In May 2019, the Chair of PAYS became Prof. Joanna Degler (Lisek), professor of literature, translator, and lecturer at the Jewish Studies Department of Tadeusz Taube at the University of Wrocław. Her field of interest is in Jewish poetry and Yiddish culture, especially women’s writings. She is the author of the monography Jung Wilne – żydowska grupa artystyczna (Wrocław 2005) and Kol isze – głos kobiet w poezji jidysz (Sejny 2018). She coedited the volumes Nieme dusze? Kobiety w kulturze jidysz (Wrocław 2010) and Mykwa – rytuał i historia (Wrocław 2014). Together with Karolina Szymaniak and Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota, she prepared the volume of poetry Moja dzika koza. Antologia poetek jidysz. She also translated into the Polish language Chava Rosenfarb’s trilogy Drzewo życia (together with M. Ruta, M. Tuszewicki, N. Krynicka, I. Stempin; Łódź 2015-2017) and the literature and art group Jung Jidysz (“Jung-Idisz / Yung-Yidish”, Łódź 2019). Since 2017 she has been an Editor in Chief of the academic publishing series Żydzi. Polska. Autobiografia.

The Vice-Chair of PAYS is Dariusz Dekiert – specialist in Hebrew and literature, and Sworn Translator of the Hebrew Language. He graduated from Jewish Studies, Semitic Languages, and History at the Freie Universität Berlin. Since 2005 he manages his business in translation. In 2019 he worked at the German Studies Department at the University of Łódź, and he began PhD studies at the University of Łódź where he is working on a dissertation: Od romantycznego zrywu do literackiej trybuny. Łódzka awangarda żydowska w latach 1905-1928. The most important publications include: Elementy magii praktycznej w modlitwach za chorych i zmarłych, [in:] Różni razem: młodzi polscy naukowcy o Żydach. Ed. by J. Żyndul (2008), The Jewish Cemetery In Łódź: At the Crossroads of Two Worlds, [in:] Wielkomiejskie cmentarze żydowskie w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej, ed. by. I. Gadowska (2017). Together with K. Radziszewska and E. Wiatr he coedited an anthology of the Jews from Łódź in between the wars, Sztetl, szund, bunt i Palestyna (2018); published translations form Hebrew: A. Rzędowska, D. Feldman, Getto żydowskie w okupowanym Piotrkowie (2014), J. Malka, Posłannictwo balanit, [w:] Mykwa – rytuał i historia, ed. by J. Lisek (2014); and translated poetry and prose from Yiddish into Polish in the anthologies: Nowe życie? Antologia literatury jidysz w powojennej Łodzi (2018), ed. by M. Ruta, Oblicza getta. Antologia tekstów z getta łódzkiego (2017), ed. by K. Radziszewska, E. Wiatr, and Budzi się Łódź. Obraz miasta w literaturze do 1939 r. (2019), ed. by K. Badowska, T. Cieślak, K. Pietrych, K. Radziszewska.

Since 2019, the Secretary of PAYS has been Adam Stepnowski, interested in the Yiddish language since 2014. He graduated from Jewish Studies in Wrocław with Bachelor and Master degree: Wątki gender i queer we wczesnej twórczości poetyckiej Szmuela Jakowa Imbera (2016) and „Cusztajer” (1929-1931) – analiza zawartości czasopisma i jego znaczenie dla kultury jidysz w Galicji (2018). Currently he is working on a PhD thesis about the birth and development of shund. He was a Fellow at the Medem-Bibliotek in Paris (2018) and The Institute for the History of Polish Jewry (2020). He participated in the Yiddish studies programs in Warsaw, Berlin, and New York. He has been active in PAYS since 2019.  

The treasurer at PAYS is Karolina Koprowska, a PhD student at the Polish Philology Department of Jagiellonian University. She is a laureate of Diamont Grant annd her writing is entitled: „Miejsce urodzenia jako kategoria badań kulturowych. Migracje – tożsamość – pamięć”.  She teaches the Yiddish language at the Jewish Studies Department in Wrocław and the Jewish Studies Institute at the Jagiellonian University. She was a Fellow of the Education Minister, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and the Rothschild Foundation. She is the author of: Postronni? Zagłada w relacjach chłopskich świadków (Kraków 2018) and co-editor Świadek: jak się staje, czym jest (Warszawa 2019), jak burgund pod światło… szkice o Zuzannie Ginczance (Kraków 2018), Wieś: miejsce, doświadczenie, opowieść (Kraków 2016), Szczekociny w opowieściach mieszkańców. Czasy przedwojenne i wojna (Szczekociny 2014). She also published in „Teksty Drugie”, „Wielogłosie” and „Ruchu Literackim”.

A member of the Board since May of 2019 is Dr. Magdalena Kozłowska – historian, culural studies specialist, translator, and adjunct at the Historical Institute at the University of Warsaw. Her area of interest is particularly the social history of the Jews in between the wars. She is an author of the monography: Świetlana przyszłość? Żydowski Związek Młodzieżowy Cukunft wobec wyzwań międzywojennej Polski (Kraków-Budapeszt 2016). She is a member of the editorial group at In Geveb. She published in Cwiszn, Midrasz, Znak and Kultura Liberalna. Currently she is working on a translation of the reportages from the civil war in Spain by S.  L. Shneiderman. 

Since May 2019, another Member of the Board is Dr Agnieszka Żółkiewska – employed at the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, historian of literature, translator of the Yiddish Language and laureate of the Józef A. Gierowski and Chone Shmeruk Award. She has published, among many others: Słowa pośród nocy. Poetyckie dokumenty Holokaustu (2012), Zerwana przeszłość. Powojenne środowisko inteligencji twórczej. Pomocmaterialna i organizacyjna ze strony CKŻP (2017), and Wolny Ptak. Der Frajer Fojgl. Humor z prasy żydowskiej w Polsce niepodległej (2019).  

During the General Members Meeting in May 2019, another Board Member chosen was Dr. Agata Rybińska – pedagogue, Bible theologian, and specialist in literature. She was studying in Wrocław at the Jewish Studies Department, and earlier she studied Hebrew at the PFT in Wrocław, PUG in Roma, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the University of Tel Aviv. She is interested in Biblical culture, Jewish culture and especially the cultural history, religion, and religious literature of the Jewish languages in the 19^th century. In her research on Jewish women, she uses as her sources the Bible, Cene u-rene, women’s prayers books, and Memory Books. She also uses the literary heritage of Wissenschaft des Judentums. Since 2012 she has been working at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin Od 2012 roku, at the Jewish History and Culture Department, and on Tuesdays she is busy with other Yiddishist at the Yidish-Tish . Most of her translations are hidden in her drawers.