Fundacja Galicia Jewish Heritage Institute

The Galicia Jewish Museum was established in April 2004, by its founding director, Chris Schwarz. Chris spent most of his career working internationally as a photojournalist, travelling from Canada to Japan, Northern Ireland to Afghanistan. He worked for organizations including the International Committee on the Red Cross and the World Health Organisation, as well as numerous UK-based charities, and produced a number of exhibitions and books. His own work was typically focused on social issues, including homelessness, disability, and terminal illness. Chris first visited Poland in 1981 to cover the Solidarity movement as a press photographer, but returning to Poland again after the collapse of communism he became interested in the existence of relics of Jewish life in the small towns and villages in the countryside outside Kraków. It was a fortunate meeting with the British anthropologist Jonathan Webber that led to the joint project that was to become known as Traces of Memory. The Galicia Jewish Museum exists to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and celebrate the Jewish culture of Polish Galicia, presenting Jewish history from a new perspective. An innovative and unique institution located in Kazimierz, the Jewish district of Kraków, Poland, the Museum is a registered charity in Poland. The objectives of the Museum are to challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions typically associated with the Jewish past in Poland and to educate both Poles and Jews about their own histories, whilst encouraging them to think about the future. Home to the internationally acclaimed permanent photographic exhibition, Traces of Memory, the Museum also shows an exciting range of temporary exhibitions, both curated in-house and sourced from around the world. The Museum’s Cultural and Education Programme is one of the most extensive in Poland, providing a range of services for both individual and group visitors. As well as engaging in primary research and publishing, the Museum also operates one of the largest Jewish bookshops in Poland, and the Museum café serves a range of hot and cold drinks and snacks, and offers a range of catering options for visiting groups.