FIRST POST-HOLOCAUST JEWISH BOOK FAIR IN POLAND DRAWS HUNDREDS

The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation's Jewish Community Center and Youth Club in Warsaw together with Midrasz, a Foundation-supported Jewish monthly magazine, sponsored and housed the first post-Holocaust Polish-Jewish Book Fair in Poland this winter. By the end of the week, the response to the event overwhelmed even its planners. Hundreds visited daily to browse through the 300 book titles, some of which were written in their original language, on Jewish customs and traditions. Many were drawn to Holocaust literature written in contemporary Poland by Polish and Jewish authors, and still others were interested in novels which were translations of popular English, Hebrew, German and French books.

When the bookstalls closed in the evening, people gathered to listen to speakers, including dozens of the featured Jewish authors, or just sat discussing the day enjoying a cup of coffee in the Jewish Art Café, which was set up for the Fair.

The books, such as Eva Hoffman's award-winning Shtetle, and Lost in Translation proved to be important commodities of cultural exchange, drawing participants not only from Warsaw, but also from other parts of Poland, some visiting the Lauder Foundation's Center for the first time.

The success of the Book Fair underlies the vitality of Jewish tradition which survives despite so many obstacles. Author and keynote speaker Eva Hoffman summed up the significance of the event, "The fact that a Jewish Book Fair is taking place here in Warsaw is for me a sign of the revival of Jewish culture in Poland."