About the project

Virtual Connections to Material Jewish Heritage in Poland-Digital Documentation model for Jewish historic sites in Poland-enhancing Polish-Jewish dialogue.

Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition “Public Diplomacy 2021”

A significant part of the world Jewish heritage is located in Poland. About 1200 cemeteries in which ancestors of many of todays’ Ashkenazi Jews are buried as well as numerous synagogues and other buildings that belonged to the Polish Jewish communities-some of which are rare and invaluable historical monuments- are a testament to a diverse culture of Polish Jews and to their many centuries long presence and participation in the society and culture of the Republic of Poland. 

Project has two main goals:

•  Making historical monuments of the Jewish heritage (synagogues, cemeteries, pre-funeral house) accessible, to a wider public, in Poland and abroad, by offering an option of  virtual visits that can be taken without leaving one’s home. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the possibility to travel has become limited and organizing on site visits is  more challenging. With this situation in mind, we created digital models of selected historical buildings in Krasnik, Leczna, Olsztyn, Przysucha, Sejny, and Zamosc. 

• The project is also intended to facilitate discussions, in the form of webinars, about the historical and cultural value of the material Jewish heritage in Poland and about challenges that Polish and Jewish partners, engaged in its preservation, face. The webinar series will take place in the late fall. Detailed information about the webinars will be published on this website in the webinars tab. 

It is our hope that the webinar discussions as well as digital models of these historic buildings will contribute to an increase of interest in surviving Jewish heritage in Poland. Furthermore, it is our intention to highlight:

• challenges and the vast amount of work that needs to be carried out for the purpose of this heritage’s preservation,

•  the potential of these historic monuments as cultural resources for both Jews and Poles and as safe and inspiring spaces for the Polish-Jewish dialogue.

On the project website, other digital models of synagogues in Lancut and Orla are made available for virtual tours. These models were completed as part of other initiatives and were supported by the Skanowanie XYZ company and the Foundation For Jewish Heritage respectively.

We encourage you to contact us at m.jankowska@fodz.pl, fodz@fodz.pl, regarding any other questions about the project or about possible ways of supporting the preservation of historic monuments under the care of FODZ.

More information on how to support the historic monuments preservation can be found here.

Enjoy our virtual tours!