Students Spend Three Days in Poland to See How a Country Deals with its Past

Group photo of MTJ students during their study trip to Poland Group photo of MTJ students during their study trip to Poland

2 April 2019

Students of our MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law (MTJ) spent three days in Poland (Krakow and Warsaw) to look into transitional justice issues and see how the country has been deadline with its past.

‘Poland is for me one of the most fascinating and complicated cases of dealing with a difficult past after the Holocaust and the fallout from a long-lasting authoritarian communist regime. The three-day trip provided me with new insights on the role of Poles not only as victims and passive observers, but also arguably as perpetrators, and how the current generations are struggling to deal with such complex identity. I believe this trip is not an end in itself, rather it has left us contemplating additional questions of law, justice and memory’ says Linh Thao Nong.

Preparations in Geneva

The study trip was organized by three MTJ students: Luisa Gómez Betancur, Anthoula Bourolias, and Zoe Fiscus-Doss.

Before leaving to Poland, students met in Geneva with Dr Andre Liebich, Honorary Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, who briefed them on Poland’s history, its post-Communist lustration process, and its current political scene.

MAS in Transitional Justice Study Trip Poland Liebich

Looking into Poland’s Holocaust and Communist Past

Via guided tours, museums visits and discussions with experts, MTJ students learned about the challenges related to dealing with the past in Poland.

In a meeting at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Warsaw, they discussed with scholars – Dr Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias, Assistant Professor at the Poznań Human Rights Centre of the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Marta Saracyn, Programme Director at JCC Warsaw; and Dr Tomasz Lachowski, Transitional Justice Expert at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Lodz – Poland’s Holocaust and Communist past, including how Polish memory laws applied to the Holocaust and the impact of these laws; the complexities and varied nature of the Jewish identity; and transitional justice in Poland and the post-Communist lustration process.

‘The meetings we had in the Jewish Community Center in Warsaw highlighted one more time the vital significance of creating and preserving a historical narrative that reflects the realities of the past, without being subjected to political manipulation’ underlines Lilit Hovhannisyan.

MAS in Transitional Justice Study Trip Poland Dealing with the Past

A Visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial

Students spent their last day in Poland with a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial.

‘The visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau was an unforgettable experience. There is nothing like being physically present at a historical location when trying to comprehend the magnitude of an event, particularly one as overwhelmingly tragic as the Holocaust’ explains Christina Martin.

MAS in Transitional Justice Study Trip Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

News

New Working Paper Explores AI for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

30 January 2025

A new working paper, 'AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring', has been published by the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

Read more

Mô Bleeker News

UNSG Special Adviser Mô Bleeker Becomes Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy

15 April 2025

Mô Bleeker, UNSG Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, shares how her work as Senior Fellow at the Geneva Academy contributes to our shared goals.

Read more

Training

Human Rights and the Environment: Introducing Legal Regimes and Key Issues

1-8 September 2025

Participants in this training course will be introduced to the major international and regional instruments for the promotion of human rights, as well as international environmental law and its implementation and enforcement mechanisms.

Read more

Session of the UN Human Rights Committee Project

Treaty Body Review 2020 and Beyond

Started in January 2018

The Geneva Human Rights Platform contributes to this review process by providing expert input via different avenues, by facilitating dialogue on the review among various stakeholders, as well as by accompanying the development of a follow-up resolution to 68/268 in New York and in Geneva.

Read more

Plastic pollution on an Italian shore Project

Unpacking the Human Right to a Healthy Environment: Definition, Implementation and Impact

Started in January 2022

This research aims at mainstreaming the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the protection it affords in the work of the UN Human Rights Council, its Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review, as well as in the work of the UN General Assembly and UN treaty bodies.

Read more

Cover of the publication Publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

published on March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

Read more

Cover page of the working paper Publication

AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

published on January 2025

Milica Mirkovic, Jennifer Victoria Scurrell

Read more