Signs of Poland’s troubled past resurfacing
Other than the Jews, no people have suffered more from Nazi atrocities than the Poles.
Not only did half of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust come from Poland, but three million non- Jewish Poles also died.
Yet the common tragic experience didn’t always bring Poles and Jews closer together.
Though there were Poles who risked their lives to help Jews to hide or escape, there were others who in the brutal years of German occupation denounced Jews to the authorities or disposed of them in other ways.
Polish anti- Semitism may not be as universal as many make it out to be, but it has a long and ignominious history.
It continued, at times brutally, even after the Second World War and, as in virtually all other countries, is there to this very day.
For example, the Polish writer Agata Tuszynska, who discovered as an adult that her mother is Jewish, has written a moving memoir, Family History of Fear, in which she describes her search for her roots in Poland.
In the process she encountered vulgar anti- Semitism telling her, among much else of that ilk, that Poles should be grateful to Hitler for having helped them to get rid of the Jews and, of course, however inconsistently, that the Jews continue to run Poland and rule the rest of the world.
Similarly, when serious and reputable historians, among them Prof. Jan Grabowski of the University of Ottawa, documented that some Poles were murdering Jews in the Nazi period and thereafter, many Poles were outraged.
Not having any grounds for challenging the research they would argue against the integrity of the scholars and the prudence of publishing the results.
As a way of healing, successive Polish governments took serious steps to come to terms with their past and to distance themselves from anti- Semitism.
They established cordial relations with the Israel and encouraged Jews all over the world to visit their country.
Such visits became part of the Israeli high school curriculum and common practice among Jews of all ages. The Jewish Museum in Warsaw seeks to document the 1,000- year history of Polish Jewry and its invaluable contribution to almost every aspect of Polish life.
It’s by no means only a history of discrimination and persecution.
Particularly the major urban centres with their rich cultural life and keen sense of Polish history, to which Jews have contributed much, saw a new openness to Jews and Judaism in the post- Communist era.
Despite small numbers, Jewish life has had something of a renaissance. Poles of all faiths and none flocked to events that celebrated Judaism in their land.
Many individuals whose families had hitherto hidden their Jewish origins had now chosen to identify as Jews and become part of the Jewish community.
Two years ago, I wrote with enthusiasm on this page about the progress the country of my birth had made in the 25 years after the end of Communist rule.
But things seem to be deteriorating with the new government.
Poland has seen a shift to the political right. With it have come a number of measures that echo the sordid past and, therefore, give cause for deep concern.
Particularly troublesome are current efforts to denounce, perhaps even outlaw, evidence of Polish complicity in Nazi atrocities against the Jews.
Prof. Yehuda Bauer, the doyen of Holocaust historians, has suggested the measures are reminiscent of Holocaust denial, which has been the staple mantra of all anti- Semites around the world.
Dare we hope that this is only a passing phase and that Poland won’t lose its way again?
Particularly troublesome are current efforts to denounce, perhaps even outlaw, evidence of Polish complicity in Nazi atrocities against the Jews