Presentation by Peter Jassem
Canadian Representative of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw

Sunday, April 22, 2012, 2:00 PM
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1370 Sherbrooke Street West Free Admission

The $120 million new Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw — built on the site in the former Warsaw Ghetto and facing the famous Nathan Rappaport monument commemorating the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 19, 1943 — is scheduled to open just months following the 70th anniversary of that historic event, in the fall of next year.

As the world’s first and only museum to focus on the history of Polish Jews, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw will stand on par in its significance with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC and Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem. However, the tragic culmination of the Jewish presence in Poland inflicted by the Nazis, will be featured in only one of the eight galleries depicting distinct periods of the history of Polish Jews and their rich civilization created over the course of nearly 1000 years. Today over 50% of world Jewry can trace their roots to Poland.

An initiative of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and funded by the City of Warsaw and the government of Poland with support from donors and friends from around the world, this 140,000 sq. ft. cutting‐edge educational and cultural centre is built under the auspices of the presidents of Israel and Poland.

Peter Jassem, chair of the Polish‐Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada, Toronto Chapter, will speak about the history, the importance, the rich contents and the role of the Museum, against the backdrop of the revival of Jewish life in Poland and the dramatic increase in interest in Jewish Culture. He will also discuss his personal experience in discovering his Jewish roots which led to his fascination in this project and to his major involvement in its promotion, all on a volunteer basis.

Organized by the Polish‐Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada, Montreal Chapter, and sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Montreal the event will include remarks by Consul General Tadeusz Żylinski and will feature Klezmer music with a touch of Jazz by the acclaimed Jan Jarczyk Trio.

A reception will follow.