Annual Copernicus Lecture. Survivors Saving Survivors

The 2023 Annual Copernicus Lecture will feature two presentations on how JCC Krakow has organized volunteers to aid Ukrainian refugees who fled to Poland. Following the presentations, the two speakers will join a conversation led by CCPS Director Geneviève Zubrzycki.

"In the Shadow of Auschwitz: How JCC Krakow is Rebuilding Jewish Life in Poland and Supporting Ukrainian Refugees"

JCC Krakow (est.2008) is the vibrant center of reborn Jewish life in Kraków, with over 850 members. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it quickly morphed into one of Kraków’s most important humanitarian aid centers, providing services to over 150,000 Ukrainian refugees to date. In this talk, JCC Krakow CEO Jonathan Ornstein will discuss the center's mission to rebuild Jewish communal life in the shadow of Auschwitz, and the impact of the Jewish community’s work with Ukrainian refugees.

"Survivors Saving Survivors: Photographing the Ukrainian Refugee Experience in Poland"

In April and June 2022, at the invitation of JCC Krakow, Chuck Fishman traveled to Poland to document the JCC and the Jewish community’s commitment to helping Ukrainian refugees fleeing their war-torn country. What he witnessed and captured in a series of gripping photographs is tikkun olam, a central concept in Judaism that denotes activities that repair and improve the world we live in. Fishman will discuss his experience and the accompanying exhibit--on display in Weiser Hall in March and April--that shifts the lens away from the horror the refugees have endured to focus instead on human goodness and how it can overcome lingering evil.

Jonathan Ornstein is the Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow. The JCC boasts over 850 Jewish members, welcomes 10,000 visitors a month and has become one of Poland’s most visible signs of Jewish revival. Ornstein created the annual Ride For The Living and Holocaust Survivor Day, two global initiatives with tens of thousands of participants. Prior to occupying his post at the JCC, Ornstein lectured in Modern Hebrew at Jagiellonian University, founded the “Gesher” association for Polish-Israeli dialogue, and is a founding member of the Krakow Association of Christians and Jews where he serves as vice president.

In his 45-year career, freelance photographer Chuck Fishman has focused on social and political issues with a strong humanistic concern. His work on Jewish life in Poland, begun in 1975, continues to the present day.Fishman’s work has been extensively published, exhibited, and collected worldwide, and has earned him prestigious World Press Photo Foundation medals four times. His photographs have appeared on the covers of Time, Life, Fortune, Newsweek, The London Sunday Times, The Economist and numerous others. Fishman’s work is included in the collections of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery; the United Nations; POLIN: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Stanford University and New York Public Libraries, to name a few, as well as private and corporate collections.