With Schubert's 5th Symphony, the eighth edition of Krzyżowa-Music faded away on 4 September in Kreisau, conducted from the first desk by Viviane Hagner. This year, 50 selected musicians from all over the world gathered around our artistic director to intensively study 45 masterpieces of chamber music and then perform them in 11 acclaimed concerts. The great classics were performed as well as many rediscoveries of rarely or almost never heard works. And contemporary music was also given a particularly large amount of space in actually every concert this year with a piece by our great Greek composer in residence, Konstantia Gourzi.

The power of music to unite across all linguistic and cultural boundaries was particularly sought after in this crisis- and war-torn year and was also found at Krzyżowa-Music, as we shared Kreisau with the guests from Ukraine who had found refuge there.

On Wednesday, 11 May, representatives of the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe visited Krzyżowa as part of their tour of Lower Silesia.

Our guests visited the Foundation centre and during the guided tour they got to know the history of Krzyżowa - a place of dialogue, understanding and reconciliation. The meeting was an opportunity to present current activities of the Foundation, which according to its heritage carries out a mission of building bridges in Europe. Dr. Robert Żurek, Managing Director of the Foundation, talked more about the values of Krzyżowa during his lecture 'Democracy in Krzyżowa'.

Last week, on 09.06.2022, our guests from Ukraine, participants of exchanges at the IYMC Krzyżowa, inhabitants of the village and visitors could take part in a preview concert of the Polish-Ukrainian orchestra "Music for Future" . Young and very talented musicians from Poland and Ukraine practiced in this way before the next important event, which took place the next day, a concert in the Church of Peace in Świdnica.
The conductor of the concert was Tomasz Zwolinski.

Repertoire:

• Victor Herbert, Serenade for string orchestra, op. 12,
• Leoš Janáček, Adagio from Suite for string orchestra,
• Wojciech Kilar, Orawa.

The project was financed by a donation from the Hasso Plattner Foundation and funds from the Europe Culture Foundation.

We invite you to view a photo-report from this event.

A delegation from the Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation visited Krzyżowa on 15-17.06.2022. Since 2016, the Pitzer Foundation has been supporting the activities of the Krzyzowa Foundation - initially through the award of the Erika Pitzer Prize for the International Youth Meeting Centre - and since 2021 through long-term support to strengthen international cooperation.

This year, representatives of the Pitzer Foundation were able to get to know the work of the Foundation and the International Youth Meeting Place and the Memorial Site on site. The trip was organised in cooperation with the Frey von Moltke Foundation and was accompanied by Helmuth Caspar von Moltke and Dr Anna Quirin. During the stay, the programme was very densely packed, including meetings with contemporary witnesses of Kreisau's historical events, excursions and presentations. However, everything was focused on the exchange of experiences and mutual integration and getting to know each other.

Between 23 and 26 June 2022, the founders and donors of the Freya von Moltke Foundation were hosted in Krzyżowa. After a two-year break due to a pandemic, members of the Krzyżowa network felt the need to finally visit Krzyżowa again and exchange new ideas.
In terms of content, the programme of our guests' visit was dominated by the theme of 'war and flight', both in a current and historical context.
Our temporary exhibition depicting the westward shift of Poland was also presented. In conversation with political scientist Bartek Ostrowski and PhD Robert Żurek, the Polish approach to the war in Ukraine was also discussed.

IV Suzuki Workshop in Krzyzowa - July 7 -10, 2022

The 4th Suzuki workshop in Krzyzowa was be held in June. Participants took part in group lessons, played in chamber ensembles and orchestra, and took part in solo concerts and a final concert.

The Suzuki Method is a system for teaching young children to play music instruments on an imitative basis, created by Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki. The method was developed for all children so that every child can learn to play the violin, rather than for the training of only exceptionally gifted children.

Invited teachers: Joanna Jurkiewicz, Anna Koszel, Jolanta Krawczewska (cello), Paweł Kulczycki, Maria Lojek (Simply Violin), Barbara Plaza, Maria Magdalena Rogowska, Kacper Birula (conductor).

Children and parents can use the recreational facilities of our palace complex in Krzyzowa (park, playground, fireplace and other resources for outdoor activities, art workshop).

Today begins the 21st edition of the Summer Guitar Festival, which every year brings together dozens of guitar practitioners and outstanding musicians from around the world in Krzyżowa. The workshops and master classes will be attended by children, adolescents and adults, because one of the main assumptions of the festival is not to set the age limit. Thanks to this, the guitar meetings in Krzyżowa have an intergenerational dimension.

An important element of the festival are also concerts held in the Piwnica Palace in Krzyżowa, which are open to the public, so not only guitarists, but all music lovers can participate in the festival. Admission to this year's concerts is free, but there is a limit of places.

