Library exhibits to show bravery of Polish Jews.
The Polish Expats Association and the Library of Birmingham are to host the exhibition Righteous Among the Nations, the story of bravery and tragedy of Jews from Malopolska region in Poland between 1939 – 1945. This exhibition commemorates the upcoming Holocaust Memorial Day. It will be situated on Level 3 Terrace in the Library of Birmingham from Wednesday, January 29th until Friday, 28th February 2014 and will be launched on January 28th at 5.30pm.
The Exhibition is brought to Birmingham by PEA and is prepared by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. Righteous Among the Nations tells the story of the bravery and tragedy of Jews from the Małopolska Province and Poles helping them in the grim days of the German Nazi occupation during the Second World War. The Exhibition will be opened by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Mike Leddy, also attending will be representatives of the Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Jewry.
The director of PEA, Alicja Kaczmarek said: “Relations with the Jews during the Holocaust ranged from passivity to hostility. Many people watched their neighbours killed, some contributed to the killing, but there was a minority who had the courage to retain their human values – they were the Righteous Among the Nations.”
Created in 2008, the exhibition has been so far displayed in Warsaw, Cracow, Tel Aviv and London at the invitation of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland and now is being brought to Birmingham. Through extensive research in archives and museums and in private collections, the exhibition has gathered unique images, documents, and reports giving the evidence of people exposing their lives in order to save the Jews from death. This topic is still little known and not fully explored. The exhibition was awarded recognition by the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem.