THE MICHEL DE  MONTAIGNE       POLISH-FRENCH FOUNDATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES

„SEARCHING FOR MEMORY AND DIALOGUE
- BIALYSTOK 65 YEARS LATER".

The Conference is organized under the patronage of the University and the city of Bialystok, and the region of Podlasie.

The symbol of this Gathering is the broken dome of the Great Bialystok Synagogue burnt down by the Nazis with 2000 Jewish men, women and children inside - intertwined with a rose of remembrance and hope for the future.

The principal aim of the conference is to help build a dialogue and a new space of understanding in Polish-Jewish relations. We feel that Bialystok, situated on the eastern border of the European Union is a an ideal place for such a debate, because our city has been, for many centuries, a unique and famous center of industrial, cultural and religious life in which the Jews have played such a major role.

Our keynote speaker and principal witness will be Dr. Samuel Pisar, a native of Bialystok, a survivor of Auschwitz, a world renowned author and international lawyer in New York, Paris and London. In his universally acclaimed book, "Of Blood and Hope", he has described his happy childhood before this town was occupied in 1939 by the Soviets and in 1941 by the Nazis, destroying everyone and everything around him.

The heroic uprising of the Bialystok Ghetto in 1943, after those of Warsaw and Lodz, ended with the deportation of its 60 thousand Jewish inhabitants and more than 200 thousand others from the region of Podlasie, to the extermination camps. Today many descendants of Bialystok Jews - in Israel, Europe, America, Australia and elsewhere - and many Poles, young and old, are deeply interested in our Gathering. We look forward to welcoming as many of them as possible.

We have received support for this endeavor from Madam Simone Veil, former President of the European Parliament, Mr Richard Prasquier, President of the French Jewish Community, His Excellency Shimon Peres, President of Israel, Chief Rabbi Meir Lau, Chairman of Yad Vashem, and other eminent Jewish personalities worldwide.

Prezydent, Zarząd i Rada
Polsko-Francuskiej Fundacji  Nowych Praktyk Demokratycznych
im. Michela de Montaigne

Dr  Grażyna Olszewska – Baka
Dr Alexandre Kurc

* Informacje organizacyjne znajdują się na stronie internetowej Konferencji: www.searchingmemory.pl

 ADRES  KORESPONDENCYJNY  KONFERENCJI:

Polsko-Francuska Fundacja Nowych Praktyk Demokratycznych
im. Michela de Montaigne

15-277 Białystok,  ul. Świętojańska 12
tel./fax. + 48 85 732 46 42,  
e-mail: fondation@networks.pl,   

Strona internetowa Fundacji: www.nowademokracja.pl