B’nai B’rith International announced the recipients of an award honoring Polish citizens who have shown exceptional commitment to preserving Jewish heritage in Poland and cultivating Jewish-Polish relations.

The award, in its fourth consecutive year, is called Wdzięczność-Gratitude-הכרת הטוב in Polish, English and Hebrew, and recognizes outstanding contributions of individuals and institutions. The award is presented in honor of Marian Turski (1926-2025), a Polish-Jewish journalist, historian, Holocaust survivor and a member of the B’nai B’rith Poland lodge.

2026 Recipients of the award are:

Individual category: Wojciech Michał Lemański, Zbigniew J. Nita and Jakub Wójcik

Institutional category: Sitwa Organization

The award includes a unique statuette and certificate designed by graphic artist Klara Jankiewicz, and as currently planned, will be presented on Sunday, June 28, at the iconic Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, in Lublin, Poland. The ceremony will include presentations by B’nai B’rith CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin and B’nai B’rith Poland President Andrzej Friedman.

Wojciech Michał Lemański—a Roman Catholic priest—has been travelling regularly to Treblinka, the site where nearly a million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, on the last Saturday of every month for over 20 years. Throughout the past few years, he has also been visiting the Radegast station, Łódź’s Umschlagplatz, on the second Sunday of every month. At both sites the names of the Jews who were murdered there are read aloud. On July 10, he regularly visits Jedwabne and other sites of the Holocaust—Szczuczyn, Radziłów, Wąsosz and Bzury. Due to his commitment to Polish-Jewish dialogue, he did not hesitate to enter into conflict with his ecclesiastical superiors. Repeatedly formally reprimanded, removed from his parish in Jasienica and suspended by Archbishop Henryk Hoser, he remains a faithful guardian of the memory of the Jewish neighbors of Poles.

Zbigniew J. Nita—A Polish historian, journalist, and photographer who has for many years consistently and passionately worked to preserve the memory of Jewish communities in Poland, with particular emphasis on the regions of Janów Lubelski and Kazimierz Dolny. He is the initiator and co-founder of the Ławeczka Dialogu (Dialogue Bench) association, which works to protect Jewish memorial sites, historical heritage and deepen Polish-Jewish dialogue. As the author of numerous photographic exhibitions devoted to Jewish cemeteries and sites of historical significance, as well as numerous publications on the history and culture of Jews in Poland, Nita has made a significant contribution to disseminating knowledge about the shared Polish-Jewish heritage. His work has been widely covered in the media, including in the context of the discovery, preservation and commemoration of Jewish tombstones. He founded the Janów Association of Benches for Dialogue, whose goal is to preserve and commemorate the Jewish community in Janów Lubelski, as well as to foster dialogue between the town’s residents and visitors, both Jews and Israelis, who come to Janów Lubelski. He teaches Judaism, the stories of Bashevis Singer and Jewish holidays in schools.

Jakub Wójcik—Has been involved for many years in preserving the memory of the Jews of Grójec who perished in the Holocaust. Among other things, he, along with Małgorzata Andrychowicz, a teacher at the local school, supervises the cleaning and tidying of the Jewish cemetery and organizes annual ceremonies commemorating the liquidation of the Grójec Ghetto. He is a member of the organization Memory for the Future of Grójec. Wójcik from Grójec (near Warsaw) is a contemporary Polish local activist who documents and commemorates the city’s Jewish history. His goal is to document and record the history of Grójec, including translating the city’s Book of Remembrance (Yizkor) from Yiddish into Polish and English. Wójcik is an organizer and contact person for projects related to the Jews of Grójec, inviting descendants to share documents, photographs and family stories

Sitwa Organization—A Polish grassroots initiative—founded in Wrocław but comprising members from across the country—dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Poland. The name is a deliberate play on words: it draws from the Yiddish szitwes and Hebrew shuttafuth (partnership or association), while simultaneously serving as a Polish acronym for “Social Initiative Keeping up the Fight Against Anti-Semitism.” It was formed in direct response to the escalating tide of anti-Jewish hate, punctuated by the alarming decision to invite and host a known terrorist on the premises of University of Wrocław. To counter the anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist climate in Poland, the organization publishes educational texts and resources, intervenes with local authorities and institutions and organizes workshops, community programs and public protests. https://sitwa.org.pl/

Members of the award committee are: Professor Andrzej Friedman, president, and Dr. Sergiusz Kowalski, former president and mentor, of the B’nai B’rith Warsaw Lodge; Daniel S. Mariaschin, CEO, B’nai B’rith International; Lili Haber, chair, Association of Cracowians in Israel; Professor Adam Daniel Rotfeld, former Foreign Minister of Poland; Rabbi Eric Fusfield, deputy director, B’nai B’rith International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy and director of legislative affairs; and Alan Schneider, director, B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem, who serves as the award secretariat.

The award is founded on the ancient Jewish principle of giving due praise to God and man, and is informed by Psalms 56:12 “Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.” Presented for the fourth consecutive year, it represents the first annual award established by the global Jewish community to honor Poles for their contribution to dialogue and preservation of Jewish heritage in Poland and Jewish-Polish relations. Past recipients have been: 2023 Urszula Antosz-Rekucka (individual) and the Forum for Dialogue (institutional); 2024 Professor Łukasz Tomasz Sroka (individual) and the Brama (Gate) Cukermana Foundation (institutional); 2025 Robert Kobylarczyk, Andrzej Koraszewski and Ireneusz Socha (individual) and the Association of the Museum of Bialystok Jews (institutional).

 

For further information and media access, please contact:

Professor Andrzej Friedman, President, B’nai B’rith Poland Lodge:
+48-602-753-856
[email protected]

Alan Schneider, Director, B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem:
+972-52-5537441
[email protected]