Poland rediscovers its Jewish roots

Before World War II, 3.5 million Jews lived in Poland. Today, there are fewer than 4,000. Photographer Soliman Lawrence portrays how Poles rediscover Jewish culture and their country’s history. His pictures are on display as part of this year's Jewish Music and Theatre Week in Dresden. This picture shows the Jewish Cultural Festival in Krakow, which was founded by Janusz Makuch, a non-Jewish Pole.

The Krakow Jewish Culture Festival is the largest and oldest event of its kind in Poland. It showcases Jewish culture from around the world and attracts visitors all over the globe. It features internationally acclaimed musicians and includes workshops on Jewish dance, Israeli food and lectures. During the final concert "Shalom on Szeroka," visitors of the festival dance together.

The city of Chmielnik has a population of about 4,000 and is not home to any Jews. Nevertheless, Chmielnik has put on an annual Jewish cultural festival for the last 10 years. Before World War II, 80 percent of Chmielnik residents were Jewish. Today, remnants of the synagogue and cemetery are all that is left, though plans for restoration are in the works.

Of the synagogues that survived the war, many have been repurposed and used as community centers, museums and bookstores, while a few are still used for worship. In this picture, tourists visit the partially restored Izaak Synagogue in Krakow's Jewish district, Kazimierz, which is decorated with life-sized cutouts of pre-war Jews.

Not only synagogues need rejuvenating, but also Jewish cemeteries. Many of them have been neglected and become overgrown, but there has been a recent drive to restore more of the graveyards. Pictured is a worker clearing brush from the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw. Photographer Soliman Lawrence, an American living in Berlin, is particularly interested in the relationship between past and present.

Another sign that Jewish culture in Poland is enjoying a revival is that souvenirs with Jewish themes are popular throughout Poland, from paintings and menorah key chains to figures mades of glass, wood and ceramic. The picture shows molds for menorahs that are made in Nova Huta - not for religious purposes, but as souvenirs.

Jews have been part of Polish folk art for hundreds of years. Today most figurines are sold to tourists at souvenir shops. Josef Regula, a Polish Catholic folk artist, carves a Jewish figure out of wood in this picture.

The Jewish community in Warsaw is the largest in Poland. During the Singer Cultural Festival, members of a Jewish group mark the Sabbath in front of a crowd of at least 200 people - most of whom are non-Jewish.

In memory of the 1941 pogrom in Jedwabne, in which Poles forced their Jewish neighbors into a barn and set it on fire, artist Rafal Betlejewski burned a barn in the small town of Zawada. The artistic "performance" was very controversial and stirred a heated discussion among Jews and non-Jews. Soliman Lawrence's photos are on show in Dresden through November 16.

Over the last decade Poland has been debating revelations about the Poles’ role during the Holocaust, which have undermined the previous consensus that Poles were largely victims and not perpetrators. Now more Poles are coming to terms with the past. Pictured here, a women peeks through a fence next to the Old Cemetery and Remuh Synagogue in Krakow.