Poetry, Testimony, and Memory from Gdańsk to Yale

Join acclaimed Polish poet, musician, and memory activist Grzegorz Kwiatkowski for an evening of poetry, conversation, and reflection on Holocaust memory, Jewish history, and the power of art to preserve the past. Currently Artist-in-Residence at Yale University's Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Kwiatkowski creates poetry inspired by survivors' voices. He will read from this work and discuss his efforts to preserve Jewish memory in Poland—from protecting Holocaust sites and Jewish cemeteries to advocating for historical remembrance in Gdańsk, a city marked by both vibrant Jewish life and devastating loss. Together, we'll explore how poetry can deepen our understanding of history, what it means to bear witness across generations, and why memory remains an urgent moral responsibility today. . . . Grzegorz Kwiatkowski is a Polish poet, musician, essayist, and activist from Gdańsk. He is Artist-in-Residence at Yale University’s Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. His poetry, translated into English by Peter Constantine, explores history, remembrance, violence, and ethics. He has written for The Guardian, Project Syndicate, World Literature Today, and Flaming Hydra, and co-curates academic projects at the University of Oxford on hatred and exclusion. He is also a member of the band Trupa Trupa.