History / Why we talk about Nazis not Germans [138]


I agree with this point. In Poland some memorials talk about "Hitlerism". This narrows down the guilt as if one bad man did all those crimes. Calling them "Nazis" also narrows down the guilt, so every other german can say "I was against the Nazis". But the truth was that Germans and Austrians were on the whole very enthusiastic about Hitler. He wasn't voted in by a majority, but within a short time he was accepted by nearly everyone as the savior of germany. So in my eyes, the german people (including the austrians), as a nation, are to blame.

Daisy says that maybe any of us would have made the same mistake and we can't judge. But that wouldn't make it any less evil. The Germans made that choice and they bear the responsibility.

Life / 'The Pianist' - the movie. What's your opinion? Polanski [59]


That some of the Jewish leaders were traitors is certainly true. They were often not really leaders, but people that the Germans appointed because they knew they could be exploited to collaborate. But no one should get the idea that the situation of the Jews would have been better than it was under the germans if not for the misdeeds of the Jewish "leaders". It couldn't really be any worse than it was. Some jewish leaders tried to make things better, some tried to gain time by cooperating, some were corrupt. But the cause of all the suffering was the german policy - "the final solution" which no judenrat had the power to prevent or alleviate.

Also:
I agree with you on most things, but don't underestimate the importance of courage, honor and idealism that Magdalena talks about. Compassion isn't always enough. The ghetto uprising was all about courage and idealism, since it could obviously not have saved the Jews that remained in the ghetto. I'm sure many Poles had compassion for the suffering of the Jews, but I think it was those who had strong ideals, whether religious or political, that risked their lives to save Jewish lives. There were others who did it out of basic human decency. But maybe that's just another form of "honor' in its finest expression.

But going back to the movie: Like you say, it was the story of one man from his viewpoint. It doesn't have to express every aspect of what happened. Not every survivor is a hero. Not every hero holds a gun.

Life / 'The Pianist' - the movie. What's your opinion? Polanski [59]

I thought i was too. But I don't understand what you are saying. Please explain.

Life / 'The Pianist' - the movie. What's your opinion? Polanski [59]

Is your point that the jews in the ghetto didn't really suffer as much from the germans as from their own leaders? That's a theory I've never come across before.

Life / 'The Pianist' - the movie. What's your opinion? Polanski [59]

There were certainly more heroic people in Warsaw in those years. As a Jew i can also say i would rather see Jews fighting in the ghetto uprising. But not every movie has to be about heroism. Some stories are about ordinary people and their own private stories. I thought it was a great movie.

And as to the way it portrayed Poles - It was clear that Szpilman survived because Poles in the underground hid him and supported him. Except for the woman on the stairs, it didn't show anti-semites. So you came out looking pretty good.

Life / Catholic Church services in Poland [10]


"Amen" is pure Hebrew. It occurs in Pslams, which was written before the Babylonian exile, so it's unlikely to be Aramaic. But the two languages do have words in common.

"Hallelujah" is also Hebrew.

Life / PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICES... Problem with Neighbour in Poland. [24]

?????? (alphabet) in Hebrew means exactly what it does in other languages. It's pronounced "alef bet" which are the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The origin of those letter names are semitic, used by the Phoenecians and Hebrews before there was a greek alphabet. The Greeks picked it up afterwards.

The form "analphabet" for an illiterate person was copied from European languages as Switezianka said.

News / Poland's Future Includes Fewer Poles, More Foreigners [324]


Jesus himself was just a Jew, leading a group of followers. He never started a new religion - that was done by his followers after his death. Christianity started as a heretical group of Jews. Non-Jews were accepted later. (Boy was that a mistake!)

And for those who want to know - Jews are both a nation and a religion. We are a nation that has its own religion. People can join the nation by accepting the religion. (That has nothing to do with Israeli citizenship, which has different rules).

News / Blood libel fresco in Polish cathedral? [35]


Not a problem for me. If your religion wants to "glorify" its churches by depicting horror stories spread by idiots, that's not my problem, it's yours.

News / Blood libel fresco in Polish cathedral? [35]


You'd think that after hundreds of years explaining why it can't be true, people would get it. But some people, as you see here, don't want to get it.

News / Blood libel fresco in Polish cathedral? [35]

JoeP,
I just came across this thread and it really reveals what you are.
That you can bring up the Beilis case now in 2008 is incredible. Has nothing happened in the past century to change you people? This really shows that no matter what Jews do or don't do, scum like you will hate them anyway. Crawl back under your rock, you pathetic, evil piece of filth.

