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Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies OFFICERS Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies Incorporation No. 1977852 45 St Giles’ Charity No. 293643 Oxford, 0X1 3LP England 5S&,N< Tel: Oxford (0865) 53753 GOVERNING COUNCIL 20 June, 1986 CURRENT AND PROJECTED ACTIVITIES \. 1. The Jews in Poland, a history of Polish Jewry, based on the proceedings of the International Conference on Polish-Jewish Studies held at Somerville College, Oxford, in September 1984 published for the Institute by Basil Blackwell Ltd. (Oxford) will appear in July 1986. Professor Chimen Abramsky, Mr. Maciej Jachimczyk and Dr. Antony Polonsky are the editors of the book. Blackwell's will be responsible for promotion and distribution. 2. The first issue of POLIN: A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies is almost ready for publication. The Editors are now in the final stage of proof-reading. This hard­ back, 450 page volume will appear in September 1986. It will be published for the Institute by Basil Blackwell Ltd., who will also be in charge of promotion, marketing, subscriptions and distribution. The appearance of this volume will constitute a major event in both the field of Central and East European Studies and of Jewish Studies. It is expected to be widely reviewed and receive considerable publicity in the American and European media. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE 3. The work on the second issue of POLIN is proceeding smoothly. The Editors have already received several important and interesting articles while more have been promised or are being solicited. The Book Review Section is already in a substantially advanced stage. The publication date set for Autumn 1987 will be met. 4. On 30 June 1986, a fund-raising reception will be held on behalf of the Institute at the Chicago Hilton Hotel. It is being organized by the Chicago branch of the American Foundation for Polish-Jewish Studies, the US wing of the Institute. The speakers will be: Professor Leszek Kolakowski, Mr. Aloisius Mazewski, President of the Polish-American Congress and Dr. David Gordis, Executive Vice-President of the American Jewish Committee. This will be the first event prepared by the Institute in the US. It is expected to attract up to 200 guests and the attention of the Chicago media. The Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies, a Company Limited by guarantee, is a non-profit, educational institution, devoted to studies on the history and culture of Polish Jewry 5. For October 1986 the Institute is planning a major fund-raising event in London. One of the possibilities, a gala premiere of the Jack Eisner film 'War and Love' (distributor: Cannon Group), is now being investigated. The Institute intends to organize it in co-operation with the Board of Deputies of British Jews and/or the Institute of Jewish Affairs in London, who would supply their mailing list on which the success of such an event depends. 6. For November 1986 the Institute has invited to Britain Dr. Philip Hiat, Special Projects Assitant to the President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in New York, and Dr. Philip Miller who is in charge of the library and archives of the Hebrew Union College in New York. Dr. Hiat and Dr. Miller will give a series of lectures and seminars concerning their recent trip to. Poland: they will focus on the state of syr^agogues, cemeteries and Judaica in museums, archives and libraries there. 7. For 25 January 1987 the Institute is preparing The Artur Rubinstein Memorial Concert. It will consist of the British premiere of the 'Polish Requiem' by Krzysztof Penderecki. It will take place at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Krzysztof Penderecki will conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Choir, and four internationally recognized soloists: Wieslaw Ochman (Poland), Mariana Nicolesco (France), Kurt Riedl (Austria), Linda Finnie (Great Britain). Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales has already been approached on behalf of the Institute by the Royal Academy of Music and expressed her interest in the concert. The Academy informs us that the possibility of her attending the concert is very good. It will be a charity event in support of the Institute. The Institute will devote a part of the revenue from the concert to establish two scholarships at the Academy: one for a Polish and one for an Israeli musician. The concert will mark the 100th anniversary of Artur Rubinstein's birth. The concert is organized by the Institute and will be promoted in association with the Royal Academy of Music. The BBC has already confirmed that they will broadcast it on Radio 3; the Institute is now negotiating TV coverage with them. 8. For March 1987 the Institute is planning the Emanuel Ringelblum Memorial Lectures. It will be an annual series of lectures at Oxford University, organized in co-operation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Yad Vashem, which will bring to Oxford leading scholars in the field of Holocaust Studies. It will consist of at least three lectures on each occasion which the Institute intends to publish as a book. Scholars being considered for the first series next year are: Professor Yehuda Bauer, Professor Yisrael Gutman, Professor Jan Karski and others. 9. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has invited the Institute to be co­ organizer with them of the International Jerusalem Conference on Polish Jews which is planned for Winter 1988. It will be the largest Polish- Jewish conference so far and was conceived during the International Conference on Polish-Jewish Studies at Oxford in September 1984. Preparations to the conference have already started. The budget of the conference is estimated at $50,000. The Institute is responsible for raising half of that sum and will fully participate in the decision-making concerning the programme of the conference, participants and publicity. 2 10. The Institute has reached an agreement with St. Anne's College, Oxford, to provide visiting scholars from Israel, Poland and elsewhere who work in the field of Polish-Jewish Studies, with accommodation and access to the University facilities such as: libraries, archives, common rooms, etc. to enable them to undertake research at Oxford and establish personal contacts with British scholars in the related areas. 11. 1986 is the 50th Anniversary of the death of Nahum Sokolow, Polish- born Presdent of the World Zionist Organization who was also widely known for his literary, editorial and scholarly contributions towards the revival of the Hebrew language. To commemorate this anniversary the Institute plans to establish the Annual Nahum Sokolow Memorial Lectures devoted to the study of his legacy, of political life of Polish Jews and of the history of Zionism. 3.
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