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Hornstein Lecture: Rebuilding Jewish life in Krakow after the Holocaust
April 7 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Join us for the annual Stephen and Lusia Hornstein Lecture on the Holocaust and the Human Spirit at historic Union Terminal. This year’s featured speaker is Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Krakow.
Ornstein will be speaking about his efforts to rebuild Jewish life in Poland, where he has served as the CEO of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Krakow since the JCC’s opening in 2008.
Ornstein, a primary architect of Poland’s contemporary Jewish rebirth, is a frequent international speaker and media contributor on issues relating to Jewish Poland, and an activist for Holocaust survivors.
He will also discuss the JCC’s humanitarian efforts in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Since its opening in April 2008 by King Charles III, he has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, Poland, an organization devoted to rebuilding Jewish life in Krakow. The JCC boasts over 850 Jewish members, welcomes 10,000 visitors a month and is one of Poland’s most visible signs of Jewish revival. He created Ride For The Living and Holocaust Survivor Day, two global initiatives with tens of thousands of participants.
Prior to the JCC’s opening, he taught Modern Hebrew at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University Department of Jewish Studies for 6 years and founded the “Gesher” association for Polish-Israeli dialogue. A native of New York City, he moved to Israel in 1994, living for 7 years on a kibbutz in the Negev desert and served in a combat unit in the I.D.F. before moving to Poland in 2001.
He is a founding member of the Krakow Association of Christians and Jews where he serves as vice president. He also serves on the boards of the Krakow branch of the Child Survivors of the Holocaust organization, Hillel Poland, JCC Global, and the Abraham Global Peace Initiative.
The annual Stephen and Lusia Hornstein Lecture on the Holocaust and the Human Spirit is cosponsored by the Wise Temple’s Hornstein Lecture Fund and the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center.
