After a brief orientation in New York City, the Fellows travel in Poland for three weeks, during which time they visit Krakow, Warsaw, Oświęcim (Auschwitz), and Lodz. The Fellows will also be taken on a study trip throughout southeast Poland to explore the area’s rich Jewish heritage and meet with local Jewish and non-Jewish leaders to learn about pre-war Jewish life, life under the Nazi occupation and Communism, as well as about the status of the Jewish community in Poland today. In Oświęcim, the Fellows attend an intensive program at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum where they tour the camps, study the history of Jewish, Roma, and Polish inmates, and learn how to use the archives, collections, publications, and educational departments. The Fellows engage in sessions with Polish and German students, which hope to dispel societal stereotypes and prejudices, while at the same time promoting the creation of lasting cross-cultural relationships. Upon returning home, each Fellow will complete an article for the Auschwitz Jewish Center E-Newsletter reflecting on their experience. It is the goal of the program that Fellows incorporate the lessons they have learned into their intellectual, personal, and professional lives in a significant way.

The program dates are currently tentative, but the program begins in the last week of June.

Applications are available at http://ajcf.org/auschwitz-jewish-center-fellows:-a-bridge-to-history.