Activities within the framework of the JCH project will be implemented over a five-year period, from 2026 to 2031. During this time, POLIN Museum will carry out 9,500 events, educational activities, and social initiatives, reaching more than 11.5 million recipients in Poland and abroad. This undertaking is made possible thanks to partnerships and support from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and the state budget.
In the new edition of the “Jewish Cultural Heritage” programme, POLIN Museum is continuing and strengthening its existing educational and social activities. Innovative educational programmes will be developed as part of the project. The Museum also plans further digitisation and the provision of access to resources in order to ensure access to verified and reliable information and historical sources. Another element of the project is support for people involved in protecting and popularising Jewish heritage in small towns.
The event inaugurating the project, with the participation of Minister of Culture and National Heritage Marta Cienkowska and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Poland, Øystein Bø, was held at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
“This is an exceptional project, both on the scale of Poland and Europe, and an extremely important one, devoted to the protection, documentation, and dissemination of Jewish heritage, implemented thanks to funds from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism under the ‘Culture’ programme,” said Marta Cienkowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, during the inauguration.
“This is an investment not only in culture and historical memory, but also in civil society, in education, and in building social resilience against contemporary threats such as disinformation, hate speech, and social polarisation,” emphasised Marta Cienkowska.
“This initiative is an expression of a strong and extremely timely commitment to preserving historical memory, defending shared European values, and promoting dialogue and respect for diversity,” added Øystein Bø, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Poland.
After the inauguration, the Norwegian partners also visited the Jewish Historical Institute and took part in a curatorial tour of the permanent exhibition “What We Were Unable to Shout Out to the World” with Zuzanna Schnepf-Kołacz, Deputy Director for Programmes at the Institute.
In the years 2026–2031, POLIN Museum will carry out 9,500 events, educational activities, and social initiatives, reaching more than 11.5 million recipients in Poland and abroad, including 28,000 Polish schools.
Nine areas of activity
The third edition of the “Jewish Cultural Heritage” project consists of nine areas of targeted action:
Education for the future – workshops, classes, and on-site and online programmes for children, young people, families, and groups at risk of exclusion;
Daffodils Campaign – a nationwide social and educational campaign addressed to schools, libraries, and the general public;
Inclusive education – conferences and seminars for teachers, educators, and specialists working with various social groups;
Building relationships and understanding – cultural and public programmes for residents of Warsaw and audiences across Poland;
Understanding the past – digitisation and provision of access to documentation and collections, in cooperation with the Jewish Historical Institute;
Museum locally – support for leaders and institutions in smaller towns, in cooperation with the Forum for Dialogue Foundation;
Museum for young people – new educational tools and online activities aimed at teenagers and young adults;
Development of the core exhibition – updating educational content related to the exhibition “1000 Years of the History of Polish Jews”;
Across borders – workshops and seminars carried out jointly with partners from Norway.
Project partners
The project leader is POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The partners in Poland are the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute and the Forum for Dialogue Foundation.
POLIN Museum also cooperates with Norwegian institutions: the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies (HL-senteret), the European Wergeland Centre, the Falstad Centre, and Jewish museums in Oslo and Trondheim. Polish-Norwegian cooperation at the institutional level will make it possible to combine experience, exchange knowledge, and build lasting relationships between institutions from Poland and Norway.
The project is implemented in the years 2026–2031 thanks to support from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (85%) and the state budget (15%) under the “Culture” Programme for 2021–2028.
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