CONCERT PROGRAM:

• 24.07, 08.30 PM Pełech & Horna Duo – „Caliente”
• 26.07, 08.30 PM Piotr Restecki & Piotr Krępeć – „Ogień i woda”
• 27.07, 08.30 PM Petra Polaćkova – „Recital”
• 28.07, 08.30 PM Auditions for the "Takamine" competition
• 29.07, 08.30 PM Auditions for the "Martinez" competition
• 30.07, 08.30 PM The award ceremony of the Takamine and Martinez competitions / Concert of Laureates / Concert of Yorgos Bechlivanoglou & Dimitris Kotronakis
• 31.07, 08.30 PM Final Concert - participants and lecturers / guitar orchestra

The new school year has just knocked on our door, and we are still reminiscing about the wonderful moments from our holiday in Krzyżowa. 🥰
From 13-20 August, the Polish-German-Ukrainian project "Art without borders" took place, which continues the Krzyzowa tradition of an art summer for children and young people.
This year the project was carried out in cooperation with Старочуднівськогутянський ОЗЗСО, с. Старочуднівська Гута, Романівського району and EJF gemeinnützige AG, Kinder - und Jugendhilfeverbund "Schloss Wartenburg".

From 06 - 16.08.2022, participants aged 15 - 22 came to Krzyżowa for a Polish-German-French summer youth exchange "Human, you have rights!" with an artistic touch and the theme of human rights.

The tripartite youth exchange aims to bring together peers from three countries (Poland, Germany, France) and at the same time to spend time together during the summer holidays. The exchange programme includes elements of non-formal and artistic education.

Our activities aim to foster social and linguistic competences among the participants, all in the spirit of cooperation and respect for human rights. The activities will be led by an international team of female educators with experience in humanistic and non-formal education.

During the exchange they will try to find answers to the following questions:

Onboarding Memories
Third workshop – 18-25 August 2022
The third workshop of the Onboarding Memories project is already underway. After Germany and France, this one takes the participants to Treviso, a city near Venice. Originally, this part of the project was supposed to take place in Lithuania, but the partners from Fort IX were no longer able to organise such an encounter in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine in February of this year.
Now it Treviso in Italy, and through the Krzyzowa Foundation as project partner, pupils from Dzierżoniów are once again taking part.

There is a lot going on in the 'Dialogue of Generations' project. We have already held workshops on senior health, concerts as part of the Krzyżowa-Music Festival, and many ethnographic and cultural heritage workshops in Lower Silesia. Currently, the seniors are taking part in workshops on personal development, watercolour painting and dance and movement. And around the corner there are already upcoming educational trips, theatre and digital workshops.

We invite you to visit www.year1990.eu, which presents the events of the breakthrough year 1990 in the Central and Eastern European countries.

The year 1990 was a turning point in overcoming the communist legacy and shaping democracy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In most of them, it brought the first completely free parliamentary, presidential and local government elections.

The year 1990 also marked the reunification of both German states. For the Baltic states, such as Lithuania - the first country in the region to declare its independence after 50 years of dependence on Soviet power - it was the beginning of a new era.

We are excited to announce the opportunity for teachers, educators and youth workers from Europe, Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and Eastern Partnership countries to submit their own original lesson, workshop or activity plans for a single (45 minutes) or a double session (90 minutes).

The activity plans should focus on one or more of the JustNow central themes, i.e. human rights education, international criminal law, refugees and migration, contemporary social issues such as LGBTQIA+ rights, women's rights, climate change activism, extremism, polarisation, media education (media literacy, countering disinformation, digital safeguarding). All materials should be prepared in a blended- learning format, i.e. allowing for their implementation in both the offline and online context.

Archbishop Alfons Nossol, Professor of Dogmatic Theology, retired Ordinary of Opole, a great ecumenist, advocate of dialogue, member of the Council of Honour and a great friend of the Krzyżowa Foundation, celebrated his 90th birthday on 08.08.2022.
On 12 November 1989, he celebrated a mass at Krzyżowa, which was a milestone in the process of German-Polish reconciliation.

To honour the Archbishop's services, a German-Polish discussion took place at the invitation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation at the Palace in Kamień Śląski on 05.09.2022. with the Archbishop, led by PhD Annemarie Franke, who is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Krzyżowa Foundation, and Prof. Dr Waldemar Czachur, Chairman of the Foundation Board.

1 September 2022 marks the 83rd anniversary of Germany's attack on Poland. How is this day celebrated in Poland?
How do organisations that carry out projects in Poland funded by the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) Foundation look at this day.
We invite you to read a text that appeared on the EVZ website based on several interviews - one of them was conducted with Dominik Kretschmann - Manager of the Memorial Site in Krzyżowa (text in German).

