DISCUSSION "THE RIGHTEOUS AND SURVIVORS IN LITERARY TESTIMONY"
The first of a series of meetings devoted to the Righteous Among the Nations, organized as part of the project “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” by the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, took place on Tuesday, October 5th, 2010 in Empik Megastore in Warsaw.
In the discussion “The Righteous and the Survivors in literary testimony”, organized on the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Righteous Karol Kuryluk, participated his daughter, writer and artist Ewa Kuryluk, the writer Wilhelm Dichter and Dr. Jacek Leociak, Holocaust scholar. The discussion was moderated by Anna Bikont from the newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
Ewa Kuryluk– artist, writer, art historian. She participated in about 40 individual and 60 collective exhibitions. Daughter of Karol Kuryluk– Righteous Among the Nations. Author of autobiographical books in which she copes with the Holocaust experience: „Goldi” (2004) and „Frascati” (2009), nominated to the Nike Literary Award.
Wilhelm Dichter– Survivor of the Holocaust, emigrant of 1968. Author of novels based on his own biography:„Koń Pana Boga” („God’s Horse”, 1996) and „Szkoła bezbożników” (“School of the Godless”, 1999), nominated to the Nike Literary Award. His novel „Lekcje angielskiego” („English Lessons”) was published in 2010.
Jacek Leociak– Assistant Professor in the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IBL PAN). Director of the Holocaust Literature Research Center of IBL PAN, member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research, editor of the annual “Holocaust Studies and Materials”, member of the team preparing the core exhibition of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. His research focuses on the forms of recording border-line experiences (in particular from the time of the Holocaust).
Anna Bikont – Co-founder of the newspaper „Gazeta Wyborcza”, where she has been working since 1989 to this day. Author of numerous books, among others: „Wisławy Szymborskiej pamiątkowe rupiecie, przyjaciele i sny” („The Souvenir Junks, Friends and Dreams of Wisława Szymborska” written with Joanna Szczęsna, 2003); „My z Jedwabnego” (“We from Jedwabne”, 2004); „Lawina i kamienie. Pisarze wobec komunizmu”(„Avalanche and Stones. Polish Writers and Communism” written with Joanna Szczęsna, 2006).
The project “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” is subsidized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the program Civic Initiatives Fund, and is co-financed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland as part of the cyclical program "Promotion of knowledge about Poland".
