I am planning on relocating to Poland in september to start a business. My father was born in warsaw in 1944, and his parents somehow got themselves and him out of the country. I am Jewish.
As you might imagine, my father is not thrilled at the idea of me moving to Poland as my family, as with many Jewish families have very tragic history in Poland and the eastern bloc. He is also very worried about antisemitism in poland, although i am not obviously a Jew at first sight, i do wear a star of david necklace on the outside on my t-shirts etc...
Is there a problem with anti-semitism in Poland, is it safe for me to go there without any fear?
U may encounter bad remarks if u r unlucky but hostility is unlikely. The Poles don't have so many bones to pick with the Jews and, as far as I can gather, get on quite harmoniously with each other.
I surmise that some would envy any potential success u'd have more than ur status as a Jew. Don't worry, u'll be absolutely fine.
s there a problem with anti-semitism in Poland, is it safe for me to go there without any fear?
Hello alangleben, If you'd have asked me this a year ago I would have said "not at all". I live in a smallish town in Malopolska and I was horrified to have heard there was a Nazi march in our town square. I went to the local museum and there used to be a huge Jewish population in the town. The Nazi's don't call themselves nazis but sh+t is still sh+t to me. They march on a particular day because it is when a Jewish guy got burned out of his house. One guy got arrested for doing the Nazi salut
I would like to know if there are any other towns with this sh+t going on?
I was in Warsaw recently and witnessed first hand several individuals with shaved heads or balding. Place is littered with anti-Semites from all walks of life if you ask me.
Point one country in Europe without antisemitism. Polish and Jews share long and dramatic history. There were good times for jews in PL (thats why there was so many of them here ) and there were the tragic one. IMO Today rather Jews feed the stereotypes than try to learn something about Poland. Jewish people have even more symphaty for Germans than Poles. You came here with stereotype of Pole anti-semite who wants to hurt Jew. So dont be suprise if you also face such a attitude among Poles. People are people. We have problems with antisemitism in Poland but also we have reborning jewish community.
Maybe its good time for you to come to Poland. Maybe next time you would bring your father and tell him that there's no need to be affraid because Poland is a nice pleace with good people. Or maybe after few days you would leave and wont ever come back. Take a chance.
You are obviously not the real McCoy, cause there were never any Jews in Ireland to be antisemitic against.
but also we have reborning jewish community.
Yes, I must agree, except for the march in my town and some of the crap on this site, I do find that Jews are celebrated in everything from food to music and in most paintings.
alangleben
My previous comment is true but I would imagine that it is very uncommon. This is a magnificent country and I am sure you will enjoy it
You are obviously not the real McCoy, cause there were never any Jews in Ireland to be antisemitic against.
atlanticblog.com/archives/000968.html
I am an American citizen living in Ireland and can confirm the incredible level of anti-semitism and terrorist-sympathizing that occurs here. The common viewpoint is that Israel (and to a lesser extent, America) are terrorists and palestinians are 'freedom fighters'. The Irish viewpoint vilifies every aspect of Israeli foreign policy and justifies 'palestinian' terror campaigns. Posted by: Belfaster on October 14, 2003 09:26 AM
I would like to know if there are any other towns with this sh+t going on?
There was a pogrom in Limerick 1904: thewildgeese.com/pages/shalom2.html
Chaim_Herzog Ex President of Israel was Irish
Herzog was born at Clifton Park Avenue in Belfast, the son of notable Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, who was Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1919 to 1937 (and later, of Palestine and Israel).[1] The family home (from 1919) was at 33 Bloomfield Avenue in Dublin. Herzog studied at Wesley College, Dublin.
He immigrated to Palestine in 1935, and served in the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah during the Arab revolt of 1936-39. (Wikipedia-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Herzog)
I am an American citizen living in Ireland and can confirm the incredible level of anti-semitism and terrorist-sympathizing that occurs here. The common viewpoint is that Israel (and to a lesser extent, America) are terrorists and palestinians are 'freedom fighters'. The Irish viewpoint vilifies every aspect of Israeli foreign policy and justifies 'palestinian' terror campaigns.
