Before Second World War Łódź was a multicultural city. The town which during few decades developed from a little village to a industrial metropolis was built by Germans, Jews, Poles, Russians and people of other nationalities. The rise of Łódź was in a great degree a credit to the newcomers from abroad. The people of many talents and educated in the industrial centres of the western Europe settled here. Also peasants from the nearby villages came here in search of the employment. With them they brought multiple tratidtions. All of them participated in the developement of the new city, which had no native and influencial community. Despite the differences between them they were able to join their efforts and together build this extraordinary city. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone that Israel Poznański funded the floor in the catholic church in the Kościelny square and that in the building committee of the Orthodox church there were protestants, Jews and catholics as well as orthodox Russians.

During  Second World War the multinational structure and transparency of the cultures were brutally damaged. Today Łodź is a different city. But the memory about the Łódź of Four Cultures is still alive among the citizens. The multiculturality of Łódź is evoked by the Festival of the Dialogue of Four Cultures. The meetings with films, spectacles, lectures, concerts and exhibitions take place during few autumn days since 2002. The artists among others from Austria, Israel, Germany, Russia and Poland. The City of Łódź Office to commemorate the cultures that created the city dedicated the cycles of whole year’s events to three of them: German, Russian and Jewish. The year 2004 was dedicated to the Jewish culture and the main part of that event was then commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Litzmannstadt Getto liquidation (which was the last getto liquidation in the middle Europe)

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