The Bente Kahan Foundation’s mission is to further mutual respect and human rights in
the aftermath of the devastating European Jewish experience during WWII.
The Bente Kahan Foundation (FBK), founded in 2006, has been responsible for restoring Jewish heritage in Wroclaw, Poland, including the 200-year-old White Stork Synagogue (2010), the shtibl/ prayer room (2015), the mikveh/ritual bath (2018) and the Educational Center located on the lower ground floor of the synagogue. Furthermore, in 2017 FBK undertook an archeological excavation at the site of Die Neue Synagogue. The reform synagogue from 1872, had the capacity to accommodate2000 worshippers. It was completely destroyed on Kristallnacht, Nov. 9, 1938. In 2023, archeological excavation was carried out in the basement of Wroclaw University’s historical institute where the remains of a 13th or 14th-century synagogue, and also possibly a mikveh/ ritual bath were uncovered.
Until recently, FBK was responsible for the Center for Jewish Culture and Education in the White Stork Synagogue (2006 – 2022). Numerous stage performances, concerts, videos, short films, conferences, publications, and historical and art exhibitions were produced, many as part of the project “Mutual Respect.”
Today, the foundation is using new media to reach a large audience in Poland and abroad.
Among FBK’s main projects are “History Reclaimed”, which focuses on Jewish heritage in Wroclaw and Lower Silesia;“Holocaust education for a better future”, a cooperation with Wroclaw’s educators; “Unfinished Lives”, the multimedia project on Europe’s Jewish artists who perished in the Holocaust, now an exhibition visiting different countries in Europe as well as schools in Wroclaw.
Fundacja Bente Kahan’s projects are co-financed by the city of Wroclaw
www.fbk.org.pl