This text is a written version of the opening lecture of the event 'Responsibility, Community, Europe. The legacy of the Kreisau Circle today". It took place on 2 September 2022 in Haus am Dom in Frankfurt am Main in cooperation with the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, the German Institute for Polish Affairs, Haus am Dom and the Freya von Moltke Foundation.

The lecture was given in german.

"The geopolitical holidays are over," the Polish diplomat Marek Prawda recently pointed out. The era of relative prosperity and security that has accompanied us in recent decades is coming to an end. New times are coming with great challenges. The legacy of the Kreisau Circle can help us to successfully stand up to them.

DSc Robert Żurek

PART I 

What distinguished the Kreisau Circle

At Whitsun 1942, a strange group of people came together in Krzyżowa in Lower Silesia. People who could hardly have been more different in terms of their professions, their social status, their world views or their political sympathies. And it was no accident, it was deliberate, that was the Kreisau Circle.

This meeting was followed by two more - in autumn 1942 and then at Whitsun 1943. Ten to eleven people took part in each of these three meetings. These were not all members of the Kreisau Circle, but so many were allowed to meet under the conditions of conspiracy without being immediately discovered by the political police.

After 13 years, Nina Lüders has left the Kreisau-Initiative e.V., our sister organisation in Berlin, to begin a new phase in her professional life. In her role as Executive Director, she was the most significant contact person for the Krzyzowa Foundation over a long period of time and shaped the good partnership and growing cooperation between our organisations. With her expertise and her network, she brought many important impulses to Krzyzowa. Beyond her professional qualities, we have also perceived her as an extraordinary person who shapes communication and work processes with a great deal of empathy and understanding. We will therefore miss Nina Lüders in many ways. At the same time, we wish her all the best in her new stage of professional life and thank her most sincerely for her commitment, heart and soul and the memories she left behind. We hope that Krzyżowa will always stay in your heart, Nina!

We would like to recommend the farewell article written about Nina Lüders by Urlike Kind, a board member of the Kreisau Initiative e.V. association.

Robert Żurek and Dorota Krajdocha

On 12 December 2022, a meeting of more than 100 participants of the 'Dialogue of Generations' project from the districts of Świdnica, Dzierżoniów and Wałbrzych took place in Krzyżowa. There were three reasons for this meeting: The end of the project, the approaching start of the astronomical winter and the fact that any reason is good to have fun together.
The project started six months ago, on 23 June, with an opening conference. In the following months, the senior citizens took part in activities, trips to concerts and the theatre, as well as various workshops, which are too numerous to count.

On 12-14.12.2022. Some of the staff of our Foundation (mainly the pedagogical departments) went on a study visit to Berlin. During three intensive days, the team visited a number of institutions and museums where they could draw inspiration for their own projects. In each of the places visited, the guided tours were focused on pedagogical aspects and the substantive preparation of the exhibitions. This is of particular value because of the exhibition on World War II that the Foundation is preparing.

On Monday we visited:
→ Jüdisches Museum Berlin - Jewish Museum Berlin

https://www.jmberlin.de/

In addition to a guided tour of the Museum, there was a meeting with the pedagogical department. The concepts and methods used to work with children and young people and the principles of long-term educational programs were presented. An important element of the Museum's strategy is its activities to include children and young people who have fewer opportunities to participate in culture and those with learning disabilities or disabilities. Therefore, interesting examples of their activities were the mobile exhibition and online programs.

→ 7xJung - Dein Trainingsplatz für Zusammenhalt und Respekt (Ausstellung von Gesicht Zeigen)

https://www.7xjung.de/

For the Ukrainian School in Warsaw, Krzyżowa was supposed to be the site of a "Green School," but the December snow turned the project into a "White School."
For a week, teachers of the Ukrainian school held regular classes with their students in Krzyżowa, supplemented by tours of the region and art workshops. Carpentry, painting and acrobatics workshops were offered to rock the youngsters' creative talents.

