Poland: Name and mandate of Jewish organizations in Gdansk (2000-February 2002)

Two articles make reference to Jakub Szadaj as the former chair of the Gdansk Jewish Congregation (Polish News Jan. 2001) or the Gdansk Jewish Community (Politika 14 Oct. 2000). According to the Polish weekly Polityka, the governing board of the Association of Jewish Communities (ZGZW) expelled Jakub Szadaj after he had been accused of "embezzlement and violation of Jewish law" (ibid.). The board also ordered on 22 April 1999 the replacement of the Gdansk Jewish Community by two branches supervised by a representative from the ZGZW (ibid.). Subsequently, Jakub Szadaj collected the 100 signatures required by the law to register a new Jewish organization in Gdansk whose name varies with the sources: the Independent Community of the Mosaic Persuasion (ibid.) or the Independent Jewish Congregation (Polish News Jan. 2001). In an interview with the centre-left weekly Polityka, Jakub Szadaj said that the new Jewish organization counted 186 members in October 2000, although several persons interviewed by Polityka questioned this figure (14 Oct. 2000). No current information on the dispute between Jakub Szadaj and the ZGZW could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to the Website of the Jewish Community of Poland, the following Jewish organizations have branches or representatives in Gdansk (n.d.):

Children of the Holocaust Association in Poland

6 Twarda Street, 00-104 Warsaw, Poland, Phone/fax: (022) 620 8245

Since 1991 a new Association has been added to the Jewish Community in Poland. The members are Polish Jewish who survived the Holocaust as children.

Any Jewish person who experienced Nazi persecution before age 13 is eligible to be a member of the Association.

The activities of the Association are based on the voluntary work of its members.

Number of members (January 1999) - 750

Regional Groups: Cracow, Wroclaw, Gdansk

During World War II we were on the run, hiding, in concentration camps, ghettos. Many of us were saved by Poles who have since received the title of Righteous among the Nations. At this time most Child Survivors were either babies or very young children and they neither remember their biological parents nor know much about them.

We have joined together to share our experience, to help us understand their effect on our lives, to provide support in our difficulties and to reaffirm our existence.

We fulfill a difficult and important task maintaining a link between Polish Jewry so brutally murdered by the Nazis and the todays world.

The Association is a member of the Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust.

Publications

The Last Eyewitnesses: Children of the Holocaust speak ... published by Northwestern University Press in 1998, ISBN 0-8101-1511-1

– ...

E-mail: [email protected]

Central Jewish Welfare Commission

6 Twarda Street, 00-950 Warsaw, Poland

Phone: (022) 620-43-24 ext. 24

Central Jewish Welfare Commission exists in its present form since 1982. It is composed of representatives of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKZwP), Union of Jewish Religious Communities of Poland (ZGWZwP), Holocaust Children Association, Association of Jewish War Veterans, and the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute (ZIH).

The Commission is not a legal entity according to Polish law, but acts as part of statutory activity of JRCP [Union of Jewish Religious Communities, see below].

The main goal of the Commission is to provide social assistance, cash and in kind, to old and sick Holocaust survivors, having Polish citizenship and living permanently in Poland.

The additional goals of the Commission are:

- regular cash assistance, according to criteria set up by the JWC [Jewish World Center] and JDC [American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee].

- cash assistance to special hardship cases,

- assistance in kind (hearing aids, wheel chairs etc.)

- free medication supply

- in cooperation with Jewish Braille Institute of America, the Commission supplies to blind and visually impaired Jews, magnifying glasses, talking books, play back equipment, playing cards and [much] more.

This assistance is in addition to Polish governmental welfare program.

Local Welfare Commissions exist in Warsaw, Czestochowa, Gliwice, Dzierzoniów, Katowice, Legnica, Gdansk, Cracow, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Lublin, Lódz, Walbrzych. At the beginning of 1995, 1450 people were registered as assistees of the Commission. Throughout the country the Committee employs 7 part-time social workers.

Funding is provided by the American Joint Distribution Committee.

The present Manager of the Commission is Ewa Spaczyńska.

