Me & Bernard

Join host Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, in an exclusive podcast series featuring in-depth conversations with his friend Bernard Offen, 96, a Holocaust Survivor from Krakow, Poland who survived five concentration camps. In this series, Bernard shares his powerful life story, detailing his experiences growing up Jewish in pre-war Poland and his fascinating life after the war.

Interview by Jonanthan Ornstein with guest Bernard Offen

Music by Lynda Kraar and Jaime Valentine

Production help from Benjamin Lorch at The Berlin School of Podcasting

About Jonathan Ornstein

Since its opening in April 2008 by King Charles III, Jonathan has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Community Centre of Krakow, Poland, an organization devoted to rebuilding Jewish life in Krakow. The JCC boasts over 1,000 Jewish members, welcomes 10,000 visitors a month and is one of Poland’s most visible signs of Jewish revival. He created Ride For The Living and Holocaust Survivor Day, two global initiatives with tens of thousands of participants. Prior to the JCC’s opening, he taught Modern Hebrew at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University Department of Jewish Studies for 6 years and founded the “Gesher” association for Polish-Israeli dialogue. A native of New York City, Jonathan moved to Israel in 1994, living for 7 years on a kibbutz in the Negev desert and served in a combat unit in the I.D.F. before moving to Poland in 2001. He is a founding member of the Krakow Association of Christians and Jews where he serves as vice president. He also serves on the boards of the Krakow branch of the Child Survivors of the Holocaust organization, Hillel Poland, JCC Global, and the Abraham Global Peace Initiative. Jonathan, a primary architect of Poland’s contemporary Jewish rebirth, is a frequent international speaker and media contributor on issues relating to Jewish Poland, and an activist for Holocaust survivors.

About Bernard Offen

Bernard was born on April 17, 1929, in Krakow. He is a survivor of Plaszow, Julag, Mauthausen, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Dachau concentration camps, and now tells his story as an educator and filmmaker. It took Bernard many years to return to Krakow after the war and confront his demons. The Krakow Jewish community is honored that he now chooses to spend so much time with us as an active JCC Krakow member.

About JCC Krakow

Established and opened by His Majesty King Charles in 2008, JCC Krakow now boasts 1,100 Jewish members including 58 Holocaust survivors, and is the beating heart of Krakow’s growing, vibrant Jewish community. Our bright, colorful center with over 60 full time staff and a volunteer team numbering close to 150, welcomes local Jews and non-Jews with innovative, inclusive programming 7 days a week and hosts 100,000+ visitors a year. In 2023, we continued to rebuild Jewish life in Krakow with weekly Shabbat dinners, celebration of Jewish holidays and dedicated programming for the entire range of our community from preschool kids to Holocaust Survivors. Our reborn Jewish community, always mindful of the Jewish idea of “Tikkun Olam” or repairing the world, continued to support Ukraine by directly feeding, housing and providing psychosocial support to approximately 400,000 Ukrainian refugees, 98% of whom were not Jewish. On October 7, after the brutal Hamas led attack, we opened an “Israeli Safe Space” in our center and welcomed and helped dozens of Israeli families seeking support.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.