A 16-member delegation composed of faculty, students, and doctoral candidates from Union Presbyterian Seminary visited Wrocław in late April as part of the Shoah Travel Seminary, which also included stops in Berlin and Kraków. The Wrocław segment of the program, organized in cooperation with the Evangelical School of Theology in Wrocław, focused on the city’s Jewish history and the experience of the Shoah.
The group explored the Quarter of Mutual Respect, including a visit to the White Stork Synagogue, where they viewed an exhibition on the history of Wrocław’s Jewish community. They also visited the Edith Stein House, which helped place these narratives in a broader religious and intellectual context.
The academic portion of the visit took place at EWST, where Rector Wojciech Szczerba led a lecture and discussion on the current challenges facing the Church and theological education. This was followed by a lecture from Piotr Lorek that explored Bonhoeffer’s early text, “Fundamental Problems of Christian Ethics.” The visit to EWST was a crucial part of the program, highlighting the school’s role as a center for international theological exchange.
Participants also traced the history of resistance and the Shoah through visits to the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Monument in Wrocław and the Bonhoeffer family home, as well as during a meeting at Wrocław Town Hall. At St. Christopher’s Church in Wrocław, they viewed stained-glass windows dedicated to figures of the resistance movement, including Edith Stein, Juliusz Bursche, Maximilian Kolbe, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
The group also engaged in volunteer activities, with some members helping with maintenance work at the Jewish Cemetery on Lotnicza Street, while others participated in activities at a senior day-care center run by the Lutheran community.
In addition to the academic program, there was ample opportunity for conversation, shared meals, and informal exchanges, often centered around Polish, Central European, and Lower Silesian cuisine. The visit to Wrocław underscored the importance of the Evangelical School of Theology in Wrocław as a partner in international theological education—a place where academic reflection seamlessly connects with local context and lived experience.
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