Switezianka,
Your replies were perfect. Everything you said was right on. But this guy is not worth answering.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


To the Germans Breslau was a German city. Yet no Polish goverment would think of giving it to Germany, even in the peaceful EU, since it was lost to them in a war that Germany started. Similarly, Whatever land the Arabs lost was the result of a war that they started. So why should Israel give it to them? And we're not talking about some peaceful EU situaiton here. We all saw what the Arabs did once they got control of Gaza - constant rockets on civilians in Israel proper.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


I see your point. When the middle east turns into a peaceful place like the EU, we can find more pleasant solutions to the problems of borders and sovereignty. But remember it didn't happen in Europe until many years after germany accepted the loss of silesia and poland accepted (I think) the loss of th eastern regions, etc. If the Arabs can accept that Israel is here to stay and want to create a middle eastern union, I'm all for it. But like you say, we have a long way to go.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]

Grzeg must know what he's talking about. So your answer, alangleben, is forget Poloand and come to israel.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


It's easy to tell half truths, but I think most of the world saw what happened in 2006: Hizbollah (not even palestinians) attacked Israel with no provocation, killing some soldiers and kidnapping and then murdering two others. Hizbollah was the only military force in south lebanon and we attacked them in retaliation and did our best to destroy their military power. While we were doing that, they showered missles all across the Galilee into Israeli towns and villages and cities killing civilians. How many Lebanese died? As many as Hizbollah wanted. No one asked them to start fighting and the could have stopped it by giving back the kidnapped soldiers. But , I forgot, they were already murdered by then, so they coudn't be returned. But they kept that little secret to themselves till this month.


I mentioned Wroclaw/Breslau specifically as an example of a city that Germany lost because of a war they started. The arabs had Gaza and "west bank" till 1967, and the only reason they lost those areas was because they started a war in 1967 to wipe us out. They lost. Tough luck. Next time be happy with what you got.


It does. Unless you find some Canaanites, Amorites and Hittites, we're the only claimants left.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]

To address the original topic: Is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland. My advice is that if you can't be yourself, that is, if you can't live like a Jew openly in a particular country, then don't go there. I visited Poland and didn't hide my Jewishness. Nobody bothered me. I don't know if I bothered them, and i don't care.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


Are you a christian? Read your bible mister. It wasn't our idea. It was God's idea to pick us for his own reasons. If you don't believe that then you believe the bible is an imaginary story and then you can't be a christian.


What do you mean "what if"? We gave them Gaza, Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin and other cities and towns to have their own state. They use them as a base for attacking our towns with missles. Why don't you give Wroclaw back to Germany.


Yes I am, BB.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


Everyone you mentioned came as a conquerers from another empire, romans, persians, crusaders ottomans etc. But the country existed as a separate entity and as a homeland for only one nation, the Jews. Since we were kicked out by the romans it wasn't a separate country for anyone else. It was just part of various empires and inhabited by a mixture of various neighboring ethnic groups. Even for the arabs, it's just a part of the Arab world and was never looked at as a country of its own till the Jews started resettling it 100 years ago.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


Not always. The conflict was mainly during the hellenistic period, when the seleucids tried to force their culture down our throats (see Maccabees in your bible), but during the middle ages there was a big flourishing of Greek philosophy, mostly Aristotle, among Jews and Muslims. Most of the Arabic works on Aristotle that were written during the middle ages were translated by Jews into Latin and made their way into the Christian world. And even if my religion is opposed to what ancient greek culture stood for, we have a respect for their wisdom. Anyway, the modern greeks worship a Jew. So I guess you could say we won.


Before it was ever called Palestine, it was called Israel. What was Jesus, an Arab?

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


Talmud? What does that have to do with anything I've said? Why don't you try to disprove what I've said instead of throwing around words you don't even understand.


We are the native inhabitants. Look it up in your Bible.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]


I suppose we are. But what I mean is that all of western civilization is based in part on the Bible, which is the story of the people of israel. Half the world has Hebrew names, like David Samuel, John, Abe, Jake, Jonathan, Matthew, Saul, Joshua, Miriam, Rachel, Sarah, etc. Most of the world works in a 7 day weekly cycle, which is rooted in the Biblical sabbath. Through religion and through the fact of the Jewish dispersion, we are part of almost every culture. It makes me proud. The Greeks and the Italians (Romans?) by the way, can also claim an influence on most of western civilization. They should also be proud.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]

I'm a clown? That's an odd comment! I am Ashkenazi. And I have no sleazy comments to make about Polish girls.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]

Why is calling someone a Jew demeaning? I'm proud to be a Jew. Who wouldn't be? Most of western history and religious culture seems to be wrapped up in our story. We are generally successful in any country that allows us to be. In Israel, we built a wonderful country within a short time against difficult odds and a lot of opposition. We have more Nobel prize winners per capita than any other nation on earth. We're smart. We're funny. And we're good looking! You can call me a Jew any time.

Thank you.

Life / Antisemitism in Poland; is it safe for a Jew to live in Poland? [193]

The word "antisemitism" was coined in the late 19th century by jew-haters who wanted to give their ideology a pseudo-scientific aura. It is just another term for Jew hatred, which is a traditional part of European culture.

Someone asked about the words "Goy" and "Goyim". To clear thigns up: "Goyim" is the plural of "Goy". "Goy" means "nation" and Goyim" means "the Nations" referring to the nations of the world, as opposed to the nation of Israel. From the Jewish historical and religious perspective the world is divided into "Israel" (the people) and "the Nations" which is everyone else. Us and Them. It's not a perjoritive word. In many bibilical passages, such as where the Jews are referred to as a holy nation, the hebrew term used there is "Goy Kadosh", which means "a holy nation". In everyday speech the term has come to mean a person from the nations, or a non-Jew.