I would like to preface this post by saying that I'm hesitant to write it. Everybody seems to have an opinion on what the attitudes towards Jews is, was, or should be in this country where millions of them once lived and thrived and where millions of them were murdered by the Nazis. I've heard Poland called an antisemitic country, but I don't think that's fair. I've heard some intimate that Polish antisemitism doesn't exist. That isn't fair either. The fact of the matter is, as with so much else in this country, the truth is complicated and unclear. Which is what makes this an important post to write.
The problem is, people get very defensive about this particular issue. Polish people in general often feel under attack here, that they've all been unfairly tarred with the same brush. Unfortunately, I think that underpins continuing antisemitic sentiment: the Jews hate us, so we hate them right back, so there. Many Jewish people have heard family stories about Polish antisemites, or Poles who weren't sympathetic or helpful to Holocaust survivors in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. So, trying to defend Poland against accusations of widespread antisemitism is often met with "don't call my family a bunch of liars!" which is understandable. So if you are on one side or the other of this issue, please read this post in its entirety before sending me a bunch of hate mail about how I'm either slandering Poland or I'm whitewashing history.
Poland was once one of the most (if not the most) enlightened countries in Europe when it came to Jewish rights and privileges. In 1264, Bolesław V Wstydliwy granted privileges to Jews in Poland, which were expanded upon by Kazimierz III Wielki in 1334. Meanwhile, in 1290 Edward I kicked the Jews out of England, and they were not allowed to return until the time of Oliver Cromwell. During the Polish Renaissance, however, if you said that Jews used Christian blood in making Passover matzohs (a topic that triggered serious investigations in Germany), you had better be applying for the position of court jester. Many Jews who were kicked out of Spain in 1492 immigrated here, where conditions were better, and by the 16th century Poland was perhaps the center of the Jewish world. This is not to say that antisemitic riots didn't happen, but it is important to note that these happened everywhere, often with State sponsorship that was largely absent in Poland. From what I understand the situation in Poland changed for the worse in the 17th and 18th centuries, but it is important to note that the whole entire Polish state gradually started to unravel at this time as well. The problem is, there is very little stress or emphasis placed on this history in the West, or worse, the Polish government's attitude towards Jews is often conflated with the Russian government's attitude towards Jews, which was never very good.
Of course, the biggest bone of contention is the Holocaust, the majority of which took place in Nazi-occupied Poland. The camps still cast a long shadow here: Auschwitz is only a hour bus ride from here, and the Kraków Ghetto was located just across the river centered on a street that is creepy to walk down even today.
The camps were here because the Jews were here, not because the Poles welcomed the Holocaust. The phrase "Polish Death Camp" is one that causes a lot of anger here, as it implies that Poles were responsible for setting them up and operating them. They weren't. Even had they wanted to work as concentration camp guards, the Nazis would not have let them as Slavs were low on the racial totem pole, supposed to be nothing more than a slave race. Of the people recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, the largest number of them are Polish. The Polish Underground State was very involved in the rescue of Jews. Those who say that the Poles didn't do enough to prevent the Holocaust often forget that 1) the General Government was not a collaborationist regime. Hans Frank ruled with an iron fist. 2) Helping Jews in any way, shape, or form, such as giving or even selling them a loaf of bread, was punishable by the summary execution of you and your entire family. Poland was the only country where this was the case. And the Nazis weren't kidding about that. 3) The Poles actually did launch a massive uprising against German occupation in August 1944, focusing on one city with the Red Army on the other side of the Vistula. It didn't work, and Warsaw was burned to the ground. Active resistance to something like the Holocaust was probably impossible. Oh, and 4) the Roosevelt government knew about Auschwitz, thanks to the efforts of Poles who got themselves deliberately arrested, sent there, and then escaped. The American and British governments knew what was going on, and it was thanks to the efforts of Poles.
This is not to say that there weren't pogroms perpetrated by Poles during WWII: there was at least one, at Jedwabne. Some people snitched Jews out to the Nazis, or blackmailed Jews for their own personal gain. After the Holocaust, there definitely were Poles who were glad the Jews were gone or who didn't help those who had survived. Many Poles during the war just tried to keep their heads down and survive. German occupation in Poland forced people to make impossible decisions every day, so before we condemn those who were passive, we have to remember, we weren't there and don't know what it was like. This entire history does not reduce itself to something as simple as "the Poles helped the Nazis murder Jews" or "every single Pole helped Jews escape." Too few people, in my opinion, consider both sides of the question.
But what about Polish-Jewish relations today? This is, again, complicated. When a film about Jedwabne came out last year, it was extremely controversial: a Polish film that showed Poles in an unflattering light. Some suggested that this was tantamount to treason, and the starring actor occasionally appeared on placards or something, in the middle of a Star of David, with the word "Żyd" or "Jew" in big letters across his forehead. Apparently he also got death threats. Antisemitic graffiti is fairly common here, largely the work of soccer hooligans and similar hoodlums. These people are actually just about the most feared and despised people in Poland, and do it in order to provoke a reaction. I've also heard that the hooligans are in teams of "Jews" and "anti-Jews." In a way, it's kind of like gangsters playing Cowboys and Indians.
The problem is, I see a lot of ignorance and misunderstanding, both from the West and from Poland. On the Polish side, the typical stereotypes about Jews abound. I once heard two guys settling accounts, and they insisted on settling to the last penny, saying "we're settling up like Jews." Many shops or businesses will have a painting of a Hassid or several carved figures of Jews behind the counter, as it is said to bring good luck with business and money matters. I saw a stupid slapstick play on the Rynek that featured a stock character who was supposed to be Jewish, though he was portrayed in just as unflattering a light as the other yokels in the play. People actually didn't find the show all that funny, though here that's sometimes hard to tell.
In terms of visceral, open antisemitism (as in, actual Jews being called
nasty names or being bothered in any way), I have not seen or heard of
any of it. The one Jewish guy I know who was born and raised in Kraków
says he's never had any problems, and he's very open about
his ethnicity. The Fulbrighers who are Jewish haven't reported any
problems because of their faith, and at least one of them is actually
planning on settling down here. Another has a steady Polish girlfriend.
While you do hear and see things that make you cringe, that does not seem to extend to anything more than just words.
The West also displays ignorance in judging Poland harshly without considering circumstances. In many cases people probably don't think they're behaving in an antisemitic fashion. Stereotypes are often times the only way Polish people have to relate to Jews, as they haven't really met any. It's easy for us to say "well, why don't they overcome these stereotypes," but let's draw an analogy. Say that there had been a serious effort to exterminate black people in the United States in the 1940s, let's say that it had largely succeeded, and let's say that those who survived mostly moved to Liberia. A number of people at the time, and later, would have thought this was a darn good idea. Several generations grow up not really meeting any black people, so the current generation's perception of blacks is instead shaped by the popular culture of the 1920's and 1930's. That would mean most Americans' only experience of black people is filtered through Al Jolson in blackface, Gone with the Wind, The Birth of a Nation, stories your great-grandfather told and the notion that blacks are unusually afraid of ghosts, and that rubbing a black guy's head is good luck. What do you think attitudes would be towards black people if this were the case? Would people be aware that all of this was racist? Probably not. As a side-note, I should also point out that the 30's weren't a great time to be Jewish in America, either.
To continue with the analogy, if you think white guilt is bad now, imagine what it would have been had a Holocaust happened in the United States. Imagine, also, the culture we would have lost. There would have been hardly any Duke Ellington or Count Basie, no John Lee Hooker, B.B. King or Howlin' Wolf, no Miles Davis, no Ray Charles, and probably no Elvis, Janis Joplin, or Eric Clapton either. There would have been no Martin Luther King Jr. or Ralph Ellison or August Wilson. We would have no idea what we had lost, only that it would have been remarkable had it happened.
I see a similar thing in Poland: there's this nagging sense of guilt and gradual realization that Polish culture suffered a huge loss with the loss of the Jews. In the Kazimierz district of Kraków, where the Jewish Cultural Festival is currently underway, there is some effort to re-create Jewish culture, but it's always felt a little artificial to me, down to the guys trying to get you to come into their restaurant by talking like an Alter Kocker, but in Polish. There is an effort to keep the culture alive, but because so few Jews are left in Poland that has to be done by people who are not of that culture, i.e. Polish Catholics. It's a "Jew-ish" experience. The end effect is rather like the white kids in the States who try to be "gangstas": it can be funny. But again, imagine that those white wannabes were the closest thing that we had to, say, P Diddy or whatever his stage name is these days, and suddenly that same thing becomes tragic.
There is a Jewish revival going on in Poland, and a number of our Fulbright fellows are a part of it. Indeed, my colleague Denise Grollmus has done podcasts for The Guardian on exactly this topic. Kraków still has an active synagogue, though the only kosher grocery store in town shut down for lack of customers. Kazimierz, and all things Jewish, are kind of hipster-y. I understand Warsaw has a burgeoning Jewish population as well. A number of Poles are discovering that their maternal grandmothers were Jewish, making them Jewish as well, and some people in that situation take up the faith and the ethnic identity. There are immigrants from abroad who are gradually coming back to Poland, and cultural festivals such as the one in Kraków are well-attended. Dara Weinberg, one of our Fulbright Scholars, said that this revival is vital for changing the narrative, of how Jews view Poles and how Poles view Jews. Until or unless the two sides start talking to each other, and understanding each other, I'm afraid there's still going to be a lot of unwarranted mutual hostility.
