DIFFICULT ISSUES

How Poles and Jews look at each other.

TRUDNE PYTANIA
Relacje Pomidzy ydami i Polakami.

Brain Teaser
Connect the dots.

Connect all of the dots with four straight lines. The next line starts where the last one ends. Do not retrace any line. Lines may cross if necessary.

Out of the box thinking...

GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!

Out of the box thinking...

Going outside the boundaries to solve the problem? Outside of the box we put ourselves in. Interacting with people who are different from us.

First Impressions
You NEVER get a second chance to make a first impression. Is the first impression always right?

Which orange circle is bigger?

First Impressions.

First Impressions.

Why were there Jews in Poland?

Contacts between Jews and Poles are probably as old as the Polish State.

Jews in Poland
Merchant expeditions to Polish lands (later half of 10th century). First historical artifacts (end of 12th century). Coins from the era of Mieszko the Old with Hebrew inscriptions. Documents from the beginning of the 13th century.

Jews in Poland
Jews came to Poland from Western Europe, but also from the east. Main reason was persecution. They found safe asylum in Poland. The name Poland (Polin in Hebrew) comes from the words po and lin, meaning sleep here. Here you will find rest until the coming of the Messiah

Where does anti-Semitism in Poland come from?

Painting from the Church of St. Paul in Sandomierz.

Anti-Semitism in Poland
There are three types of Polish anti-Semitism.
The archaic folk anti-Semitism based on old Church teachings. The modern anti-Semitism of Polish nationalists (inspired by Russian propaganda and the Nazis). The new anti-Semitism caused by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Anti-Semitism in Poland?

Were there pogroms in Poland?

Misk Mazowiecki, June 6, 1936.

Were there pogroms in Poland?

The word pogrom is often used for any attack by a crowd on a national or religious minority. Rarely occured on Polish soil. There were smaller small scale attacks with beatings, rarely murder, Warsaw On December 25, 1881 a crowd destroyed mainly Jewish shops.

How many Jews died in the Holocaust?

Radom, 1939.

How many Jews died in the Shoah?

The numbers are estimates. An exact calculation is impossible. How many people were packed into the cattle cars and how many transports were there? The Holocaust refers to the systematic murder of Jews as a nation.

How many Jews died in the Shoah?

Amoung Jews, the number is generally accepted as six million. Right after the war, Jakub Leszczynski estimated the number at 5,957,000. Experts disagree about the numbers because of lack of exact records. About three million Polish Jews were murdered.

Poles and the Holocaust.

Grzybw, 1941. Punishment for helping Jews.

How did the Poles behave?

Hans Frank declares that all those who help the Jews will receive death penalty (1942) No uniform pattern of Polish behavior. Population imobilized by fear for survival. Existance under Nazi terror. Poles supported Warsaw Getto Uprising (April and May of 1943). 6,000 Poles recieved Righteous Amoung the Nations medals

How did the Poles behave?

How did the Poles behave?

Poland did not have a makeshift government under the occupation. Nazis wanted full separation of Jews from nonJews. After the Final Solution of the Jewish Question (January 1942), first transports of Jews to Auschwitz. Poles had no say in German policy.

How did the Poles behave?

Did Poles collaborate with Nazis?

Poles were also terrorized by the Nazis. Evidence of hostility and joy at the suffering of Jews. Jews on the Aryan side could not move safely through the streets. Not in keeping with the Polish/Jewish coexistance for centuries.

Did Poles collaborate with Nazis?

How did the Poles behave?

Brutal Anti-Semitism in the late 1930s. Polish Radical right wing saw Jews as the enemy. No help from the government in exile for two years. Jan Karski reaches London in November of 1942. egota established at end of 1942. May 12, 1943 Zygielbojms suicide in London.

Did Poles save Jews?

YES! At the risk of loosing their lives. 3,500,000 Jews with Polish citizenship. 350,000 400,000 survived of this group saved inside the Soviet Union. Small amount managed to escape to the west or survive the camps. The rest survived in hiding 50,000 to 60,000 people saved on the Aryan side. Hiding one person involved at least 10 people.

Did Poles save Jews?

After the War?

1945-1947: 800 1,500 Jews murdered in Poland Anti-Semitism or xenophobia? Anarchy and chaos after the war Killed trying to return to their homes Opportunities to take over Jewish property

The Peretzniks - www.perecowicze.com

After the War?

The Communist Party 29% leadership in Poland was Jewish. Spring of 1968 campaign against zionists Support for Arabs in Middle-east Conflict 1968-1971: 13,000 people left Poland (half of the estimated 25,000 Jews).

Jewish Poland Today

Chanukah in Beit Warszawa 2007