Polish Union of Jewish Students (PUSZ)

6 Twarda Str., 00-104 Warsaw, Poland

Phone: (48-22) 652 2200

Polish Union of Jewish Students (PUSZ) is an independent, non-religious and non-political association cooperating with other Jewish organizations in the Republic of Poland. Each Jewish person, aged 16-35, can become a member of the Union. Each person, who is a resident of Poland (over 16 years old) and shows an interest in Jewish life, culture and tradition, can become an associated member of PUSZ. In 2000, we had around 250 members. We have been known as Polish Union of Jewish Students since 1995. In reality, PUSZ was founded in 1991/92 as Polish Union of Jewish Youth and Students. The PUSZ's central office is located in Warsaw. We also have regional representatives in Krakow, Lodz, Gdansk, Katowice, Wroclaw, Czestochowa and Bielsko- Biala.

Our priorities include:

Integration of Jewish youth and students in the Republic of Poland.

Studying, preservation and promotion of Jewish culture and tradition among young Polish Jews and Polish society.

Cooperation and intensification of contacts with other Jewish organizations in the country and around the world. We cooperate with non-governmental organizations as well as with public institutions in Poland and abroad. We are the members of the "World and European Union of Jewish Students". We cooperate with other Unions of Jewish Students in Western and Central Europe.

Organization of informative, educational and cultural events. As much as we can, we try to adjust our activities to the needs and interests of our members.

Opposing all forms of intolerance, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and racial discrimination.

We fulfill our goals through organization of summer and winter camps, seminars and conferences concerning Jewish issues. We meet in smaller and bigger groups also to spend some time together, exchange the experience of daily life, discuss about our interests, problems and topics which play the essential role in our perception of the world. We gather together to celebrate the Jewish holidays. To our tradition belong the every-year participation in The March of the Living and the organization of the marches commemorating the Krystalnacht tragedy.

E-mail: [email protected]

Union of Jewish Religious Communities [JRCP]

6 Twarda Str., 00-950 Warsaw, Poland

Phone: (48-22) 620 43 24, Fax: (48-22) 620 10 37

The union was registered under this name in 1993. It continues the activity of the Religious Union of Mosaic Faiths founded in 1946. The union is the legal inheritor of the pre-war Jewish community (gmina - kehillah).

The union is a legal entity on its own, composed of a federation of self-sufficient communities, each having their own legal entity.

Communities exist in Katowice (with branches in Bielsko-Biala, Bytom, Czestochowa, Gliwice), Legnica, Lodz, Szczecin (with a branch in Kolobrzeg), Wroclaw (branches in: Dzierzoniów, Walbrzych, Zary), Gdansk, Cracow and Warsaw (branches in Lublin and Bialystok).

The main goal of the Union is to organize religious life in Poland.

The union runs kosher canteens, a ritual bath (mikveh), cemeteries, synagogues and prayer houses. Its activities are sponsored through the AJDC.

A member of the Union must be of Jewish nationality, a follower of the Jewish faith, 18 [years or older].

The union counts app. 2000 members.

Authorities: The Main Assembly elects a Board of Union, a Revisional Commission and a Religious Board.

Each community, being a part of the Union, elects their own authorities every four years. The statute of each community must be approved by the Board of the Union.

The President of the Union is Jerzy Kichler.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

The Jewish Community of Poland. n.d. Foundations & Associations. [Accessed 14 Feb. 2002]

Polish News [Bensenville, Illinois]. January 2001. "Polish Jewry Up in Arms Over Gdansk Renegade." [Accessed 14 Feb. 2002]

Polityka [Warsaw, in Polish]. 14 October 2000. Ryszarda Socha. "Conflict in Polish Jewish Community in Gdansk Reported." (FBIS-EEU-2000-1012 14 Oct. 2000/WNC)

Additional Sources Consulted

IMD Databases

Lexis/Nexis

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Anti-Defamation League

Center for Civil Society International [Seattle]

Crosspoint Anti-Racism

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights [Warsaw]

Human Rights Watch

The Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) [London, UK]

International Council of Christians and Jews

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

The Jewish Agency for Israel [Jerusalem]

Jidele (the Jewish Open Journal) [Warsaw]

KLON/JAWOR Data Base on Polish Non-Governmental Organizations

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) [Prague]

The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University

US Department of State. Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2001. Poland.

US Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Poland.

The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Warsaw Voice