Politics of Power – The events of March’68 in Poland

Sunday, 25 March 2018, 6:00pm

In collaboration with UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (UCL SSEES) and supported by a generous grant from Polonia Aid Foundation Trust and the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies.

Politics of Power – The events of March’68 in Poland

“Lesson, May 2, 1968. I went with my daddy’s work for a 1 May march demonstration. The march was colourful and fun. People carried portraits of the dignitaries and different banners such as “Down With Zionism” and ‘Long Live Workers Party’.” 

A Discussion of the March’68 events in Poland

with Krystyna Naszkowska, Joanna Helander, and Dr. Katarzyna Zechenter

This event commemorates March’68 in Poland, when major protests against the communist government led to severe suppression of political freedoms, while the government’s anti-Semitic campaign, called ‘Anti-Zionist Campaign’, culminated in the forced migration of 13,000 Polish Jews, many to asylum in Sweden, Denmark or the US.

Krystyna Naszkowska writes about those forced to leave Poland in her book, “Expelled to the Paradise”. Joanna Helander left Poland for Sweden in 1971. Her film “Returns” (co-directed with Bo Persson) is devoted to reconstructing the history of her Jewish family. Dr. Katarzyna Zechenter’s major interests are studies of memory, and how the loss of Poland’s Jews is reflected in Polish collective memory.

UCL SSEES, Masaryk Room, 4th floor, 16 Taviton St, London WC1H 0BW

Registration is required – free and open to all – through Eventbrite: https://march68.eventbrite.co.uk

 

 

* Photograph: by K. Zechenter. The 1968 homework of a 7-yr-old girl from Kraków about her obligatory participation in the 1 May parade where she saw anti-Semitic banners among the banners and portraits of communist party dignitaries.