B’nai B’rith International honored three Polish individuals and one grassroots organization on Sunday for their contributions to preserving Jewish heritage, commemorating Holocaust victims and strengthening relations between Jews and Poles.
The fourth annual Wdzięczność–Gratitude–Hakarat Hatov Awards were presented at the historic Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin in Lublin, Poland. Established in 2023, the awards are the first annual honors created by the global Jewish community to recognize Poles for fostering Jewish-Polish dialogue and preserving Jewish heritage.
Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, one of prewar Europe’s leading centers of Jewish learning, was founded in 1930 by Rabbi Meir Shapiro. The yeshivah was devastated during the Holocaust and has since become a symbol of the preservation and revival of Jewish heritage in Poland.
Named Wdzięczność (“gratitude” in Polish) and Hakarat Hatov (“recognition of the good” in Hebrew), the awards reflect the Jewish value of recognizing those who have made exceptional contributions to preserving Jewish heritage and fostering dialogue between Jews and Poles.
This year’s ceremony was dedicated to the memory of Polish-Jewish journalist, historian and Holocaust survivor Marian Turski, who died earlier this year.
The individual awards were presented to Roman Catholic priest Wojciech Michał Lemański, historian and photographer Zbigniew J. Nita, and local activist Jakub Wójcik. The institutional award went to the Sitwa Organization, a grassroots initiative that combats antisemitism and anti-Zionism through education, advocacy and public outreach.
Lemański was recognized for more than two decades of commemorating Holocaust victims at sites including the Treblinka extermination camp and the Radegast deportation station in Łódź, as well as for promoting Polish-Jewish dialogue despite conflicts with church authorities.
Nita was honored for his decades-long work documenting Jewish cemeteries, memorial sites and the history of Jewish communities in Poland through historical research, photography and educational initiatives. He also co-founded the Dialogue Bench Association, which promotes preservation of Jewish heritage and Polish-Jewish dialogue.
Wójcik was recognized for preserving the memory of the Jewish community of Grójec through restoration of the town’s Jewish cemetery, annual Holocaust commemorations and efforts to document and translate the community’s history for future generations.
The Sitwa Organization, founded in Wrocław, received the institutional award for its efforts to combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism through educational programs, public advocacy, workshops and community initiatives.
The ceremony featured remarks by B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin and B’nai B’rith Poland President Andrzej Friedman. Alan Schneider, director of the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem, served as secretary of the award committee.
The selection committee also included former Polish Foreign Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Lili Haber of the Association of Cracowians in Israel, Rabbi Eric Fusfield of B’nai B’rith International and other Jewish and Polish leaders.
Past recipients have included the Forum for Dialogue, the Brama Cukermana Foundation and the Association of the Museum of Bialystok Jews.
