Stephen and Donald Falk, brothers from Point Roberts, Washington, USA have been researching the Breslau Jewish community which grew and thrived from 12 families when Jews were permitted to live in Breslau again in 1741 to the point of becoming the third largest Jewish community in Germany in the early 20th century. Using available birth, marriage and death records, family registers and other sources, they have created a vast intermeshed network of families. For over a decade, they have studied in excess of 4000 handwritten Hebrew gravestone inscriptions from the destroyed Claassenstrasse (ul. Gwarna) which was in use from 1761 to 1856. Using the network they created, they have been able to place about 80% of the people buried in the Claassenstrasse into a family context.
Dr. Donald Falk is a retired psychiatrist. His early interest in family history sparked his younger brother’s lifelong passion for genealogy.
Stephen Falk is a retired intellectual property attorney. For over 45 years, he has been researching his Jewish family history from Breslau, other places in Silesia, and cities and towns in Posen Province, and West and East Prussia. He is president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia, founder of Family Memory Trust, and a co-founder of the Urban Memory Foundation in Wroclaw. They work together almost daily.
Your host is Barbara Pendzich, a lecturer at the Taube Department on the history of Jews in medieval and early modern Poland. She also helps out in the Department’s administrative office.
"Jews and other Poles" - because we at the Taube Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Wrocław are convinced that the history and culture of Jews are an integral part of the history and culture of Poland. Our podcast is for anyone looking for new takes on the multi-national and multi-religious history of Poland. Our host for the Polish language episodes is Tomek Duda, who teaches Hebrew at the Taube Department. He talks with faculty and friends of Jewish Studies in Wrocław about Jewish history and culture and what it tells us about multiculturalism, inclusiveness, and tolerance, which we all feel strongly about and which relate to every minority culture everywhere. Our English language episodes are hosted by Barbara Pendzich, who lectures at the Taube Department and helps out in the Admin Office.Lean in, listen, and learn!
Jakub Wilk – our producer and lecturer at the Department of Journalism at the University of Wrocłąw. For more information about him go to https://dziennikarstwo.uni.wroc.pl/en/instytut/wykadowcy/pracownicy/jakub-wilk/
Semira Jassim – our graphic artist and top rate advisor on the art of podcasting. For more information on her go to https://www.linkedin.com/in/semira-jassim/
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Wouldn’t you like to study at the Department? We have a lovely MA in English Programme. Find out all about the application process here: https://judaistyka.en.uni.wroc.pl/
You can contact us here if you have comments or questions about the Podcast:
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Taube Department of Jewish Studies
University of Wrocław
Św. Jadwigi 3 / 4
50-266 Wrocław
Admin Office +48 71 375 28 11
Library +48 71 375 20 17