Poland TODAY | The New York—Warsaw—Krakow Connection

Location: Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, NYC

Presented in partnership with the Museum of the City of New York, the JDC - the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York.

Presented in connection with Letters to Afar, an immersive video art installation co-presented by YIVO and the Museum of the City of New York (October 22, 2014-March 31, 2015).

For centuries, Poland was home to the world's largest Jewish population—totaling 3.5 million in 1939, before the Holocaust all but extinguished their world. Today the culture has made a small comeback. On the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto stands the new Museum of the History of Polish Jews, a project supported by the Polish government in a strong statement of tolerance. As the community finds its way to a new life, how does it see itself, its legacy, and its relationship to the national culture? Speakers from Poland and New York will explore 21st-century Jewish life in Poland, followed by a kosher wine and Polish food reception, live Klezmer music, and a viewing of the exhibition Letters to Afar.

Dr. Agi Legutko, Lecturer in Yiddish & Director of the Yiddish Language Program, Columbia University
Jonthan Ornstein, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) Krakow
Agatha Rakowiecka, Executive Director of the JCC Warsaw
Urszula Gacek, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York