Monday 17 August 2015

Jews in Poland

I love the new Poland, but I do not like all that I observe. Some things are painful for me to see and difficult to comprehend. Being here and being me, I watch news. It is difficult to escape reallisation that a part of the Polish population, a big part unfortunately, is anti-Semitic. There is history to that and one may find some justification to excuse some anti-Semitic convictions, but I must say that any possible justification is weak. Polish tradition of being a Christian country is very old. Baptism of Poland happened through personal baptism of the first Polish ruler Mieszko the First. It was the year 966 and since then Poland is considered to be a Christian country. 


Jews were considered to be murderers of Christ and as such the major enemies of the Christian religions. That Jesus himself was a Jew somehow has lesser importance in Polish prejudices. It may be my ignorance talking here and if anyone could set me straight I will be obliged. Anyhow long standing Christianity of Poland is an excuse to treat Jews as “they” and justify unfriendly actions and more.

When I meet people of Jewish origin in Australia, I feel uncomfortable about my Polish background. Actually, I even feel ashamed. I sometimes try to say sorry; it was horrible how Poles behaved towards Jews at times. Not like Nazis, of course, and there were none Polish concentration camps as it sometimes is wrongly stated, but there were dark pages in Polish history. In fact this has not changed much. Sure, we behave now with more restrain but I hear very ugly words sometimes. There are even anti Semitic pamphlets available in some churches.  

So what is it about Jews that disturbs Poles? The views are – they are different, they are not US. They are not Polish. This in minds of some people is bad and Jews need to be excluded and can be offended. Not very Christian attitude to me.

My father is a good example of how deeply anti-Semitism is ingrained in Polish psyche. I remember the times when even he expressed anti-Semitic views. He did not stop to think what was wrong about Jews, but he really did not want me to get romantically involved with one. When I introduced my Swedish boyfriend to my parents, my father expressed a relief that at least this one is not likely to be Jewish. This was dictated by his doubts about my previous boyfriend, was he Jewish or one of us? But my father worried in silence and I was not forbidden to continue the relationship. My best girlfriend at school was Jewish. We sat at the same bench through grammar and high school. We went, together with our parents for holidays to the seashore. I am so glad to realize that my father’s prejudices did not translate to personal dislikes of human beings. Remembering his silly comments is not the best memory I have of my father. Thanks God there are so many other memories I cherish.


Then, I studied mathematics and math was a very Jewish faculty. Majority of my fellow students were Jewish. I did not think about who my colleagues were until such time when they started to disappear. The faculty shrunk and Polish mathematics suffered tremendous loss. Israel gained.  Many families left because they did not feel welcome at that time in Poland. I think that the situation is still difficult especially for people who contributed to Polish science and culture and now have to put up with anti-Semitic remarks expressed in private and publicly in media.

8 comments:

  1. Don't be too harsh, AC. There were deeply ingrained social and cultural actors associated with antisemitism. I think the thing that stood out with your dad is that he did not object despite his residual prejudices.

    Too tired tonight to comment further, but will come back to this post. !

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  2. As you know, one of my buckets (I prefer to call it a container) is the Bloomsbury group. I am just reading Virginia Woolf's letters written after her engagement to Leonard Woolf. Almost each of them starts : He is a Jew.... What is this obsession with one nation? Why this particular characteristic of a person is so important and what people (V.W.) want to say by it? Why this is considered to be worthy of mention?

    I do not blame my father, I mentioned him just as an illustration of somebody almost being born with the idea that there is something wrong with being a Jew. I admire my father deeply even if he was human :)

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  3. I doubt very much that you will come across any country anywhere in the world without some form of prejudice and anti something or the other. In India, there is a lot of antagonism between the majority Hindus and the minority Muslims thanks to the impact of the partition. That Pakistan is our neighbour does not help matters either!

    The Jews of India

    a minuscule minority however were not subject to any prejudice and those that emigrated to the West or Israel went to better their prospects.

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  4. Yes, I am aware that some form of prejudice is present in all places and I am sorry that such is reality but I still would like to see forms of racism removed little by little.

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  5. Somehow it reminded me the case of Fiji. Fiji was suspended few times as a member of the Commonwealth on the ground of anti-Indian racism. Democratically elected government was led by an Indian. It was overthrown in a military coup. I think it repeated twice - in 1987 and 2006. I followed media coverage at that time and got the impression that reasoning of people behind the coup was something like: Indians are better at work, trade and many things. Their efficiency is in conflict with our traditional ways of life - work mixed with enjoyment, leisure, cultural events, social life. If it goes like it is now soon we will be marginalised in our own country.
    I think there is merit in this reasoning - look at position of Aborigines in Australia.

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    1. Yes, I see the merit in such reasoning as well. This is unfortunate though and shows a disappointing side of human nature. I did not know the story of Fiji. It is so explicit that there is no escape from the argument.

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  6. http://www.millennialantichristianity.com/

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  7. Thank you, Ulisse. The book looks interesting.

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