A Doctor of the World and a Human without Frontiers
Alina Margolis-Edelman
THE YEAR OF ALINA MARGOLIS-EDELMAN
On the initiative of the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center, the Łódź Municipal Council declared 2022 the Year of Alina Margolis-Edelman, a Łódź-born physician and social activist, who was particularly concerned with the well-being of children. A series of events has been planned to mark the occasion, including celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Margolis-Edelman’s birth in the company her family and friends, various meetings, workshops, and screenings, as well as launching an interactive exhibition called “ABC of empathy”, inspired by Alina Margolis-Edelman’s life and directed at young audiences and their caretakers (teachers and parents), and a traveling exhibition addressed to secondary-school students and adults, called “A Doctor of the World and a Human without Frontiers. Alina Margolis-Edelman”.
The “ABC of empathy” exhibition, commissioned in October 2022 at the Dialogue Center in Łódź (located at Wojska Polskiego street 83), is an illustrated tour with a very special guide, in Alina Margolis-Edelman herself, or rather the little girl called Ala that she once was. An interactive space of intellectually stimulating games offers young audiences a thought-provoking experience, which will encourage them to ask questions about the world and its ethics, as well as engage them in a discussion on pressing global issues. The exhibition impresses upon a child the importance of caring about people, animals, and the whole world as a place which future generations will inherit from us.
The Alina Margolis-Edelman Award was founded in 2011 by the Empowering Children Foundation and Fundacja Zeszytów Literackich [the Literary Palimpsests Foundation]. It goes to persons with extraordinary track record of helping children and, starting in 2022, to non-governmental organizations which are particularly devoted to supporting children. In the Year of Alina Margolis-Edelman, the recipients of the award were Paulina Bownik and Mariusz Kurnyta, who helped refugee children at the Polish-Belarusian border, and the Słonie na balkonie [Elephants on a balcony] foundation, which helps children recover from traumas and mental breakdowns.
The exhibition “A Doctor of the World and a Human without Frontiers” is part of the project “The Year of Alina Margolis-Edelman”.
The project has received partial funding from the Culture Promotion Fund at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and from the subsidy of the City of Łódź
OUR PARTNERS:
Empowering Children Foundation
Soundsitive Studio Society
Honorary patronage: The Embassy of France, Warsaw
Exhibition curator and author of the texts: Joanna Podolska
Graphic design: Adam Sikorski
Polish proofreading: Magdalena Wrzesień
English translation: Maciej Grabski
Exhibition coordinator: Jolanta Lechowska-Białecka
Project coordinator: Kamila Majchrzycka-Szymańska
Print:
SPECIAL THANKS:
We are grateful to Anna Edelman and Aleksander Edelman, for sharing family photos and documents, and for their continued help with the project.
The following people also contributed to the organization of the events held as part of the Year of Alina Margolis-Edelman:
Anna Latko, Françoise Gayral, Lisa Gayral, Tomas Gayral, Zofia Lipecka, Maria Keller-Hamela, Monika Sajkowska, Michał Szymańczak, Bożena Grzywaczewska, Marianna Grzywaczewska, Liliana Sonik, Janina Sonik, Agnieszka Holland, Edyta Wróblewska, Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda, Lucyna Wiszniowska, Krzysztof Talczewski, Maciej Sadowski, Seweryn Blumsztajn, Zofia Winawer, Bożena Kisiel, Zbigniew Domagalski, Maciej Sztąberek. Thank you!
Photo and video materials:
Private collections
State Archive in Łódź
The Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Łódź
The Museum of Independence Traditions in Łódź
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
Soundsitive Studio Society
References:
Alina Margolis-Edelman, Ala z elementarza [Ala from the Reading Primer], Aneks, London 1994.
Alina Margolis-Edelman, Moralność czasu Holokaustu [Morality during the Holocaust], „Tygodnik Powszechny”, issue 50-51, 2001.
Jestem nigdzie [I am nowhere]. Natasza Kozłowska-Coudert’s interview with Alina Margolis-Edelman, „Tygiel Kultury”, issue 3, 1998.
Myśmy tam żyły jak w jakimś raju [Our life there was like a beautiful dream ]. Anka Grupińska’s interview with Alina Margolis-Edelman, „Tygodnik Powszechny”, issue 19, 2004.
Anna Bikont, Ala z Elementarza [Ala from the Reading Primer], „Wysokie Obcasy” issue 38, newspaper supplement, Gazeta Wyborcza, issue 295, 1998.
Joanna Muszkowska-Penson, Alina Margolis-Edelman i nagroda jej imienia [Alina Margolis-Edelman and her memorial prize], „Gazeta Wyborcza”, 2014.
Barbara Engelking, Jacek Leociak, Getto warszawskie. Przewodnik po nieistniejącym mieście [The Warsaw Ghetto. A Tour of a Nonexistent City], Polish Center for Holocaust Research, Warsaw 2013.
Michał Trębacz, Aleksander Margolis (1888–1939). Lekarz, społecznik, polityk [Aleksander Margolis (1888–1939): A Doctor, Activist, and Politician], [in:] Bohaterowie trudnych czasów. Zbiór VIII [The Heroes of Difficult Times. Volume 8], Biblioteka „Kroniki Miasta Łodzi”, Łódź 2013.