The year 2019 will be a special time for us in Krzyżowa. It will be time, when we return to our foundation's origins, important events and, above all, to the people who discovered Krzyżowa and dreamt of creating a place of international meetings here. We would like to invite you to accompany us on this journey in time. But we also want to encourage you to reflect together: what has changed over the past 30 years? To what extent have we seized this opportunity? What challenges do we face today?

How did it begin? - Conference „A Christian in Society”

On June 2-4, 1989, a seminar for over a hundred people on the suspicious topic "Christians in society" was organized in Wrocław. This meeting was watched with disapproval by the secret services. In reality, however, the seminar participants discussed a joint project. The result of the meeting was a letter sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of Poland on June 4, 1989. In this letter the participants were asked to take an interest in the idea of creating an international meeting place for the young generation of Europe in Krzyżowa and the idea of creating a museum of European resistance against Nationalism. The German Chancellor's Office was also informed about this.

On 10-12 June 2019 we will refer to this event, which was the ideological beginning of the Foundation. A conference will take place in Krzyżowa, during which we would like to invite you to discuss how the Krzyżowa Foundation - but also other existing spaces for dialogue and meetings - can be used today to deal effectively with internal and international conflicts. The issues that will become the axis of our deliberations and discussions are: democracy, human rights, resistance, values.

A symbolic sign of peace. Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Krzyżowa

"Let us pray for the Polish nation and the German nation: Give us, Lord, the strength to come out of the shadow of the past and let us find mutual understanding. Let new horizons of hope emerge through the Polish-German youth exchange".  Those are one of many important words spoken on 12th of November 1989 in the courtyard of the former estate of the von Moltke family in Krzyżowa. During the service, one of the items on the agenda of the visit of the German head of government in Poland, Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Helmut Kohl, conveying the sign of peace, embraced each other as a sign of reconciliation. This gesture, made in exceptional circumstances, took on a very clear meaning and was remembered as a milestone in building friendly relations between once divided countries.

On November 12, 2019, at 12.00, we invite you to attend a service that will remind us the Reconciliation Mass of 30 years ago. We hope that in the courtyard of Krzyżowa we will be accompanied by witnesses of that time, representatives of various levels of government, friends of the Foundation, partners, co-workers and all those for whom the idea of peaceful coexistence of Poland and Germany, but also of the whole Europe, is close.

On the same day in Krzyżowa there will also be an international local government conference. Local government officials from Poland and Germany, representatives of partner cities will summarize the years of cooperation and joint initiatives.

1 September, when the world collapsed

June and November 1989 are important dates for Krzyżowa, but in 2019 we will also remember an experience that changed the lives of millions of people - the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. On 1 September we would like to invite you to a special concert, which will take place as part of the 5th edition of the International Chamber Music Festival Krzyżowa-Music. This unique event showing the cooperation between artists of different nationalities will gain special significance on this day. We invite you to be a part of this musical piece.

A year of reflection and remembrance

In 2019 there are also round anniversaries of other episodes which show the way of Poland, Germany and Europe to the present situation - peace and cooperation:

• 30th anniversary of the June elections in Poland,
• 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall,
• 30. outbreak of the Velvet Revolution in Prague,
• 20th anniversary of the admission of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary to NATO,
• 15th anniversary of the accession of Poland and nine other countries to the European Union.

We want to remember all these situations and anniversaries in order to understand how much courage, work and effort have cost our freedom and peace in Europe. We will talk about it with teachers during specially organized workshops and seminars, with NGOs during conferences, with our guests, partners and co-workers - during organized meetings and discussions. Although this reflection is very visible and strongly emphasized this year, it never leaves us in Krzyżowa. For 30 years we have been making sure that respect and dialogue build understanding. Let us remember that a better future also depends on us.

Dr. Robert Żurek
Managing Director, Member of the Management Board
Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe