On 4 July official commemoration events will take place in Kielce, Poland.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Kielce Pogrom – the deadliest outbreak of violence against Jews in Poland after the Second World War.
The event was incited by a false claim that a Polish boy called Henryk Błaszczyk had been kidnapped by Jews. Soldiers accompanied by local residents surrounded a building of the local Jewish Committee on 7 Planty Street, killing and violently beating those found inside after hearing a shot being fired by an unidentified person. By day's end, 42 Jews had been killed and 40 more injured. In the aftermath of the pogrom, 39 people were put on trial, nine of which were later sentenced to death. The event sparked fear among Jewish community, prompting the first mass flight of Jews from Poland after the war.
To mark the anniversary, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Institute of National Remembrance, National Centre of Culture and European Network Remembrance and Solidarity invite to an event dedicated to the Kielce Pogrom that will be held in Kielce on 4 July 2016. ENRS will be represented by Prof. Jan Rydel, chairman of the Steering Committee of ENRS.
The program of the event goes as follows:
70th anniversary of the tragic events of 4 July 1946
9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Debate: Anti-Semitism as a tool of the communist regime. Questions, hypotheses, interpretations
Participants:
- Gennady Estraikh, New York University
- Hubertus Knabe, Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial
- András Kovács, Central European University
- Szewach Weiss, the Yad Vashem Council,
- Chair: Jan Rydel, European Network Remembrance and Solidarity
English translation will be provided.
Venue: Dom Środowisk Twórczych, Pałac T. Zielińskiego, 5 Zamkowa Street
12:00 p.m. Wreath-laying ceremony with the representatives of Polish government at 7/9 Planty Street
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Debate: Researchers on the events of 4 July 1946 in Kielce. Questions, hypotheses, interpretations accompanied by screening of the documentary Henio by Andrzej Miłosz and Piotr Weychert
Participants:
- Grzegorz Berendt, Institute of National Remembrance, Detachment in Gdańsk
- Bożena Szaynok, University of Wrocław
- Ryszard Śmietanka-Kruszelnicki, Institute of National Remembrance, Detachment in Kielce
- Chair: Dorota Koczwańska-Kalita, Institute of National Remembrance, Detachment in Kielce
English translation will be provided.
Venue: Dom Środowisk Twórczych, Pałac T. Zielińskiego, 5 Zamkowa Street
Organizers: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Institute of National Remembrance - Kielce Delegation, National Centre of Culture and European Network Remembrance and Solidarity
Honorary Patron: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Patrons: Voivode of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Mayor of Kielce, NSZZ Solidarność, Bishop of Kielce Jan Piotrowski
Media partners: Radio Kielce, TVP3 Kielce, Radio eM, wyborcza.pl Kielce, ITV Kielce, Echo Dnia, Niedziela Kielecka