It is with great sadness that we relay the news of the death of Jerzy Kulczycki, one of the original founders of the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies in 1984. His loss will be deeply felt as it leaves a great hole in the Polish-Jewish community.
He worked tirelessly and with great enthusiasm not just for the Polish community but for the Polish-Jewish community as well. He served as Treasurer for the IPJS and was one of its staunchest supporters.
Jerzy was born in Poland, in Lwów (Lviv, now in Ukraine) on 12 October 1931. His father was killed by the Soviet secret police in 1940, and Jerzy and his mother were deported to Kazakhstan. They escaped from Kazakhstan in 1942 with the army of General Władysław Anders and managed to get to Iran and later to Palestine where Jerzy began his military training. In 1947 he arrived in England with his mother and aunt, and settled in London, where he founded the publishing house Odnowa in 1964. In 1972 he and his wife Aleksandra founded Orbis Books (London), believing in the power of truthful and uncensored information. As the result, during that period Jerzy published around 100 titles that were prohibited in communist Poland, later smuggling some of the émigré publications to Poland and other countries within the Soviet bloc. He was also involved in the work of the Institute of Polish-Jewish Studies believing in improving and developing Polish-Jewish relations.
He was decorated with Poland’s highest honours, including The Order of Polonia Restituta.
Jerzy is survived by his wife Aleksandra who was his most devoted supporter in all his undertakings, and his children, Ryszard, Andrzej and Marta and their families.