The Jews of Poznan

The Holocaust swept away the centuries-old Jewish community of Poznañ in western Poland. Zbigniew Pakula traces the history of that community, its institutions, and its response to crucial but little-known events like the expulsion of Polish Jews from Germany in 1938. The Jews of Poznañ however, is not only about destruction, but also about survival and the way that the memory of a lost world can endure as a cornerstone of individual identity. Pakula locates the remaining Jews of Poznañ, now living scattered around the world. He accompanies them as they reminisce, meet old friends, or return to walk again the streets of what will always be their city.

Zbigniew Pakula is a Polish journalist living and working in Poznan. He publishes in both the local press and national periodicals. For more than two years he has been the chief editor of the magazine Swiat Win (The World of Wine). For many years he has focused on issues strictly connected with the Jewish community that lived in the area of Wielkopolska; and he also writes about Polish-language literature written in Israel. Pakula has won an award from the Polcul Foundation, Australia, for his work on the Jewish communities in Poznan and Wielkopolska. His work has also won recognition from the Israeli-Polish Society, based in Tel Aviv