So that Our songs will be sung again,

Our stories retold,

Our achievements, lauded,

Our joys celebrated...

...We ask you to join with us in support of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews

on behalf of the north american council, i invite you on a journey. It is the journey that our parents and grandparents, and theirs in turn, took. It is a journey through our civilization and culture, our scholarship and philosophy, our successes and, sadly, our near destruction. A journey spanning 1,000 years of the history of Polish Jewry. It is a journey through the Museum of the

History of Polish Jews.

Opening in 2012, The Museum of the History of Polish Jews—which even now is rising on hallowed ground at the center of what was once the Warsaw Ghetto—will stand in tribute to the scholars and rabbis, authors and artists, philosophers and business leaders, shoemakers and trades-people, tailors and wagon drivers, who came together to shape and influence, not only Jewish history in Poland, but the history of Western Civilization. This civilization came to an abrupt halt under German occupation that forever singed the soil of Poland.

Today, we have an opportunity to work in partnership with the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the City of Warsaw, which are providing the land and funds for the construction and operations of the Museum’s building.

In celebration of Poland’s vibrant Jewish history, we invite the American Jewish community, 70 percent of whom trace their ancestry to Poland, to help support the exhibitions and programming of the Museum.To paraphrase my role model and our great benefactor, Tad Taube, the historical legacy of Jewish life in Poland has undeniably served as the cornerstone of Western Civilization.

Join us, as we stand in awe of what was achieved. Join us, in breathless admiration of who we once were and who we are. Join us, in preserving our history and our voice for now and for generations to come. With your support, future generations may also take this journey with admiration and awe.

Join us.

Those who visit the Museum of the History of Polish Jews will begin their journey through 1,000 years of the history of Polish Jews at

the memorial to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, which stands in defiant memory on the square across from the museum.

A Message from Sigmund Rolat, Chairman

The North American Council is a nonprofit organization supporting the mission of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews by raising crucial funds

for the permanent exhibition and educational programs.

for nearly 1,000 years, poland welcomed Jews—many of whom had been expelled from neigh-

boring European communities—and granted them a

safe haven. In every aspect of life, whether in culture,

scholarship, art or business, the millions of Jews who

once called Poland home led a life on par with their

non-Jewish neighbors, and unmatched anywhere in the world, so

that by the end of the 19th century, Jews were an estimated ten

percent of the population of Polish lands, and made up half, some-

times more, of the urban population.

The Museum of the History of Polish Jews—a center for education

and culture—is dedicated to preserving the lasting legacy of Jewish

life in Poland and of the civilization created by Polish Jews over the

course of a millennium. The Museum will foster respect for Jewish

tradition and culture and stimulate dialogue in the spirit of mutual

acceptance and tolerance.

As we take this journey together to experience the story—the story

of what came before, what came after, and what is yet to come—

we will learn our own story. It is the story of our patrimony, of our

grandparents, our mothers and fathers. It is a proud story.

a tale to tell

This is Our Story

t his will be a place unliKe any other. A museum unlike any we have known. It will stand

as a celebration of the Jewish existence in Poland

and inform future generations wishing to discover a

people who shaped world history. This museum will

breathe life into artifacts and give a pulse to manu-

scripts and photographs. It will come alive with sound and light.

Vibrate with music and expression. It will enlighten the visitor

with stories of the Polish Jewish Everyman and the Polish Jewish

Genius. Stories of the Shtetl and The Palace, of the lives Jews lived

and the dreams they dreamed.

museum overview

A Place Unlike any Other

Using a wide variety of primary sources, media, and cutting-edge technology, the Museum will create evocative environments, engrossing narratives, and interactive installations that encourage visitors to explore subjects in depth.

More a “theater of history” than a conventional exhibition of objects and labels, galleries will creatively engage the minds and hearts of diverse visitors of all

nations and ages, especially children.

A Journey of a Thousand Years

architects ilmari lahdelma and

rainer mahlamaki of helsinki,

finland, won the first international

competition for the design of a public

building in poland.

the museum represents a partnership between the polish ministry of culture and national heritage and the city of warsaw, which are providing the land

and funds for the construction and operations of the museum’s building.

event communications of london, a world-class design team, is creating

the galleries for a multimedia narrative experience.

the design evokes the parting

of the red sea. ParadisUsJUdeorUM

inTo THecoUnTry

leGacy

firsT encoUnTers

approximately 500,000 visitors are expected annually:

50 percent from abroad, most from the u.s. and israel.

barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, professor

of performance studies at new york university,

serves as the head of the core exhibition

planning team.

an education center will host school groups

and a student exchange. facilities for conferences,

lectures, symposia, film screenings,

performances, and temporary exhibitions will also be available.

construction began in 2009, and the

museum will open in 2012.

the museum will encompass

104,000 square feet, with more

than 45,000 square feet devoted to

the core exhibition.

THesTreeT

PosTWaryears

HolocaUsT

encoUnTers WiTH ModerniTy

the museum galleries

First Encounters10th - 15th centuries

The Beginnings of the Jewish Settlement in the Polish lands

from poland’s very foundinG, the earliest Jews who came to settle were craftspeople and mer-

chants with wares to sell. They were welcomed by a

tolerant government. Influential in advancing the

commercial interests of the land, their freedom to

worship, trade and travel was protected—something

that was unique in a medieval Christian Europe. And while there

were accusations of “blood libel” as well as disputes between Jewish

and non-Jewish neighbors, Jews still did not face the restrictions and

oppressions common in other European countries.

Casimir the Great welcomed Jews to Poland with open arms. Migrat-

ing primarily from Germany, Jews settled in lands called Ashkenaz

in the 14th and 15th centuries, where they thrived and began to form

a middle class in a community that was largely divided between

wealthy land owners and peasants. When in 1492, Jews were expelled

from Spain and Portugal, Poland again became a place of refuge.

With increased population, a new vibrancy rose in the community,

leading to the Golden Age of Polish Jewry.

Visitors will begin their journey by entering a symbolic “forest” filled with the sounds of texts from this period. as they leave the forest and wander further

through the gallery, they will be enchanted by archeological finds and documents chronicling Jewish life in this era, including a tombstone from the silesia region, the oldest known artifact confirming the Jewish historical presence in the land.

The highlight will be the full reconstruction of a 15th century Jewish home.

the museum galleries

Paradisus Judeorum16th - mid 17th centuries

The “Golden Age” of Polish Jewry

by the 16th century, poland became a safe haven for Jews from across Europe, many of whom

were fleeing persecution from religious strife. For

hundreds of years more Jews lived in Poland than

anywhere else in the world. Jews were largely held in

favor by their neighbors, as well as by the country’s

leadership and prospered as never before. The Va’ad Arba’ Artzot,

the (Jewish) Council of the Four Lands (of Poland), was the only

Jewish executive political body to exist between the destruction

of the Second Temple and the creation of the Jewish Agency in

Palestine. With a continued influx of Jews, the community’s wealth

increased to the point where, for many, earning a living could

be temporarily set aside in favor of study, and the acquisition of

Talmudic knowledge and concentration on scholarship became

increasingly prevalent. The Shulchan Aruch, the monumental

codification of Jewish law, was adopted for Ashkenazi practice by

Rabbi Moshe Isserles in Krakow and yeshivot thrived across the

lands. The resulting scholarship influences Jewish observance and

belief to this day.

in this gallery, visitors will examine a scale model of the Jewish quarter in the city of Krakow. They will also interact with exhibits that illuminate the

blossoming of Jewish scholarship during the period when Poland became one of the most significant communities in the diaspora. a “Virtual library” of Hebrew

and yiddish religious literature of this period will illustrate the complex Talmudic thought scholars of this era produced.

the museum galleries

Into the Country16th - mid 17th centuries

in the 17th and 18th centuries, polish cities declined and the Polish market town, known as the shtetl in

Yiddish, emerged as the center of Jewish life. Jewish

communities rooted themselves in these towns, playing key

roles in the Polish agricultural economy. Wealthier Jews did

business with the Polish landowners, while poorer Jews

served the peasants, typically once a week on market day. Towards

the end of this period, as the Polish state was being partitioned

by the powerful empires that surrounded it, a new movement

of Jewish renewal called Hasidism began to reinvigorate Jewish

tradition and religious practice.

Up until this period, Talmudic study had been commonplace among

Jews. Yet, with a drop in wealth, only a limited number of students

entered yeshivot. Hasidism, an impassioned sect of Judaism, emerged

and has influenced Orthodox Judaism into modern times. Kabbalah,

Jewish mysticism, also reemerged, now under the influence of

Hasidism. Dynasties of elite scholars were established, including

Chabad Lubavitch and many other Hasidic Courts, commonly known

in the present day. Some Jews started to consider a more secular

lifestyle, and the first fissure within the once-homogenous Jewish

community came about, thus creating the early roots of Jewish

affiliations commonplace today.

Under the reconstructed vault of a wooden synagogue from this era, visitors will experience the look and feel of the most central building in these

Jewish communities. other multi-media presentations will allow visitors to explore Jewish texts authored during this period.

the museum galleries

Encounters with Modernitylate 18th century to WWi

Tradition Renewed and Challenged: Jews under Three Empires

from the end of the 18th century throuGh the end of World War I, Polish lands were ruled by Ger-

man, Austrian, and Russian empires, making a lasting

impact on the lives of an estimated four million Jews

who called this region home. The period is marked

by a move to an industrial economy in which Jews

prospered. Official government policies wavered between harsh and

enlightened; enforcement of tolerant laws was haphazard at best.

While Jews were encouraged to pursue a secular education and

obtain professional skills, they also faced double taxation in lieu

of army service. For those who had to choose the army, sons were

often victims of forced conversion. This period was also marked by a

deeper and growing split in the Jewish community: while many Jews

still held fervently to their religious faith, others stepped outside

Judaism’s boundaries to embrace modernity.

installations in this gallery will project montages of images graphically displaying life in the emerging cities and industrial centers: railroad stations,

factories, socialist and Zionist activism, the rise of a modern Jewish culture in yiddish and Hebrew, as well as in Polish and russian. Visitors will understand

how the lives of Jews changed as they became subjects of three partitioning empires, each with changing laws governing the Jewish community and

varying degrees of tolerance for it.

the museum galleries

The Street1918 – 1939

Into Modernity: Shaping a New Polish Jewish World

from 1918 throuGh 1939, 3.5 million jews lived as citizens of a reborn Polish state: the Second

Polish Republic. While political anti-Semitism grew

during these years, Jews were largely free to pursue

their lives as they saw fit. They voted in national, muni-

cipal and Jewish council elections, attended both

public and private, secular and religious schools, created literature

and scholarship in Polish, Yiddish, and Hebrew. They became

prominent members of the Polish intelligentsia, literary, and arts

communities (e.g., Brzechwa, Tuwim, Korczak). Propelled by the

energy of masses of young people, they founded political parties,

sports clubs, musical societies, theater companies (professional

and amateur), libraries, literary societies, hospitals, and a wide

range of charitable organizations. Some Jews began to think of

themselves as Poles of the Jewish faith, but most saw themselves as

Polish Jews, a Jewish nationality in a multinational Polish state.

The divisions were often most evident at the family dinner table:

one child might be a pious Yeshiva student, while his brothers

and sisters might be Communists, Bundists, or Zionists.

Visitors will stroll through a full-size recreation of a main street in the Jewish quarter of Warsaw. Video projections on the facades of buildings will introduce

the visitor to the life of this era; gates will open into courtyards in which various aspects of culture, politics, and daily life are presented.

the museum galleries

Holocaust1939 – 1945

The Near-Destruction of Polish Jewry

in the years leadinG up to the holocaust,anti-Semitism mounted and “blood libel” rumors arose again as

Poles often resented their Yiddish-speaking neighbors. When

Germany marched into Poland in 1939, all Jewish property

and businesses were nationalized and within a day, Jewish

schools, as well as Polish and Jewish media, were shut down.

Several hundred synagogues were destroyed by the Germans who

often forced Jews to commit the destruction themselves. Germany

ordered all Jews to register with the state, and the punishment for

helping a Jew was immediate death.

By the end of 1941, Jews were forced to wear the Jewish star arm band

and were openly beaten in the streets. The Warsaw Ghetto, along

with other town Ghettos, was established to confine Jews. Severe

overcrowding, starvation, lice, and typhoid caused incalculable

deaths. The Nazi “Final Solution” was carried out in German-

occupied Poland where all but a tiny fraction of Jews perished in the

death camps of Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, Belzec, Sobibor,

and Chelmno. Yet, despite all odds, countless Jews resisted their Nazi

oppressors in myriad ways, from cultural creation to armed combat:

above all, simply by staying alive.

documents from the Warsaw and lodz Ghettos and from many other towns in Poland will be used to present the life and death, and life in the shadow of death of Poland’s 3.5 million Jews. The gallery cannot attempt to replicate the events

of the Holocaust, but seeks to allow visitors to understand the extreme situations and tragic moments in which Jews found themselves.

the museum galleries

Post War Years1945 to date

Polish Jews after the Holocaust

followinG the war, poland came under direct Communist Soviet control. With all but 300,000

of Poland’s more-than three million Jews having

perished, with a once vibrant Jewish community in

physical and spiritual tatters, its families severed

and businesses gone forever, those who survived

faced shattered lives. The Polish Zionist movement combined with

the genocide of the Holocaust had a decisive impact on the vision

for the creation of the State of Israel. Jews left Poland in waves

for Israel or other lands. Following the death of Stalin in 1956, the

borders opened resulting in another wave of Jewish emigration

from Poland. In 1968, a so-called anti-Zionist campaign waged by

the government forced many Jews, even those who worked in the

government, out of the country. Nevertheless, a Jewish presence,

however small, remained in Poland.

The Solidarity movement, beginning in the early 1980s, fought the

communist system and finally toppled it in 1989. Interest in the

Jewish past began to grow among young Poles. In post-communist

Poland, a small Jewish community revived, bolstered by widespread

mainstream interest in Jewish culture, past and present.

set against a backdrop of a panorama of the destruction, will be testimonies of those who survived the horrors of the Holocaust. Their voices will stand as

a stalwart expression of determination to survive and preserve the memory of those who perished. This gallery will focus on Poland’s Jewish community after

the Holocaust and the increasing Polish fascination with its Jewish past.

the museum galleries

Legacy

Accomplishments Beyond Compare

the impact of the polish jewish community is felt throughout the world. Beginning with the

migration from the Polish lands of some three million

Jews in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, through

the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Holocaust

survivors, and through the most recent migrations

of 1956 and 1968, Polish Jews have been scattered throughout

the world. They have built the State of Israel and shaped hundreds

of Jewish communities in North and South America, Western

Europe, and South Africa. Their accomplishments in art, scholar-

ship, religion, media, science, and business are beyond compare.

No people, who were once persecuted, orphaned, and penniless have

gone on to achieve such staggering heights. They are the social

scientists and Nobel laureates of the world. They have graced our

walls with stunning artwork and left us breathless with their music.

They have educated us in secular and religious subjects and enriched

our understanding of economics, psychology, and medicine. Each of

us owes a debt of gratitude to the Polish Jews who have transformed

our understanding of the world around us and brought infinite

pleasure to our daily lives. This gallery will mark their eternal legacy

and focus on hope for the future of the Polish Jewish community.

This gallery will illustrate the lasting legacy of Polish Jewry with examples of their achievements in such areas as: architecture, entertainment, classical music,

mathematics, the military, religion, medicine, linguistics, drama, film, popular culture, art, literature, politics, economics, and science.

since the end of world war ii, the jewish footprint in Poland has been gradually erased. Today, however, although the Jewish population of Poland remains small, Jewish presence in public conscious-ness is large. There is a new eagerness to understand that the story of Poland is not complete without the

story of Polish Jews: that the vibrant, once-burgeoning Jewish com-munity of Poland influenced history in ways that are beyond compare. At the same time, throughout the world, the descendants of Polish Jews are increasingly interested in knowing the story of the world from which their ancestors emigrated.

From its symbolic architecture to its all-engaging galleries, The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is a portal into that story. No trip to Warsaw, indeed to Poland, will be complete without visiting the Museum.

It is our duty to make certain that this story is told, that this theater of history comes alive. This is our part of the journey: to ensure that, though the lives of millions may be lost, through us our songs will be sung again, our stories retold, our achievements lauded, and our joys celebrated.

Join us.

Please Support Our Mission

A Blessing; A Duty: A Call to Action

firsT roW (L-R): Kazimierz Brandys, daniel libeskind, Meir shapiro, david Miliband, esther Wertheimer, Max Weber, isidor isaac rabi.

second roW (L-R): simon Wiesenthal, Jacob epstein, ida fink, albert sabin, albert abraham Michelson, Henry roth, Boris Kaufman.

THird roW (L-R): Benoît Mandelbrot, Benny Goodman, emanuel ax, isaac Bashevis singer, Hannah Krall, Gideon Hausner, Mordechai Gebirtig.

foUrTH roW (L-R): nelly Ben-or, sholem asch, elie nadelman, abraham foxman, sir George Henschel, Bronislaw Huberman, solomon asch.

fifTH roW (L-R): Marek edelman, Billy Wilder, adam Michnik, arthur Miller, ida Kaminska, shmuel yosef agnon, ludwik Zamenhof.

sixTH roW (L-R): Mordecai ardon, J. d. salinger, Hyman rickover, Helena rubinstein, Joseph roth, Paul Muni, Jack Warner.

seVenTH roW (L-R): Władysław szpilman, ida Haendel, avraham stern, frank owen Gehry, artur schnabel, alicia appleman-Jurman, yitzhak Halevi Herzog.

eiGHTH roW (L-R): raphael lemkin, Jacob Bronowski, samuel Goldwyn, anna Held, david dubinsky, Janusz Korczak, yitzak rabin.

ninTH roW (L-R): shimon Peres, arthur rubinstein, Myer Prinstein, abraham ribicoff, israel Meir lau, Wanda landowska, eddie rosner.

TenTH roW (L-R): erna rosenstein, Zeev Ben-Zvi, agnieszka Holland, Marian Hemar, Jacob Talmon, arthur Hertzberg, Zuzanna Ginczanka.

desiGn and concePTUal direcTion: Jessica WeBer desiGn, inc. / WWW.JWdnyc.coM. arTWorK coUrTesy: laHdelMa & MaHlaMaKi; eVenT coMMUnicaTions; THe MUseUM of THe HisTory of PolisH JeWs; Jessica WeBer desiGn, inc.