A shared concern for the memory and heritage of local heroes became the focus of this year's Forum of Partners of the “Called by Name” Program. This initiative, which has been running since 2019, honors Poles and commemorates Jews murdered by the Germans during rescue operations. On November 14, local government officials, educators, scouts, museum curators, and local leaders met at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw to discuss building an intergenerational community of memory.
Intergenerational dialogue in the spotlight
This year's meeting was held under the motto “Together for remembrance – in intergenerational dialogue,” which emphasizes the community nature of the “Called by Name” program. It brings together representatives of various communities around the idea of responsibility for historical memory and its cultivation in local communities.
The forum brought together people who are involved in building local communities of memory on a daily basis. The program included discussion panels, presentations of the experiences of program partners, and talks about future directions for cooperation. The event opened with a lecture “Truth and Power: The Extermination of Jews in Postwar Political Narratives,” delivered by Łukasz Mieszkowski, deputy director of the Pilecki Institute for History in Public Space.
Various thematic workshops
The next item on the agenda was workshops aimed at specific audiences – teachers, historians, social activists, representatives of cultural institutions, as well as young people involved in councils and scouting organizations. The topics concerned the safety and protection of cultural property, historical education, and the presence of young people
The Forum culminated in a concert by the Mus Arietes choir and Monika Urlik dedicated to the memory of those honored as part of the “Called by Name” program.
The meeting in Warsaw provided an opportunity to summarize the program's activities to date and prepare for the celebration of the National Day of Remembrance of Poles Saving Jews under German Occupation, which falls on March 24.
Less than a month ago, the 100th person was honored as part of the “Called by Name” program. On October 28, in Biedaczów near Leżajsk, a stone with a plaque commemorating Jakub Tokarz, a resident of the village who paid the ultimate price for hiding the Jewish Rimler family during World War II, was unveiled.
___________________
Heschel Center News