My Jewish Parents, my Polish Parents
About five thousand of nearly one million Jewish children were saved from the Holocaust in Poland. Many of them were saved by Polish families. Poles who took care of a child often later became their foster parents. In most cases the adoption was kept as a secret, to be disclosed before death, and some died without letting the children know the truth.
The heroes of the exhibition, raised in stranger’s homes whose they considered their own, had to cope with their history and create their own identity by joining the lost and gained families. Often they searched for years for their Jewish relatives, names, birh dates. Those who were unsuccssesfull still had hope.
The exhibition recounted the history of fifteen children born between 1939 and 1942. They survived thanks to an parent’s unbound love, which led to giving them away to strangers, and the courage of those who later considered the children as their own daughters and sons. Though these children were born with a death sentence, and their destiny abounded with bitter experiences, they smile to us from the photographs. They lived their lives well, granted to them by their parents — Jewish and Polish.
The exhibition was from 16 April to 30 June 2015 with free admission.
The exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Children of the Holocaust Association.
