The Warsaw Voice

The Letter of the Law

7 July 2004

http://www.warsawvoice.pl

The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (IAJLJ) was established in 1969 at the initiative of, among others, the U.S. Supreme Court, Judges Haim Cohn from Israel, Artur Goldberg from the United States and Nobel laureate Rene Cassin from France. The association is truly international; its members are lawyers, judges, judicial officers and academics in more than 50 countries. It is an open organization and also has non-Jewish members.

The IAJLJ strives to promote human rights and goals such as preventing war crimes, the prohibition of weapons of mass destruction and international cooperation on the rule of law. On an international forum, the organization discusses issues devoted to problems of racism, anti-Semitism and denial of the Holocaust.

For four years, the IAJLJ has operated in Poland. In 2001, it organized and held an international conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw, the goal of which was to familiarize the association's members with the legal system in Poland and to integrate lawyers of Jewish origin in Polish circles.

One of the IAJLJ's activities in Poland are monthly meetings. Their initiator is Michael Traison, an American lawyer from Miller Canfield who has worked in Poland for years. Each meeting is devoted to a particular issue related to the guest speaker's presentation. The speaker at the meeting, held June 30 at Artibus Restaurant in Warsaw, was Monika Krawczyk, CEO of the Foundation for Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland. She spoke about the foundation's activities, its role in the restoration of former Jewish properties in the territory of Poland and resulting problems. Krawczyk mentioned good cooperation with local communities in towns where cases of restoration and redevelopment of real estate were in progress.

Andrzej Omasta from the Poland Jewish Cemeteries Restoration Project spoke with conviction and commitment about devastated Jewish cemeteries, restoration, documentation and preservation of what is left. The project involves 1,200 cemeteries across Poland and it is only enormous commitment from the individuals involved that makes salvation and renovation of what is left possible.

There is always a cognitive element involved in meetings of the Polish branch of the IAJLJ. They are forums for an exchange of views among guests. One of the meetings' frequent guests is Ambassador of Israel David Peleg, as was Shevah Weiss during his mission to Poland. The meetings are also social events, including dinners and social functions involving people of various professions.