Guided Tour by Photographer Hanna Jarzabek

Free attendance on the day of the visit, or you can book in advance by email: loxistica@redeacampa.org indicating: full name and phone number. Thank you.

PATRIOTIC GAMES

(Polonia, 2017) “The most urgent thing in Poland is to rebuild the national identity. We have strayed far from religion and patriotism. It is necessary to return to the Christian roots and develop a more communal behavior. The West cannot impose its values ​​on us.”

Szymon, a second year of the military program.

In recent years, Polish public schools have introduced a new educational program called “Military Profile Classes” as part of the subject “Education for Security”. This program, considered a “pedagogical innovation”, targets adolescents between the ages of 16 and 19 and includes practical activities in collaboration with private paramilitary organizations or the Polish army. While its primary goal is to develop military skills among young people, some teachers and paramilitaries also aim to promote patriotic and religious awareness, using the motto “God, Honor, and Country” as a guiding principle. Most of the teenagers I spoke to enroll in this program out of concern for their future jobs prospects. They see the Army, Police or other uniformed public services as the safest employers and hope that the classes will enhance their chances of securing a job. Some view the course as an exciting adventure, while military paraphernalia fascinates others. What do they think when they finish the program? I posed the same question to students at the beginning and end of the program: “If you could start building Poland from scratch, what would be the most important thing to you?” While most first-year students answered: “Create new jobs,” most juniors answered: “Rebuild national identity.”

THE JUNGLE

(Unwanted refugees in the Bialowieza Forest), Poland 2022/2023 Over the past year, Poland has provided necessary assistance, including work and residence permits, to 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees. However, just a few kilometers north, on the Belarusian border, refugees mainly from the Middle East and Africa face extremely harsh anti-immigration policies. Since November 2021, thousands of these refugees have attempted to cross the Bialowieza Forest, the last remaining primeval forest in Europe. The forest, nicknamed “The Jungle” by some refugees, is a perilous and difficult place to traverse, particularly for those who are unprepared for and unfamiliar with the harsh climate of northeastern Europe. Many refugees become trapped in the forest for extended periods, where they face extreme conditions, a lack of food and water, and a high risk of hypothermia and death during the winter. If caught by border guards, these refugees are usually “turned back to the border”, which involves being left in the woods on the Belarusian side at night without witnesses and with their phones destroyed to prevent communication with the outside world. The Polish government criminalizes any form of humanitarian aid on this border, labeling those who provide it as “idiots and traitors.” Despite the construction of a wall, the flow of migrants has not stopped, but the crisis has largely disappeared from the media coverage. The production of this investigation is supported by a grant from the IJ4EU fund, from the International Press Institute (IPI) and the European Journalism Centre (EJC)