INTERVIEWEE’S NAME: Bogdan Białek INTERVIEWEE’S BIOGRAPHY AND DETAILED OVERVIEW OF THEMES: https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/historia-mow... INTERVIEW BY: Krzysztof Banach RECORDING: Przemysław Jaczewski DATE OF RECORDING: August 4, 2014 COPYRIGHT TO THE RECORDING: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews MOST IMPORTANT THEMES: 00:00:04 – Childhood in the Piaski district of Białystok, post-war remnants, multiculturalism of the district, Jews in Piaski. 00:07:08 – Neighbor Zawistowska – victim of medical experiments, stories about her stay in the camps. 00:10:31 – Finding Hebrew books, a woman hiding Jews, anti-Semitic comments. English: 00:14:24 – Jewish departures in the 1960s, my father's Jewish friends, the synagogue and other buildings, a Jewish friend, the last Jew in Białystok. 00:21:05 – My father's views and work, the underground sentence, arrest by the Security Service, expulsion from the party, my father's breakdown, repression. 00:25:37 – My father's return to work, move to Żabia Street, children playing at the mass graves, the ghetto cemetery, setting up a square there. 00:30:58 – My grandparents' house by the ghetto wall, the story of the liquidation of the ghetto, the memory of the Jews, my aunt's story about baking matzo, the diaspora of Białystok Jews. 00:37:58 – My father's work, the family's financial situation. 00:45:29 – Work at “Gazeta Białostocka.” English: 00:47:25 – Father's reaction to March '68, correspondence through “Radar” magazine, admiration for Che Guevara, reading Kapuściński, “Fołks Sztyme”, desire to become a Jew. 00:51:27 – Father Pietkun. 00:55:07 – Studies, anti-Semitism, opposition to anti-Semitic themes in J. Jaskiernia's speech. 00:56:58 – TSKŻ in Krakow, Hebrew course, contacts with Jews in Krakow, prayers for Jews at Jasna Góra, the last Krakow shames, residents of Kazimierz. 01:02:11 – Moving to Kielce, the psychologists' community, scientific work, surveillance of the scientific community, congress in Israel, surveillance by anti-Semites. English: 01:13:35 – Service in the army, anti-Semitic views of the chief of staff, removing Jews from the roll call of the fallen. 01:20:26 – First commemoration of the Kielce pogrom, political understanding of the meaning of demonstrations. 01:23:26 – Work at the university and at the Institute of Health Psychology. 01:31:28 – Fall of communism, work at “Gazeta Wyborcza”, meeting with Karl Künzel, editorial office of “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Kielce. 01:37:41 – The topic of the Kielce pogrom in “Gazeta…”, initiatives commemorating the pogrom, attacks on the interviewee, planting a bomb in the editorial office of “Gazeta…”, harassment. 01:43:22 – Friendship with Adam Michnik, contacts in the United States, 50th anniversary of the Kielce pogrom, visit by Elie Wiesel. English: 01:50:30 – 50th anniversary of the pogrom, methods of commemoration, Jan Karski, reasons for his selection as the patron of the association, the need to act to remember the victims of the Holocaust. 01:58:41 – Inspirations for actions to remember the pogrom, Rabbi Rudin, Lucjan Dobroszycki, initiatives to remember the Kielce Jews, March of Remembrance, reactions of public opinion. 02:07:54 – Psychological and social aspects, attitudes and reactions related to issues of memory, commemoration, understanding otherness. 02:14:57 – Settling of scores between Poles during the war. 02:17:50 – Father and his attitude towards the celebration of holidays by Jews. 02:18:56 – March '68 and the departures of Jews, the issue of Jewish property in Poland. 02:22:37 – Representatives of the Church in Białystok and the Jews, the Church and Judaism today. 02:24:48 – Ethnic groups in pre-war Białystok, immigrant population after the war, ancestors. 02:30:42 – Contemporary Białystok, anti-Semitism and chauvinism in Białystok, memory of the history of Białystok and Kielce, pejorative terms referring to Jews, Jews in Polish pop culture, borrowings from Jewish culture and customs. 02:38:03 – Anti-Semitism, chauvinism, nationalism in Białystok, lack of reaction of the authorities to the escalation of violence and comparison to the situation in Kielce. 02:41:11 – Pejorative terms in the language, residents of Kazimierz in Kraków and their attitude towards Jews. 02:44:30 – Jews and communism, the year '68, Jewishness and politics. 02:49:51 – Memory of the pogrom in contemporary Kielce. 02:55:30 – Attacks on the interviewee, violence in Kielce. 02:58:25 – Activities of the Jan Karski Association in Kielce, interest in Jewish topics in Kielce, Jewish property and architecture in Kielce. Discover the oral history collection of the POLIN Museum: https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/historia-mow... Subscribe to our channel: / @historiamowionapolin Watch the channels of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews: POLIN (announcements and reports from events at the Museum): / mhzp2013 Virtual Shtetl (history and culture of Polish Jews): / virtualshtetl Polish Righteous (stories of help provided to Jews during the Holocaust): / polscysprawiedliwi Contact for the interview: [email protected]