence from the City of Kraków. He is a member of the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Project (EHRI).

EXHIBIT PUBLICATION

The exhibition is accompanied by the companion book "Rediscovering Traces of Memory: The Jewish Heritage of Polish Galicia," by Jonathon Webber (with photographs by Chris Schwarz), published by the Littman Library for Jewish Civilization and Indiana University Press (2009). The book will be available for sale at the Women of Rodef Sholom/Sisterhood Gift Shop.