B’nai B’rith has concluded an important study and advocacy leadership mission to Lithuania and Poland, which included participating in commemoration events celebrating 100 years of B’nai B’rith in Poland.

Our Polin Lodge, re-constituted in 2007, organized a two-day seminar highlighting its century-long history and arranged discussions on a range of subjects, including the rise of contemporary anti-Semitism.

B’nai B’rith also bestowed a new award to honor Polish citizens who have shown commitment to preserving Jewish heritage in Poland and cultivating Jewish-Polish relations. The award is called Wdzięczność-Gratitude-הכרת הטוב in Polish, English and Hebrew, and was presented to Urszula Antosz-Rekucka (Shtetl Mszana Dolna) in the Individual category and Forum for Dialogue (Andrzej Folwarczny), in the Institutional category, in a ceremony at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Details about the award and the winners can be found here.

In both Lithuania and Poland our mission participants visited important sites connected to Jewish history and culture in the capital cities of Vilnius and Warsaw, including the Vilna and Warsaw ghettos, the Jewish Historical Institute to see the Ringelblum Archives and the main synagogue in each city.

In Poland the group also visited Auschwitz and the site of the Treblinka extermination camp. The group also learned about and honored historic B’nai B’rith Poland leaders such as Rabbi Moses Schorr, who led the Central Synagogue of Poland in the years leading up to the Holocaust. He was the first historian to undertake the systematic study of Jewish history in Poland and Galicia.

Outside Vilna, there was a visit to the Ponary Forest killing field, where 70,000 Jews were murdered in 1942.

In Warsaw, the group met with Ukrainian Jewish parents, all refugees from the war in Ukraine, who have children attending the Lauder-Morasha School. The parents and their children have now settled in Warsaw, finding safe haven and support within the local Jewish community. B’nai B’rith continues to support Ukrainian refugees and we are committed to funding scholarships for students in need enrolled at the school.

Study mission participants met with a number of government officials and diplomats in both countries, including Lithuania’s Vice Chancellor Rolandas Krisciunas and Vice Foreign Minister Egidijus Meilūnas, and the American and Israeli ambassadors in both countries.

The group concluded its mission in Krakow, where it attended the annual Jewish Festival in that city with its iconic Jewish past.

The study mission was led by B’nai B’rith CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin, joined in Poland by B’nai B’rith’s Vice President of Development and Strategic Initiatives Andrea Cure. Leadership participants included B’nai B’rith’s immediate past president, Charles O. Kaufman and Vonne Kaufman, of Austin, Texas; and Senior Vice President Dr. Sandra Horowitz and Dr. Steven Horowitz, of Chicago and Dana Point, California. B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider joined in Poland for the Gratitude award ceremony.

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org.