Mordechai Anielewicz Centre for the Study and Teaching of the History and Culture of Jews in Poland. In the autumn of 1983, a seminar devoted to the study of Jewish history in Poland was established at the Historical Institute of the Warsaw University. in 1990, J. Filderbaum, doctor honoris causa at the Warsaw University, established the Jack Fliderbaum Foundation, which made it possible to create a centre with 3 employees, led by J. Tomaszewski; in 1998 the centre employed two professors, an assistant and a Yiddish language teacher. The Centre also organised lectures on Jewish history for upper-year students at the Faculty of History, which were also open to students from other departments. A number of noted academics from other institutions, such as rev. M. Czajkowski, I. Gutman, J. Goldberg, J. Malinowski, M. and K. Piechotka and A. Polonsky are frequently invited as guest lecturers. The Centre also offers Hebrew and Yiddish language courses as well as seminars at both the master’s and doctor’s degree level. Currently the Centre also organises tutorials and seminars incorporated into the general curriculum of the Historical Institute, pertaining to the history of Polish Jews. The second task of the Centre is the education of academic staff who are able to take advantage of a plethora of sources and literature in Hebrew and Yiddish. Another important form of support are the scholarships granted by the Centre, including, in particular, the Hebrew University, the Fulbright Foundation, the Kościuszko Foundation as well as the Centre for Jewish Studies in Oxford.
The third task of the Centre is conducting historical research as well as research on Jewish culture, the publication of the results of such research as well as dissemination of the information on the history of Polish Jews among Polish readers by publishing works based upon the research conducted by both Polish and foreign researchers. The employees of the Centre participate in research conferences, consultation groups, editorial teams of various magazines as well as doctoral and postdoctoral study programmes; they also conduct lectures at other universities in both Poland and abroad.
The most significant works published at the initiative of the Centre include:
- J. Adelson, T. Prekerowa, J. Tomaszewski, P. Wróbel, Najnowsze dzieje Żydów w Polsce w zarysie (do 1950 roku) [An Outline of the Modern History of Polish Jews (until 1950)], J. Tomaszewski (ed), Warsaw 1993;
- I. Gutman, Żydzi warszawscy 1939-1943. Getto -podziemie -walka [The Jews of Warsaw in Years 1939-1943. The Ghetto, the Underground, the Struggle], Warsaw 1993;
- A. Hartglas, Na pograniczu dwóch światów [Between Two Worlds], compilation and foreword by J. Żyndul, Warsaw 1966;
- M. Marrus, Holocaust. Historiografia [The Holocaust – A Historiography], Warsaw 1993;
- E. Mendelsohn, Żydzi Europy środkowo-wschodniej w okresie międzywojennym [The Jews of Central and Eastern Europe During the Interwar Period], Warsaw 1992;
- Żydzi w obronie Rzeczypospolitej. Materiały konferencji w Warszawie 17 i 18 października 1933 r. [Jews in Defence of the Commonwealth. Materials from the conference held on October 17 and 18, 1933 in Warsaw], Warsaw 1996.
Jerzy Tomaszewski
Quoted after: Tomaszewski J., Żbikowski A., Żydzi w Polsce. Dzieje i kultura. Leksykon. [Jews in Poland – Their History and Culture. A Lexicon.], , Warsaw 2001.
