I am a Jewish Studies student at Ď㽶ĘÓƵ focusing on comparative religion and Eastern European Jewish culture. My courses cover a wide array of topics, including religion, Jewish culture, Yiddish, anthropology, and theology. I knew that an experiential internship based in Eastern Europe would be essential to my studies, which is why I chose to accept an internship with the Educational Department at the Galicia Jewish Museum. The museum is in Kazimierz, the historic Jewish district of Krakow, Poland. My goal for this internship was to engage with material Eastern European Jewish culture; interning at the Galicia Jewish Museum gave me this opportunity due to their focus on Galician Jewish history (what is now Southern Poland and Western Ukraine).
At the museum, I engaged daily with Galician Jewish culture through the museum’s archives of photographs and information, which compose the museum’s several permanent exhibitions and library. They trace the history of how Polish Jewry has been remembered as well as modern efforts to preserve Polish Jewish heritage. GJM’s educational mission involves networking with other Jewish organizations in Krakow and Poland to host events; the largest event we participated in hosting while I worked there was the Jewish Culture Festival. I helped staff many of the events, such as concerts, workshops, lectures, and the museum’s 20th birthday party. The educational department had a large part in the festival due to their mission to educate the Polish public about Jewish history. The other interns and I chose which events we would staff, meaning I could align my work with my academic interests. For instance, I assisted Professor Jonathan Webber (one of GJM’s co-founders) on his guided tour of the museum’s photographs, learning from his prolific knowledge in the process.Â
Daily tasks were shared among the interns as we collaborated on a variety of projects. Most of these projects were very basic secretarial work, though some of them required more developed research and other academic skills. I was tasked with subtitling Holocaust survivors’ video testimonies provided by our collaborating organization, Centropa. This helped improve my Polish as I subtitled many of these videos. My Polish was non-existent before starting this internship, but working in a very multilingual environment and needing to communicate outside of the museum gave me a basic understanding of Polish. This was not a goal of mine going into this internship, but this is a positive accident because a working knowledge of Polish is highly useful in Eastern European Jewish Studies.
An issue I did encounter was the aforementioned basicness of many of the projects. It ranged from secretarial work to research-intensive projects. One difficulty I had was that our days were extremely unstructured, so it could be difficult to engage with the museum if there was not much to do. A great way I overcame this was by becoming close with the other interns. They were mostly Europeans from volunteer/service organizations and were there as highly motivated volunteers, passionate about the work. Most of them were already very familiar with Krakow. If we didn’t have something to do at the museum, there was something educational we could find in Krakow to do for the day related to Jewish heritage or Eastern European history. We explored both Jewish cemeteries in Krakow, many museums, the former ghetto in Krakow, and JCF events that had value as educational opportunities.
This internship recontextualized my perception of Jewish history, making it tangible and relevant to my classroom studies. I also learned a lot about the modern relationship between Europeans and Judaism. Witnessing the resurgence occurring today of Jewish life in Krakow has been particularly impactful. The Kostman Family Internship Award is what made it possible for me to experience all this. Thank you to Ms. Judith B. Kostman for funding this award. Traveling to Poland broadened my understanding and appreciation of Jewish Studies and the opportunities it offers. I am sincerely grateful I have had this opportunity; it will remain one of the most influential experiences of my life in many ways.
