Individual Experiences of Immigrants as Seen by the Artist Dariusz Fodczuk: a case study

The chapter – based on my presentation at the Beit Berl College focuses on the experiences of Jewish immigrants from Poland to Israel in two waves – just after the World War 2 and as a result of anti-Semitic campaign in 1968. As a case study I use the heroes of installations by Dariusz Fodczuk – an artist with whom I have co-operated as a curator for over 15 years and who has been awarded with the Laurel Crown Decoration for the preservation of Jewish heritage in Poland. First part of the chapter outlines the historical facts about Jewish citizens of Poland between 1945 and 1968. The end of the WW2 and the transition to communist regime has been a very obscure period in history till this day. One of the myths that arouse from that lack of knowledge is that the majority of secret services functionaries were Jewish. Even though the current research proves that thesis wrong, the myth is still functioning in Polish society. The other myth is that Catholics were massively saving Jews during the WW2 and that Jewish population was exterminated only as a result of Holocaust while facts about pogroms and other acts of hostility against Jewish citizens during and after WW2 are neglected. I therefore try to briefly summarise the most recent academic research on those issues and deconstruct those myths. In the second part, I focus on the artworks by Dariusz Fodczuk who interviewed dozens of Polish-Jewish immigrants about their experiences of living in Poland before and during the WW2, and the moment when they decided to immigrate. I use the stories of their lives as a case study to strengthen the arguments from the first, historical part. I will first describe two installations both entitled God – Honour – Fatherland which focused on people who decided to leave just after the war, after having survived the Holocaust. Most people originated from Kalisz, where the work was originally presented – a town which today takes pride on the “bucolic piece” Catholic and Jewish population were living in. The stories told, however, completely deconstruct that picture. I also describe the most recent works which focused on 1968 immigration: Madagascar, Stories and Grande Finale. In all of the described artworks Fodczuk makes references to the present time. I therefore use the words of the interviewed immigrants that may express the universal experience of people who need to relocate to another country.

The text was published in a book: Migration: political, educational and cultural aspect, ed. Jörg-U. Kessler, Adi Binhas, Peter Fenn and Liat Yakhnich, Ludwigsburg: Media GmbH, 2022, 313-348, and is available at Academia.edu.