As early as the First World War, when he was living in Berlin, Agnon began writing a collection of short stories titled “Polin” (“Poland”) which was finished in 1925, shortly after the writer settled in Jerusalem. One of the short stories from “Polin”, titled “Kdumot” (“Prehistory”), tells the legendary story of the beginnings of Jewish settlement in Poland. A few years ago when the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews was established in Warsaw, a decision was made to begin the journey through the one-thousand-year history of Polish Jews from an imaginary forest, where sentences – in Hebrew, English, and Polish – from this short story by Agnon were placed on the trees. It is hard to imagine what could be more poignant and touching than this image, as it symbolizes the position of Agnon in the history of Polish Jews.

Meeting participants: Prof. Eugenia Prokop-Janiec, Dr. Magda Sara Szwabowicz, and Prof. Maciej Tomal.

Partner: Jagiellonian University Publishing Press, Institute of Jewish Studies of the Jagiellonian University

In Polish. Free admission.