Alan Metnick was born in Chicago in 1941, his father's family came from the Odessa area and his mother's from eastern Poland, from Slawatycze. His grandparents immigrated to the United States before the war. He grew up in a large, multi-generational family.
He studied history and photography.
In 2004 he came to Poland for the first time and since then he has been working for the renovation and reconstruction of the Jewish cemetery in Sławatycze and the commemoration of the Sławatycze Jews. He made contact with the last living Jews of Slawatycze. In 2008, a ceremony of reopening the necropolis took place. Initially, there was only one matzeva left on the cemetery, but over the course of years, more and more matzevot were returned by Sławatycze residents.
Alan Metnick regularly visits Poland and photographs matzevot in Jewish cemeteries. His photographs are included in the collections of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the Jewish Historical Institute, among others, and are also displayed in Polish cities. His efforts to remember the Jewish heritage of Sławatycze have changed his attitude towards Poland and his perception of his own identity. He used to refer to himself as an American, but now considers himself a Polish Jew.
