About the foundation.

The mission of the Bente Kahan Foundation is to promote the ideas of mutual respect and human rights, from the perspective of the tragic experiences of European Jews during World War II.

The Bente Kahan Foundation, established in 2006 with the aim of restoring Jewish heritage, was responsible for the restoration of the White Stork Synagogue (2010), the shul/small synagogue (2015), the mikveh/ritual bath (2018), and the Educational Center located in the synagogue’s basement. Additionally, in 2017, the FBK conducted archaeological excavations on the site of the New Synagogue, built in 1872 (destroyed during Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938). Before its demolition, it could accommodate 2,000 worshippers.

In 2023, archaeological excavations were conducted in the basement of the Institute of History at the University of Wrocław, where the remains of a 13th or 14th-century synagogue and, most likely, a mikveh/ritual bath were discovered.

Until recently, FBK also ran the Center for Jewish Education and Culture in the White Stork Synagogue (2006-2022), where it produced numerous performances, concerts, recordings, conferences, publications, and historical and artistic exhibitions, many of them as part of the “Days of Mutual Respect” project.

Currently, the foundation uses new technologies to reach a wider audience in Poland and abroad. Among the many projects it undertakes, notable examples include “Historia Odzyskana” (Recovered History), which restores the Jewish heritage of Wrocław and Lower Silesia; “Nauka o Holokauście dla lepszej przyszłości” (Learning about the Holocaust for a Better Future), a project in collaboration with educators in Wrocław; and “Nieukończone życia” (Unfinished Lives), a multimedia project presenting Jewish artists from Europe who were murdered during the Holocaust. This project is now being showcased as an exhibition in various European countries, as well as in schools in Wrocław.

Projects implemented by FBK are co-financed by the Wrocław Municipality.
www.fbk.org.pl