PAJA
The Polish American Jewish Alliance for Youth Understanding is a Polish-American association whose aim is to support dialogue between young Jews and non-Jews. The organization was founded in 2000 by Dennis Misler, an interpersonal communication trainer, and Zofia Zager. Both decided they wanted to support young people in the difficult process of learning about and understanding each other better, particularly between young Poles of non-Jewish background living in Poland and young American Jews.
From the beginning, PAJA has cooperated with the National Polish American Jewish Council, of which both of PAJA's founders are members. From the beginning, they have also organized small-scale meetings between Jewish and non-Jewish youth, and in 2002, in conjunction with the Polish Embassy in the United States, PAJA was able to hold large international workshops titled "Developing Connections", which were widely covered in the American media.
In early 2003, the president of PAJA, Dennis Misler, moved to Krakow, where lived for more than a year in order to build a Polish youth organization from the ground up that would promote these same values, while carrying out projects other than those of PAJA in the United States. Right from the start, Misler began cooperating with Jacek Olejnik, a social psychologist, and Maria Ambrozy, a history student from Opole University. Together with them and a group of volunteers, he began outlining the structure of the future organization.
The basic idea was to create a wide range of projects that would be carried out over the course of several years, and to define the needs of a broadly understood dialogue between Jews and non-Jews in Poland. PAJA set for itself the goal of filling the gaps in this dialogue.
Four programs are currently underway in Poland:
1. "Atrium - The Clearinghouse of Information"
This program searches for and presents information about new undertakings involving large and small organizations, as well as informal groups and private individuals. PAJA strives to provide the latest information, regarding for example events involving Jewish culture, as well as intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. The focus will be on projects aimed at high school and university students. PAJA also wants to create a bulletin that would be supplied for free to high schools, post-secondary schools and organizations. The bulletin will contain announcements about events, as well as news about projects and organizations. The program is financed by PAJA's own funds and by donations, such as that from the Israeli Embassy in Poland.
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2. "In Honor of These Who Acted"
As part of this program, ceremonies will take place to honor the heroic non-Jewish Poles who during the Second World War saved their Jewish neighbors. These people (about 6,000 Poles) are honored with medals by the State of Israel from the Yad Vashem Institute. PAJA would like to honor all of the Righteous Among the Nations with beautiful plaques designed by the Krakow artist Marta Golab. Above all, however, PAJA would like to provide young Poles with the opportunity to be able to meet informally with these people, have discussions with them, and to learn from them. The first project in this program was carried out in late October 2003 in Krakow. The meetings took place at the Jagiellonian University and at the Pod Jaszczurami club. Other meetings are described in the Project Calendar. During the meeting in Krakow, a documentary film was made about the Righteous, which can be obtained by contacting PAJA's Krakow office. This material is especially recommended as a teaching aid for classes with young people in schools and during international meetings. (It is also available in English.) Soon, PAJA will launch a website devoted to this program.
3. "Education without Borders"
This program has three main parts. The first is comprised of an educational program on Jewish culture designed for Polish young people. Workshops for secondary schools are being prepared as part of this program, as well as workshops and field trips in conjunction with preparation underway for larger-scale meetings between young Jews and non-Jews (such as the March of Memory and Hope). In this context, PAJA is preparing meetings during the March of the Living. The second part of the program is made up of international youth meetings, such as those between Polish and Israeli high school students. PAJA first organized this type of meeting in 2003, when for example in August 46 seniors in high school from Kfar Saba in Israel traveled to Kraków along with PAJA volunteers and Polish students and high schools students invited to the event. At that time, several days of activities were held with the aim of helping the two groups get to know each and establish a good rapport. As part of this program, a large project will be organized for a meeting between young people from Israel, Germany and Poland in July 2004. A third part of the program is a meeting between Polish and American young people. PAJA will soon launch a website dedicated to this program.
4. "Intercontinental Conferences"
Finally, PAJA organizes conferences and workshops for Polish and American high school students. These are carried out thanks to assistance from the American Consulate in Kraków. These meetings, by satellite transmission, aim not only to help these groups get to know each other, but also to support PAJA's educational projects. The first projects in this program begin in the spring of 2004.
PAJA's is directed by Dennis Misler, the board of PAJA USA, and the PAJA Youth Board.
The members of the PAJA Youth Board include:
Jacek Olejnik (Program Director; Coordinator of the Clearinghouse of Information program)
Maciej Zabierowski (Public Relations Manager)
Maria Ambrozy (Coordinator of the Education Without Borders program)
Muma Myczka (Coordinator of Intercontinental Conferences)
Jacek Legierski (Coordinator of In Honor of These Who Acted)
You are welcome to discuss about "PAJA"
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