Past Lesson Future Insight Conference

Overview

The conference aims to present topics related to groups of Holocaust victims that have received less attention in academic research, such as the sick and elderly, children, women, homosexual communities, and Roma. The main goal is to demonstrate the consequences of past policies of exclusion, prejudice, and hate-based ideology. Both experts and students will present their research findings during the conference, fostering intergenerational dialogue. The knowledge gained during the conference will allow young people to better understand both past and present discrimination.

Conference Programme

11:00 – 11:30 Registration and coffee

11:30 – 11:45 Opening

Welcome: Dr. Agnieszka Gawlas-Zajączkowska, Project Director at the Jagiellonian University

Welcome remarks, Project presentation

Prof. Piotr Bajor, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations and Political Studies, Jagiellonian University

Prof. Kinga Gajda, Director of the Institute of European Studies, Jagiellonian University

11:45 – 13:00 Part one

Moderator: Bartosz Kwieciński, Jagiellonian University

Speakers:

Agnieszka Gawlas-Zajaczkowska, Jagiellonian University

“The Elderly and the Sick: Nazi Ideology and Survival Strategies, an Example from the  Krakow Ghetto”

Agnieszka Witkowska – Krych, Pilecki Institute Warsaw

“Children in Need Living in the Warsaw Ghetto (1940-1943). Places and Forms of Support”

Rafał Syska, Jagiellonian University

“Invisible Identity, Hidden Suffering & Child Victims: Fred Zinnemann’s The Search in the Context of American Holocaust Cinema of the 1940s and 1950s”

Jingying Qi, Jagiellonian University

Representation of Female Victims in the Holocaust and the Nanjing Massacre

13:00 – 13:30 Coffee break

13:30 – 14:45  Part two

Moderator: Agnieszka Gawlas-Zajączkowska, Jagiellonian University

Speakers:

Bartosz Kwieciński, Jagiellonian University

“Silenced Bodies, Hidden Stories: Cinematic Narratives of Homosexual Victims in Nazi Concentration Camps”

Kinga Anna Gajda, Jagiellonian University

“Documentary Films as a Medium of Intergenerational Dialogue on the Holocaust – women’s experience”

Małgorzata Kołaczek, Foundation Towards Dialogue

“Everyday heroes and heroines – Romani activists’ role in Roma and Sinti Holocaust remembrance and recognition”

Fatima Karimli

Bridging Memories: Roma Holocaust Remembrance and Social Inclusion in Hungary

14:45- 15:15 Coffee Break

15:15 – 16 :30 Part three

Moderator: Kinga Gajda, Jagiellonian University

Speakers:

Chao Liu, Jagiellonian University

From Refuge to Heritage: The Jewish Refugees in Shanghai during the Second World War

Ewa Janaczek, Jagiellonian University

Albania’s choice of humanity: local solidarity and moral resistance during the Holocaust

Szymon Górkiewicz, Jagiellonian University

Between Two Identities: The Polish Population of Spisz and Orawa under Slovak Occupation (1939–1945)

Mikołaj Poślada, Jagiellonian University

(Un)common memory? The pacification of the villages of Liszki, Kaszów and Rączna and their commemoration

Why it Matters

In today’s world, broadly defined discrimination occurs on many levels, and young people must confront it in their daily lives. To understand the political and social mechanisms and realize the tragic consequences this can lead to, historical knowledge is essential, providing a foundation for understanding the contemporary world. Referencing the Holocaust, one of the most tragic crimes committed precisely based on racial ideology, the exclusion, and dehumanization of selected groups, allows us to put the possible consequences of such behavior into perspective.

What You’ll Experience

About the Organisers

The Jagiellonian University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Poland. Its various faculties have a long tradition of conducting research on the history of the Holocaust.

For more details, please reach out to the event coordinator:

Dr. Agnieszka Gawlas Zajączkowska

agnieszka.zajaczkowska@uj.edu.pl

Deliverables

Following the event, we’ll publish: