Michal Friedman at the Karski and Renska Award Ceremony

This is a picture from the Karski and Renska Award Ceremony. The photo was taken in Warsaw in the 1980s. Jan Karski is sitting in the center (the fourth from the left). I am sitting next to him. The first lady to the left is Ruta Sakowska, a Holocaust historian from Warsaw. In Poland we have a small Jewish community split into a number of organizations and associations. We have two Jewish periodicals. In principle, we have all the attributes of a great community, except that we don't have the people. When I am asked: 'What do Polish Jews need?' I say: 'Jews.' There are always two points of view: one pessimistic and one optimistic. Some see hope in the young people who are attracted to Jewish causes, even though they have frequently Catholic backgrounds. A sort of new type of Jewish community may develop here, but it would be very different from the historic Polish Jewry.