Schools, libraries, and cultural institutions can get involved in the social and educational Daffodils campaign commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The organiser of the action, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN, is accepting applications until 14 April.

19 April marks the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – the largest armed Jewish uprising during World War II and the first urban uprising in occupied Europe. On that day, the POLIN Museum is organising the social and educational action Daffodils.

This year, the Museum will provide new educational materials. This will include an animated film based on the story “Memory of the Little Things” by Zofia Stanecka prepared for grades 1-3 of primary schools and the story “The Drawer” by Zuzanna Orlińska for grades 4-6 of primary schools.

“Knowledge of the past allows us to better understand the present, which is why education and your participation in the Daffodils campaign is so important. On the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, let’s show that we are united by memory”, says actress Agnieszka Grochowska, who recently joined the ranks of the campaign’s ambassadors.

The last leader of the Jewish Combat Organisation, Marek Edelman, who survived the annihilation of the ghetto, used to come to the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes to pay tribute to his fallen comrades until the end of his life. With him, more and more people came with yellow flowers.

From the beginning, the action has been accompanied by the slogan ‘We are united by memory’, which emphasises the strength of the community, the importance of solidarity and the need for dialogue across divisions. “We firmly believe that the memory of the past is one of the overriding values that unite us and give us a common identity – regardless of worldview or political sympathies”, inform the organisers.

“The yellow daffodil is a symbol of collective memory. All of us who wanted to remember carried daffodils to Muranów”, said Paula Sawicka, a psychologist and former university teacher who, together with Marek Edelman, wrote the book And There Was Love in the Ghetto.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński