It is with immense pleasure that we learned that the great friend of the ASPJ, Dariusz Popiela, has been named as the winner of the 2021 POLIN Award, presented at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. This honour, awarded annually since 2015, is presented to people or organisations whose activities protect the memory of the history of Polish Jews and who contribute to the shaping of a common future, mutual understanding and respect.

The Award jury acknowledges those  who have demonstrated important, extraordinary activity which has made a significant impact on the social awareness of the history of Polish Jews and on building Polish-Jewish relations.

Polish champion kayaker, Dariusz Popiela, is the founder of the “People, Not Numbers” project, which researches the names of Holocaust victims who are buried in mass graves inside cemeteries and elsewhere. Monuments are then erected bearing the names of these victims, so that their memory will live on.

Through his efforts, more than 5,000 Holocaust victims from Krościenko nad Dunajcem, Grybów, Czarrny Dunajec and Nowy Targ have, thus far, been commemorated by name. The Award jury recognised Dariusz’s incredible energy to act and to inspire others to become involved in this project. For many years, Dariusz has also co-organised anniversary commemorations related to the Jewish history of his home town of Nowy Sącz.

The “People, Not Numbers” project also holds meetings with young people in schools, during which the history of the local community is presented. It conducts educational trips to the Extermination Museum at Bełżec, where young people learn the tragic history of the former inhabitants of their town, and then schools and their students become patrons of their local monument-memorial site.

Dariusz also searches for matzevot and for items left behind by Jewish inhabitants. With the cooperation of and dialogue with local communities, it has been possible to recover tombstones, which have been spent decades in backyards outside of cemeteries. These matzevot undergo specialist restoration and are then placed inside cemeteries.

Dariusz Popiela is a Beijing Olympian, a nine-time Polish Champion (last title in 2021) and multiple medalist of the World and European Championships in kayaking.

The ASPJ sincerely congratulates Dariusz. This honour is well-deserved!

COVID notwithstanding, we hope to welcome Dariusz to Australia in 2022 to deliver the 2022 ASPJ Oration,
and to screen the Australian premiere of his film “Edge of Light”.

Watch this video to learn about this year’s POLIN Award nominees.

Source: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!

HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!

Andrzej Soszyński has been appointed as the new Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Victoria. He commences his mission on 16th February 2021.

On Thursday 17th December, our ASPJ President, Ezra May, featured in an online conversation with Executive Director of the Jewish Community Centre in Kraków, Jonathan Ornstein.

Ornstein has spent almost two decades in Poland, especially Kraków, striving to help revive Poland’s re-emerging Jewish community.

With the COVID-19 pandemic having hit Poland fairly severely, Jonathan has taken to conducting regular ZOOM events – this one, in conversation with Ezra, whom he met during one of Ezra’s visits to Poland.

In this discussion, Jonathan, who has visited Australia in the past, and Ezra talk not only about the history and composition of Australia’s Jewish community – and the role that the ASPJ plays within it, but they also delve into the Polish-Jewish roots of our ASPJ  President himself.

Ezra appears 12 minutes into the video. Enjoy!

HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!

To mark the Jewish New Year, the Polish Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Mr. Michał Kołodziejski, has sent his regards and warm wishes to the Jewish community, especially to the members and friends of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

Since taking up his appointment in Australia, the ASPJ has enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the Polish Ambassador and his staff. We look forward to continuing our mutual co-operation into the future.

On 27th September 2020, after twenty five years of service, Dr George (Jerzy) Łuk-Kozika OAM steps down from his role as Honorary Consul-General of the Republic of Poland in Victoria.

During those many years of promoting Polish industry, science and culture, George worked hard to promote Polish-Australian relations in general and also took an active role in supporting Polish-Jewish relations, as evidenced by the fact that, in 2011, he was the first recipient of the ASPJ’s Henryk Sławik Award.

Since our organisation’s rebirth in 2009, George has always been supportive of our objectives and has always made himself available to us.

In the Summer 2018 issue of the ASPJ’s magazine “Haynt”, our Past President, Bernard Korbman OAM, wrote the following tribute to George:

When speaking to the Polish Honourary Consul General of the Republic of Poland, Dr George Luk-Kozika, one is transported back to an era long gone, where manners, courtesy, wit and charm prevailed.

George has served the Australian Polish community as well as a number of Polish governments and their ambassadors with a great deal of dignity and diplomatic skill, so much so that five years ago [2013] the Polish Government raised George’s status from Melbourne Honorary Consul for the Republic of Poland, to that of Consul General, one of only three Honorary Consuls General in the world.

The foundation upon which George’s worldview and moral and ethical beliefs, as well as day-to-day practices, are formed lies in his strongly held belief in God and the Roman Catholic Church.

For George, religion is a unifying force and its teachings and doctrines are meant to be inclusive rather than exclusive and the path to peace and harmony is through God’s love for us all rather than the false labels placed by those in power trying to divide and conquer us for their own gains. As we are all created in God’s image we should celebrate the fellowship and consanguinity of our creation. This firmly held belief has led George to playing a prominent leadership role in the process of rapprochement and bridge-building between the Polish and Jewish communities.

George has been active in promoting and participating in educational programs and events whose aims are to dispel long-held myths and stereotyping maintained by members of both communities. His quiet demeanor, his excellent listening skills and his intellectual acuity make him an outstanding mediator for reconciling opposite points of view.

In between running a most successful dental practice and lovingly fulfilling family obligations and interests, George’s time and commitment to his community duties seem boundless. He makes himself available to individuals and organisations seeking his advice or help.

George’s greatest asset however is the highly talented, discerning and proficient Mrs. Denise Luk-Kozica. With her erudite and cultured disposition, Denise has charmed and impressed all who have had the good fortune and pleasure of meeting her.

We of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants thank them both for their tireless efforts in combating prejudice in any form it may manifest itself and for being a bridge between our two communities.

Again, we sincerely thank George and Denise for all the support, both practical and moral, which they have given our organisation and our community over the years. We wish them good health and happiness into the future and look forward to continuing our relationship with them – perhaps in a less formal setting.

HAYNT is the magazine of the Australian Society of Polish Jews and Their Descendants.

It is published three times annually and features articles on the ASPJ’s events and other activities, as well as articles on Polish-Jewish issues in Australia and Poland.

Click HERE to read this current issue!