Click on LINK

On a conversation with history witness Helmuth Caspar von Moltke in Frankfurt am Main on 02.09.2022

While the bells of Frankfurt Cathedral were ringing outside, one could feel the end of an era in the lecture theatre of Haus am Dom. The peace order that had been worked on in Europe for so long seemed to have come to an end because of Russia's war with Ukraine, even if it still takes time for us to realise this. This was the gloomy analysis of Dr Robert Zurek who opened his talk with an eyewitness, Helmuth Caspar von Moltke - son of Freya and Helmuth James von Moltke, co-founders of the Kreisau Circle. Helmuth Caspar's father, was murdered by the Nazis in 1945 along with 7 other members for civil resistance.

80 years after the first two major meetings of the Krzyzowa Circle, questions were asked in Frankfurt am Main about the validity of the legacy. PhD Anna Quirin, director of the Freya von Moltke Foundation, spoke to Helmuth Caspar von Moltke about his childhood and his memories of life in Krzyżowa and the meetings of the Krzyżowa Circle in the House on the Hill.

The Krzyżowa Foundation, together with its partner organizations - the Kreisau Initiative e. V. as well as the Freya von Moltke Foundation, has for the first time prepared a joint annual report for the year 2021. As a pilot project, the publication will be released only in German this year; and both Polish and German versions are planned from 2022. 

Designed as a reading booklet, you will find not only reports on past projects, but also interviews and articles on current topics and also a preview of important events in 2022.

We hope you enjoy reading!

At the beginning of the year, we posted an English-language publication containing historical essays designed to tell the story of 'stolen children' from Central and Eastern Europe. It depicted the policies of the Nazi authorities, the process of obtaining and germanising children and, by showing the fates of individuals, how strongly these events left their mark on them.

The publication included texts by authors from Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Ukraine [link]

Today we are posting all the texts from this publication in the national languages of their authors:

We invite you to listen to an interview with Ewelina Karpinska Morek, journalist, one of the reporters involved in the Interia and Deutsche Welle action entitled "Zrabowane dzieci / Geraubte Kinder", about the work of journalists from Poland and Germany uncovering the fate of children taken from their families by the Nazis, the accounts of the victims and the behind-the-scenes efforts to compensate them.

The conversation, prepared in the form of a podcast, is part of the educational project "UPROOTED. Plundered / uprooted. The fate of children taken from their families by the German occupying authorities during the Second World War".

The podcasts of the Krzyżowa Foundation can also be listened to on the most popular podcast platforms: anchor.fm, Spotify, as well as on: Google Podcast and Breaker.

We would like to recommend to you an article by Agnieszka Dobkiewicz, which appeared on 5 July 2022 in the online edition of the newspaper https://walbrzych.wyborcza.pl/, devoted to the fate of children taken from their families by the German occupation authorities during World War II.  

Excerpt from the text:

(...) Henrich Himmler, a very important person in the apparatus of the Third Reich, was a man completely obsessed with the purity of the race, with a certain Germanic individual who would embody all that was best in himself," says journalist Anna Malinowska in a programme on this criminal activity prepared by the Krzyzowa Foundation. - This was the main driving force behind the abduction of children from other countries and their subsequent Germanisation within the Third Reich. Even among members of the Slavic peoples, even among the Poles, he saw opportunities for the recovery of so-called good blood.

We encourage you to read an article that appeared on 5 September on the website of the Polityka weekly, on Dorota Szwarcman's music blog 'Co w duszy gra'. The entry, entitled 'Z miłości do kameralistyki' (LINK), is devoted to this year's Krzyżowa-Music Chamber Music Festival. This year, the author of the blog had the opportunity to spend a weekend in Krzyżowa for the first time, during which she was a guest of the Krzyżowa-Music concerts.

At the same time, we invite you to read the entries that Dorota Schwarcman posted on her blog after the Warsaw post-festival concerts in 2020 (LINK) and 2021 (LINK).

Adam Golka, a world-renowned Polish-American pianist, recently had the opportunity to talk about the Krzyżowa-Music Chamber Music Festival on Polish Radio Channel 2. The program also featured several recordings of Krzyzowa-Music concerts from previous years in which the musician participated. 
We recommend everyone to watch the recording of this, what an interesting conversation.

Interview in Polish.

The event will take place on 11 October 2022 on the premises of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe.
The theme of this year's Congress is: "CRISIS - ADAPTATION - OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE".
As every year, distinguished guests have been invited and a main debate and several discussion panels are planned.
The event programme and the Congress registration form can be found at:
👉 www.dfop.org.pl/vii-dolnoslaski-kongres-obywatelski
👉 www.kongres.dfop.pl

The event is organised by the Lower Silesian Federation of Non-Governmental Organisations in cooperation with the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and co-financed by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and its partners: