The Center for Jewish Culture began its activities in the Kazimierz district of Cracow on November 24, 1993, at a special location - by New Square (also called Jewish Square) and right next to the intersection of Rabbi Meisels Street and Corpus Christi Street. The Center is a place open to all. Our program is addressed to the Jewish and non-Jewish public, from Poland and abroad. Years of experience entitle us to state that our program is held in high regard.

The program consists of lectures, meetings with authors, book promotions, conferences and seminars, summer programs, showings of documentary and feature films, concerts and exhibitions.

The Bayit Hadash (New Home) Month of Encounters with Jewish Culture had been organized since 1996. It takes place in the first month of the Jewish year - Tishri, during the High Holidays - and usually is devoted to one personage (e.g., Franz Kafka, Mordechai Gebirtig) or topic (Jewish Galicia).

The Aleksander and Alicja Hertz Annual Memorial Lecture, a yearly lecture dedicated to the memory of Aleksander and Alicja Hertz, is always related thematically to Polish-Jewish issues. Czeslaw Milosz inaugurated the series in 1999 with a lecture on his friendship with Aleksander Hertz. Succeeding lectures were delivered by Professor Israel Gutman and Ryszard Kapuscinski. These lectures are then published individually, in Polish and English in one volume.

Settimana della Cultura Ebraica, a weekly program devoted to Italian-Jewish subjects, has been prepared jointly with the Italian Cultural Institute in Cracow since 1996.

A complete list of program events can be found in the Annual Program Reports.

For many people, Jews and non-Jews from Poland and abroad, our building on Meisels Street has become an important address and a place to frequent. We host people of different ethnic origins, religions, and professions, educational levels and interests, who are linked by a desire to know the history and culture of the Jews and the complete story of Polish-Jewish coexistence, and by a willingness to forge harmonious relations between Poles and Jews.

The Center for Jewish Culture has become a landmark on the Kazimierz visitor's map, drawing Polish and foreign groups, individual tourists, and important figures from the worlds of politics, culture and learning.