M. Benjamin Thorne, Jan. 14, 2009

 Today, Poland’s Jewish population numbers only 3,200 out of 38, 116,000.  Most Poles know little about the history of Polish Jews, or even ever met a Jewish person.  Attitudes towards Jews in Poland run the gamut from extremely positive to overtly anti- Semitic, with many somewhere in the middle.

 While Polish-Jewish relations came to experience an escalation in tension during the interwar years and the Communist regime, there was a time when Jews enjoyed considerable prestige and freedom: that of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ( ).  During this period Poland was known as the “Paradise of the Jews” and Jewish culture experienced remarkable growth. By 1764, the Jewish population of the Commonwealth was around 750,000 out of a total world population of 1.2 million.

 By the late eighteenth century a series of wars as well as the interference of the nobility severely weakened Poland-Lithuania.  Three rival countries (Austria, Prussia, and Russia) carved up Poland during a series of partitions, finally wiping Poland-Lithuania off the map in  Poland-Lithuania’s Jewish population was also divided, the majority living in the part of the Russian partition called the Pale of Settlement.

During WWI Polish Jews took an active role in the struggle to create a united Polish state, despite a number of pogroms resulting in the deaths of ca. 300 Jews. By 1939, the Jewish population of Poland was around 3, 474,000 or 10% of the total population. Warsaw’s Jewish population numbered 375,000, roughly a third of the entire populace.

Józef Piłsudski ( ) Born in what is today Lithuania, Piłsudski was committed during World War I to reuniting the lands of partitioned Poland. Recognizing the threat faced by a multiethnic state during the age of nationalism, Piłsudski

 During the interwar years Polish Jews experienced a tremendous cultural renaissance.  By 1938 there were: 226 Yiddish or Hebrew- language elementary schools;  fifiteen Yiddish-language theatres;  116 Jewish newspapers in a variety of languages;  and six major Jewish political parties (with several other smaller factions) representing a variety of viewpoints.  On the eve of the Holocaust, Poland’s Jewish population figured at 3,474,000.

Contrary to Jewish populations in Western Europe, during the interwar period Polish Jewry became increasingly less assimilated to Polish society, as represented by census statistics: Eg: in 1921, 74.2% claimed Yiddish or Hebrew as their mother tongue; by 1931 this had increased to 87%. This can partially be explained by the steady stream of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union

 After Piłsudski’s death, overt expressions of anti-Semitism increased in frequency:  Jewish students suffered abuses in schools;  Anti-Jewish riots during the years left 79 dead and over 500 wounded;  In 1937 Catholic trade unions representing doctors and lawyers excluded Jews from their membership;  That same year, a numerus clausus law limited the number of Jewish students allowed to attend university.

 During the interwar years, some Jewish intellectuals saw Communism as the only political movement that could effectively combat anti-Semitism and establish a society equal to all. After the war, Jews like the poet Julian Tuwim helped in the effort to create such a society.  Such involvement, however, should be differentiated from the myth of Żydokomuna, which asserts that the establishment of communism in Poland was part of a Jewish conspiracy to dominate Polish society. This myth has hindered Polish-Jewish dialogue in the postwar era.

 Jews returning back to their former homes after the Holocaust often encountered resentment— and sometimes violence from their neighbors, who in many instances had occupied the houses.  The most infamous incident was the Kielce Pogrom (July 4, 1946).  Of the town’s 200 Holocaust survivors, 42 were killed.  Such events prompted many Jews to leave Poland for the US or Israel.

 Dialogue between Poles and Jews regarding the Holocaust remains difficult in part due to the differing memories of the Nazi occupation.  To many Poles, the war years were a period of extreme violence in which six million Polish citizens (half of them Jews) died.  To those unaware of Hitler’s plans to exterminate all Jews, then, the Holocaust does not stand out as a unique aspect of the war.  Still others believe that the Nazis intended to exterminate all Poles as well, challenging the notion of the Holocaust as unique phenomenon (this idea in particular is prominent among some Polish émigré communities in the United States).

 Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than at Auschwitz itself.  In addition to being a killing center for Jews, Auschwitz housed many kinds of prisoners, including Poles suspected of being Communists or members of the resistance.  Roughly 150,000 Poles were deported to Auschwitz, including the famous author Tadeusz Borowski.

 To emphasize the Polish dimension of the camp, an order of Carmelite nuns established a convent near Auschwitz in 1984, and erected a large cross in front of Barack 11, which housed political prisoners.  The convent is forced to leave the site in 1993, but the cross remains.

 The most recent controversy is the theft of the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign above the main gate into Auschwitz, which occurred on December 18,  The theft provoked anger and condemnation from Jews, Poles, and general world opinion.  The sign—like Auschwitz itself—remains a symbol with very different meanings for Poles and Jews.

 Thank you for your attention, and enjoy your trip!  If you any further questions about the history of Polish Jewry, please don’t hesitate to ask: 