Announcement from the Copernicus Group

On 24-26 November, the Polish-German Copernicus Group met in Warsaw for its fortieth meeting. The report "Germany and Poland - regaining trust" summarises the joint reflections of the Group members.

Prof. Waldemar Czachur, Warsaw

Prof. Peter Oliver Loew, Darmstadt

15 December 2022

From 7th to 12th November, 37 students from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the Ivan Franko University in Lviv and the Alice-Salomon School (Vocational School for Health and Social Work) in Hannover met in Krzyżowa for an exchange. 

The entire week was dedicated to the challenging topic of "Migration and Flight". Already while getting to know each other, there was space for personal family migration or refugee stories. The tour of Krzyżowa highlighted the migration and flight stories of people who have lived (the Moltke-family) and are currently living here (ukrainian families).

As part of the Polish-German transnational cooperation, the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe and Slow Food Germany carried out the first joint intercultural educational project on sustainable eating, which involved young people, children, teachers and educators.

The basic idea was to combine practical activities in the garden and the workshop kitchen with innovative teaching methods. The project received substantive and financial support from the German Federal Environment Foundation (DBU), Osnabrück.

In Krzyżowa, more than 100 participants of the Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni Forum tackled this topic on the second weekend of October. The Robert Bosch Foundation has been supporting international knowledge and the development of civil society in Eastern Europe for decades, through various educational programmes and promoting international meetings and exchanges. The alumni network gave rise to the MitOst association, which co-organised the weekend. It was no coincidence that the meeting took place in Krzyżowa. Particularly in the 2000s, many seminars took place here and some of the staff and board members of the Krzyżowa Foundation are alumni of the Bosch Foundation's programmes and members of MitOst. For many participants it was a reunion with Krzyżowa.

The inhabitants of Krzyżowa and people visiting the historical palace-park complex on the territory of the Krzyżowa Foundation have been able to use a 5-station open-air gym for a few days now. The project was carried out as part of the 'WzMOCnij swoje otoczenie' programme organised by the Polish Power Grid.

It is an educational exhibition that tells the story of children who were 'stolen' from Central and Eastern European countries by the German occupation authorities during World War II and deported to Germany, where they were to be subjected to a process of Germanisation. It also points to contemporary examples of violations of children's rights and genocidal crimes involving the forced transfer of children to be raised by members of another group.

The exhibition is primarily aimed at school pupils aged 14-19, as well as teachers, who should be used as an educational aid during workshops on the history of the robbed children.

We would like to invite you to visit the exhibition '1990: The Birth of a New Europe', which is presented in the Palace in Krzyżowa.

It brings us closer to the changes of 1990, a year which was a turning point in overcoming the communist legacy and shaping democracy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, on the example of the history of Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania.

The exhibition '1990: The Birth of a New Europe' is a mobile exhibition, available in Polish and English.

It is presented in the Palace, on the second floor, just in front of the May Hall.

The exhibition is accompanied by the website www.year1990.eu

A collection of essays, practical tips and inspiration for your culturally sensible educational activities.

download the web version (4 MB)
download the print version (30 MB)

In early October, Krzyżowa was visited by Cristina Lee Maza - a correspondent for the American National Journal, for which she writes about defense and foreign policy. During her visit to Krzyżowa, she spoke with our staff and guests who have fled war-torn Ukraine. The article, which appeared in the National Journal, is the last of four reports on the assistance Poles are providing to Ukrainian brothers and sisters who left their homeland after the Russian invasion. We invite you to read it: https://www.nationaljournal.com/

We would also like to remind you that together with our partners from Germany - Kreisau-Initiative e. V. and the Freya von Moltke Foundation, as well as the team of the international Chamber Music Festival Krzyżowa-Music, we are collecting donations for the Ukrainian refugees in Krzyżowa: https://www.krzyzowa.org.pl/