News
"ABCs of Christian- Polish-Jewish Relations" course started
On 8th November at the Auschwitz Memorial Site, the inaugural course of “ABCs of Christian- and Polish-Jewish Relations” was held. 49 individuals took part in the course — including students, post-graduates, teachers and educators as well as pastoral workers, catechists, guides, the staff of museums and other cultural institutions and the media. Classes will run until April next year.
“The “ABCs of Christian- and Polish-Jewish Relations” originated in Kraków, where it has already had three editions. It was created upon the initiative Dr Maciej Kozłowski, then with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in order to broaden the education of Catholics in the subject of these relations,” said Fr. prof. Łukasz Kamykowski, PhD, from the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków. “Since the Institute, who runs it, has in its activities promotion of Church dialogue and the knowledge of Church dialogue with other religious communities and religious groups, it was apparent that due to the history of Kraków and the proximity of the Auschwitz Memorial Site, the Jewish issue will have a permanent place in this. I want to thank the Museum for their welcome cooperation and for taking part in the organisational work,” added Fr. prof. Kamykowski.
The aim of this project is, among others, deepening of the knowledge of the history of Jews and Judaism, presentation of the history and the current teachings of the Catholic Church on Judaism, to raise awareness of the Holocaust as well as knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms giving birth to intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism and development of the skills to overcome prejudices and stereotypes. Classes will run until April next year.
“The educational projects carried out at the Memorial Site relate primarily to the history of KL Auschwitz, but it is essential to broaden the knowledge of other issues. This is evidenced by the huge interest in the course, and thus the lectures,” said Marta Berecka, Educational Project Manager at the ICEAH.
The entire course includes a series of monographic lectures and classes and workshops, which are conducted at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Students will learn, among other things, issues concerning the history of the Jews in Europe from antiquity to the present, the history and spirituality of the Polish Jews, the Christian theology of Judaism and interreligious dialogue as well as information regarding the genesis and effects of anti-Semitism, the history of Nazism and the history of the Jewish Holocaust. The course will also address issues concerning the modern history of Israel and Polish-Jewish and Polish-Israeli relations.
An essential element of the programme is a visit to the Auschwitz Memorial Site and workshops utilising the source materials from the collections and archives of the Museum. Participants will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the history of the Auschwitz camp and the accounts of witnesses.
Students and post-graduates, upon completion of a written exam, will receive 4 credits. The remaining participants will receive a certificate of completion of the course. The organisers of the course are: the Institute of Fundamental Theology, the Faculty of Theology: Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust through the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Centre for Dialogue and Prayer in Oświęcim and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
