Tracing Jewish history: international visit to the Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations at KUL

As part of the educational trip “Lithuania & Poland: Holocaust & Jewish Life Study Trip 2026,” organized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a group of more than a dozen participants from different parts of the world is visiting sites in Lithuania and Poland where the Holocaust took place. The itinerary includes Lublin and the Heschel Center at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.

During their visit to the Heschel Center at KUL, participants from the United States, Israel, Germany, Macedonia, and the Netherlands, among other countries, spoke about dialogue between Catholics and Jews and its role in overcoming antisemitism. They recalled John Paul II, his openness and courage, and his prayer in a synagogue. The discussion also touched on "Nostra Aetate" and the changes it brought to the Catholic Church’s approach to other religions.

The conversation then turned to the visitors’ family histories, including grandparents who had lived in Poland. Some survived; others perished during the Holocaust.

“This place moves us deeply. We are touching on the history of our people and discussing how to reduce hostility, hatred, and hate speech — phenomena we encounter all too often. We are building relationships and meeting people who, as here at the Heschel Center, are warm, open, and committed to fostering relations between religions and between people from around the world,” said Daniel Schuster, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s representative for Europe and coordinator of the group.

Learning history

The program, led by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and Daniel Schuster, combines historical knowledge and meetings with experts and custodians of memory. The six-day study visit begins on 21 June.

In Vilnius, the participants visited the Gaon Museum of Lithuanian Jewish History, the Holocaust Museum, and the site of mass executions in Ponary. The following day, the group traveled to Kaunas to see the local synagogue and the Ninth Fort before heading to Białystok.

On the third day of the program, visits were planned to Tykocin, the mass graves in Łopuchowo, and the Treblinka II extermination camp. The fourth day, spent in Warsaw, included the POLIN Museum, the Jewish cemetery on Okopowa Street, the Jewish Historical Institute, and the Jewish Community Center

Another stop on the route was Lublin: the Majdanek camp, Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, and a meeting at the KUL Abraham J. Heschel Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations, after which the group traveled to Oświęcim.

The mission of the Heschel Center

"The Center plays an important role as an institution whose activity extends beyond Lublin. Thanks to its media presence, it is recognized around the world. The Center hopes that groups such as this one from the Wiesenthal Center will become familiar with its institution as a place directly connected with the Holocaust, where the headquarters of Operation Reinhard was located," said the Center’s director, Fr. Dr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik.

“It was here, in the building that now houses our headquarters, in KUL’s Collegium Iuridicum, that the office of Odilo Globocnik, the architect of the Holocaust, was located. From this place, he commanded a brutal operation. Today, we do not allow the memory of those people, of the Jews, to disappear. We care for the transmission of truth and heritage from the very place where death was once planned,” Rev. Rytel-Andrianik added.

Readiness to cooperate

The final day, 26 June, is devoted to the Jewish Museum in Oświęcim, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and a concluding session at the Jewish Gallery in Kraków. The undertaking is intended to provide a comprehensive educational experience and a better understanding of a complex past and contemporary relations between nations.

“We are holding talks on implementing a similar project in the autumn of this year. In that case, we would be a partner in the initiative, and three KUL students would have the opportunity to take part in the international program. There has also been an initiative to organize open webinars involving experts as well as young people engaged in activities against antisemitism,” announced the director of the Heschel Center at KUL.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international organization dedicated to human rights, Holocaust education, and combating antisemitism. It was founded in 1977 on the initiative of Rabbi Marvin Hier and Simon Wiesenthal himself, and its headquarters are located in Los Angeles.

Monika Stojowska, KUL