Meeting with author Katka Reszke, introducing her publication Powrót Żyda. Narracje tożsamościowe trzeciego pokolenia Żydów w Polsce po Holokauście (Return of the Jew: Identity Narratives of the Third Post-Holocaust Generation of Jews in Poland). The book offers a new perspective on answers to questions such as “Who is a Jew?”, and questions what are usually thought to be blatantly obvious truths about being Jewish. Presenting a polyphony of responses to the age-old question: “What does it mean to be a Jew?”, it questions any answer that purports to be definitive.

Return of the Jew traces the appearance of a new generation of Jews in Poland that followed the fall of the communist regime. Today more and more Poles are discovering their Jewish heritage and beginning to seek a means of associating with Judaism and Jewish culture. Reszke analyzes this new generation, addressing the question of whether there can be authentic Jewish life in Poland after fifty years of oppression. Based on a series of interviews with Jewish Poles between the ages of 18 and 35, her study provides an illuminating window into the experience of being, and for many becoming, Jewish in these unique circumstances.

Katka Reszke (b. in Wrocław in 1978) – documentalist, cultural scholar, photographer, Doctor of Humanities (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), conducting research on Jewish history, culture and identity. Since 2007, she has worked on documentary films as director, editor and script writer. Her book “Return of the Jew: Identity Narratives of the Third Post-Holocaust Generation of Jews in Poland” was published by Academic Studies Press in 2013, and has now been released in Polish by Austeria.