AJC Celebrates 15th Anniversary of Polish-Jewish Exchange Program

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Feb 15, 2010, 02:40 ET

WARSAW, Poland, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC, together with its Polish partner, the Forum for Dialogue Among the Nations, celebrated the 15th anniversary of their pioneering exchange program at a major gathering in Warsaw.

"We cherish our partnership with AJC because it is an organization with a special understanding of Poland," said Andrzej Folwarczny, Founder and President of the Forum for Dialogue Among the Nations, and a former Member of Parliament.

The standing-room-only event on Sunday evening, hosted by Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brought together top Polish officials, diplomats, alumni of the exchange program, and leaders of Jewish and other organizations.

"By promoting dialogue and mutual understanding between Poles and American Jews, the AJC and the Forum have strengthened the broader relationship between Poland and America," said Lee Feinstein, the U.S. Ambassador to Poland. "You have reminded us of the things that are worth fighting for."

The exchange program began in 1995. Each year, a delegation of emerging Polish leaders, selected by the Forum, travels to New York, Washington and Chicago, under the auspices of AJC, to address issues of concern in Polish-American and Polish-Jewish relations. Similarly, an American Jewish group, selected by AJC, visits Poland for intensive discussions arranged by the Forum and to see sites of Jewish interest.

"This unprecedented program has made a significant contribution to the writing of a welcome new chapter in the Polish-Jewish relationship," said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who delivered the keynote address.

Featured speakers celebrating the exchange program anniversary included Jacek Najder, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister; Professor Wladyslaw Bartoszcewski, former Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Yahel Villan, Israel's Deputy Ambassador to Poland.

"The exchange program was part of AJC's wide-ranging effort, following the collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, to reach out and seek to build new relationships, which was impossible during the Soviet occupation," said Harris. "Poland's rapidly developing ties with Israel, the United States and the Jewish world fully justify the early step we took, together with the Forum, and we are proud of all that has been achieved to date."

Cooperation between the Forum and AJC also led to publication of Difficult Questions in Polish and English. The highly-praised book addresses sensitive and complex questions in the nearly 1,000-year relationship between Poland and the Jewish people.

During the evening, Harris paid tribute to Stanislaw Krajewski, who served as AJC's Representative in Poland from 1992 to 2009.

The AJC delegation met today with senior Polish officials, including President Lech Kaczynski, Presidential Chief of Staff Wladyslaw Stasiak, and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. The main topics on the agenda were Iran's nuclear threat and the European Union response, Arab-Israeli issues, and the bilateral relationship between Poland and the United States.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee