We are very pleased to inform you that the Managing Director of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, Robert Żurek, has been awarded a postdoctoral degree in history. The degree was conferred by a resolution of the Council of the History Discipline of the Pedagogical University in Cracow on 16.12.2020 on the basis of his scientific achievement "The Roman Catholic Church in Poland and the Western and Northern Lands 1945-1948". The habilitation diploma is dated 11 June 2021.
Robert Zurek is a graduate in history and Catholic theology from the Free University of Berlin. He received his doctorate in Halle. He was a scholarship holder at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw (2003-2005) and then a researcher and deputy director of the Center for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin (2006-2012). From 2013 to 2016 he was director of the Wrocław branch of the Institute of National Remembrance.
Read more: Managing Director of the Krzyżowa Foundation with a doctorate of science degree
On 12 June 2021, the first meeting of the new Council of the "Krzyżowa" Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe took place online.
During the constitutional meeting, the new Foundation Council elected its presidium. Professor Waldemar Czachur became Chairman of the Foundation Council, Ole Jantschek became Deputy Chairman.
We congratulate all members of the new Foundation Council and wish them success, successful cooperation and many activities, which will contribute to building dialogue and understanding by the Foundation.
Read more: First meeting of the new Council of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe
On the 30th anniversary of signing the Treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Friendly Cooperation between Poland and Germany, the Polish Press Agency quotes a statement of the Presidiums of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe, the Supervisory Board and the Management of the Krzyżowa Foundation.
"In the past thirty years the societies of our two countries have accomplished a great deal, and at the same time they themselves have changed a great deal. Poland has made up a great deal of the civilisation gap left by communist enslavement, becoming a member of NATO and the European Union. Germany has united and established itself as a keystone of European integration. This would not have been possible without close cooperation between the two countries". - emphasised experts heading the work of the "Krzyżowa" Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe. Prof. Waldemar Czachur, Dr. Ole Jantschek, Dr. Benedict Schneiders, Dr. Agnieszka Łada, Dorota Krajdocha and Dr. Robert Żurek signed a special statement sent to PAP in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Good Neighbour Treaty.
"We need a return to thinking about Polish-German relations the way the participants in the Reconciliation Mass at Krzyżowa, and later the creators and signatories of the treaty, thought about them. - The representatives of the Krzyżowa Foundation pointed out, adding that "today history has accelerated again".
"The climate crisis, digitalisation, development of biotechnology or a pandemic pose huge threats, but also opportunities to develop solutions that will make the world a better and safer place. Today's challenges, like those of thirty years ago, demand an adequate response. We believe that even today, despite all the sometimes enormous difficulties, that response must be dialogue, cooperation and solidarity. The nature and scale of today's threats and challenges mean that we will not be able to meet them by acting side by side, or even against each other". - they concluded.
The text was published in polish language i.a. on the portal dzieje.pl: Experts: animosity and conflict are a dangerous alternative for Poland and Germany.
