THE ABRAHAM J. HESCHEL CENTER FOR CATHOLIC-JEWISH RELATIONS THE JOHN PAUL II CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF LUBLIN

Sixty years after the publication of Nostra aetate, the Church and the Jewish community continue to ask themselves the same question: can humanity truly live together? During the international conference "After Nostra aetate (1965–2025). Evaluation and Dreams" at the Higher Theological Seminary in Łódź, participants were called upon to… Read more… »

Sixty years ago, the Catholic Church opened a new chapter in its relations with non-Christian religions. The 1965 declaration Nostra aetate changed language, thinking, and hearts. The significance of its message in Catholic-Jewish dialogue will be discussed by participants at the international conference “After Nostra Aetate (1965-2025). Evaluation and… Read more… »

During the war, they helped Jews, and after 1945, they themselves experienced persecution. Evidence of the nuns' activities, hidden for years in monastery archives, is now becoming part of academic research and collective memory. This is the subject of the 53rd National Conference of Monastic Historians, co-organized by the… Read more… »

At the headquarters of the Heschel Center at the Catholic University of Lublin, on Spokojna Street, in the room where German Nazis planned and coordinated the extermination of approximately two million Jews during Operation Reinhardt, Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, met with the rector… Read more… »

Thirty-four years ago, on October 19, 1991, Father Jan Zieja died in Warsaw. He was a chaplain during the Polish-Bolshevik War and World War II, as well as a collaborator of the Council for Aid to Jews “Żegota” and co-founder of the Workers' Defense Committee. His life was a… Read more… »

Unknown testimonies, forgotten archives and thousands of sisters who operated in the shadows. The National Academic Conference of Religious Historians, co-organized by the Heschel Center of the Catholic University of Lublin, will be held in Warsaw on October 22-23. The event will highlight the role of female religious congregations… Read more… »

84 years ago, doing good became a crime. On October 15, 1941, Hans Frank signed a decree that imposed the death penalty for helping Jews in occupied Poland. From that moment on, any gesture of solidarity – a slice of bread, shelter, a warning – could cost someone their… Read more… »

Crossroads of the Covenant: Christian-Jewish Dialogue and Its Multifaceted Implications is a new online course held by the Heschel Center at the Catholic University of Lublin. It's open to everyone and free of charge. The course will be led by Dr. Faydra Shapiro, who has been teaching at universities… Read more… »

83 years ago, on October 10, 1942, the Germans introduced a total ban on the baptism of Jews in all Christian rites within the territory of the General Government. This order by the occupiers must be seen in connection with the ongoing Operation Reinhardt at the time. Although, under… Read more… »

The Jewish tradition of setting up sukkahs next to residential buildings is returning to Polish cities. It is connected with Sukkot, which began on Monday evening and is known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths. In Poland, the name “Kuczki” has also become popular – it… Read more… »

Sukkot – Feast of Tabernacles. Commemorating the exodus from Egypt, during which the Israelites lived in tents in the desert, Jews stayed, prayed, and ate in temporary, hand-built huts for seven consecutive days. Sukkot is one of the three great pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh Regalim – Three Pilgrimages), during… Read more… »

88 years ago, on October 6, 1937, Blessed Barbara Ulma, one of the seven children of Blessed Wiktoria and Józef Ulma, was born in Markowa. Her short life, cut short by the German occupiers, became part of a story of courage and solidarity that connects the memory of Poles… Read more… »

On October 2, 1940, the governor of the Warsaw district, Ludwig Fischer, signed an order establishing a “Jewish district” in the capital of occupied Poland. The news was made public only on October 12, on Yom Kippur – the most important Jewish holiday. That day, loudspeakers on the streets… Read more… »

October 1 marks 12 years since the death of Israel Gutman – a boy from the Warsaw Ghetto, a fighter, a prisoner of Majdanek and Auschwitz, and after the war, one of the most outstanding historians of the Holocaust. His life, full of drama, also became a mission to… Read more… »

Day of Atonement – the most solemn day of the year in the Jewish calendar. Dr. Faydra Shapiro, a specialist in contemporary Jewish-Christian relations from the Israel Center for Jewish-Christian Relations in Galilee, speaks about the spiritual and biblical meaning of Yom Kippur for the Heschel Center.On Yom Kippur, everyone… Read more… »

Today, the Brama Grodzka Center NN Theater hosted an international seminar entitled “Shtetl Routes Network Incubator,” summarizing over a year of activities carried out as part of the “Mi dor le dor Europe” project, which brings together cultural and educational organizations in Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Greece, and Germany. … Read more… »

On the occasion of Rosh ha-Shanah, Polish President Karol Nawrocki extended words of support to the Jewish community in Poland, wishing them health, peace, and joy during their family celebrations.… Read more… »

May the immense goodness of the Eternal One be close to your community and accompany all efforts to deepen friendship between us, in the city of Rome and throughout the world, wrote Pope Leo XIV in a telegram to the Chief Rabbi of Rome on the occasion of Rosh… Read more… »

Sienna 82 St. in Warsaw. This is the new address of the headquarters of the Pilecki Institute, whose goal is to research, commemorate, and educate about totalitarian regimes and their victims. The functional modernist building commemorates, among others, the victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust, as well as Poles who… Read more… »

He helped save the lives of at least a dozen people – and according to some accounts, more than 20. Today, the descendants of those saved say that thanks to the courage of the Polish priest, Father Zygmunt Dziedziak, several dozen people representing subsequent generations are still alive. “If… Read more… »

It has been two years since the beatification of the Ulma family from Markowa. This is the first time in the history of the Polish Church that an entire family has been beatified. The anniversary coincides with the National Day of Polish Children of War. A year ago,… Read more… »

Today at 4 p.m. at the Sobibór Memorial Site, on the grounds of the former German extermination camp, a panel discussion entitled "40 Years After ‘Shoah’. The Holocaust in the light of Claude Lanzmann's documentary.“ The event inaugurated an international conference entitled ”Death trains – rail transports to German… Read more… »

The IMAGINE Culture without Borders Music Festival opened on Thursday, August 14, in Kazimierz Dolny with the world premiere of a one-act opera by American composer William Goldstein. The international event, dedicated to fostering dialogue between Polish and Jewish cultures, takes place in one of Poland’s most important historic centers of… Read more… »

“Paper cuttings are a powerful expression of both Polish and Jewish culture,” said Princess Irina zu Sayn-Wittgenstein at the opening of Smoke (Dym), an exhibition of intricate works inspired by Polish and Jewish folk motifs from the Lublin region. The event took place on Thursday, August 14, at the Celejowska Tenement,… Read more… »