Posted by: Belfaster on October 14, 2003 09:26 AM.
The Jewish paramilitary group Haganah. They were considered terrorists by the British. One Mans terrorist etc....
There is very little antisemitism in Ireland but it does exist.
There is very little antisemitism in Ireland but it does exist.
I know very little about Judaism, except Jesus was a Jew, we never had any Jewish influence or people growing up. We had very little of anything, ha ha ha. I would think most people in Ireland would know more about Islam.
I haven't heard about anything like that. The real problem in Poland are football hools. But in this case it doesn't matter if you are white, black, polish, irish or jewish. It's better to stay away from them.
I haven't heard about anything like that. The real problem in Poland are football hools. But in this case it doesn't matter if you are white, black, polish, irish or jewish. It's better to stay away from them.
I hope so, I was thinking of starting a thread asking people have they seen similar things in thier town. The young Nazis that marched in our town, were not from our town at all, they got a permit to march too. This means they are organised.
And the Hooligans, well yeah that is (mostly) different again
I believe the reason would be more to do with the economic conditions in the country migrants choose to go to. Ireland has always been poor that is why the population fell by 50% in less than 100 years. What chance did any migrant have of makeing a living when the indigenous population couldn't.
Prominent Irish Jews William Annyas, mayor of Youghal. Leopold Bloom, fictional protagonist of Ulysses. Robert Briscoe, member of the Irish Republican Army during the Anglo-Irish War and twice Lord Mayor of Dublin (1956 and 1961). Ben Briscoe (son of Robert Briscoe), former Fianna Fáil T.D. and Lord Mayor of Dublin (1988). Michelle Citron, feminist film, video and multimedia producer, scholar and author. Daniel Day-Lewis (dual Irish and British citizen), actor. Gerald Goldberg, Lord Mayor of Cork in 1977. Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1919 to 1937, later of Palestine and Israel. Chaim Herzog, sixth President of Israel. Max Eager (son of George Eager), first Chief Rabbi of Ireland. Sir Otto Jaffe, Lord Mayor of Belfast (1899 and 1904). Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1949 and 1958, later British Chief Rabbi. Louis Lentin, director (documentary films, television, theatre). David Marcus, author, editor, broadcaster and lifelong supporter of Irish-language fiction. Yaakov Pearlman, Ireland's Chief Rabbi. Alan Shatter, Fine Gael TD and former party spokesperson for justice. Mervyn Taylor, former Labour Party T.D. and Irish Minister for Equality & Law Reform. Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, founder of Harland and Wolff shipbuilders. Max Nurok, Israeli Consul-General to Australia, subsequently Israel's first Ambassador to Australia. [3] Mike Shallcross, prominent paralegal at D.C. law firm
Adam, I'd say there's a lot of anti-Semites in Polish society but Polish institutions are very afraid of being accused of anti-Semitism. So, e.g. if you want to organize something connected with Jewish culture and you ask local authorities for help, they will help you lest somebody says they discriminate Jews :)
OK, to be more serious: Polish Jewish communities have been developing quite well for some time and receive a lot of support from Joint Distribution Commitee. Although so far they are all Orthodox (but somebody wants to set up a Reformed community), most of them seem very supportive to all Jews, regardless of their religious views. They even support non-Jewish people who have something to do with Jews (e.g. they promote Jewish culture). Also, Chabad has been very active for some time and they even founded a yeshiva in Warsaw. Anyway, I think it would be good to contact local Jewish community for support or advice.
Still, there are many anti-Semites in Poland. Last year I learnt about the cases of two Jews I know personally, being beaten up in my city. On the other hand, a few months ago I walked through the £ódź city centre accompanied by four Jewish girls and a rabbi with a beard, sidelocks, kippah, tzitzit etc, it was past 1 a.m., a lot of drunk people going home from parties and the rabbi, to my surprise, didn't even get verbally abused.
I think nobody would pay attention to your necklace, but if you wore a kippah, I'd recommend you to wear some other headgear over it in public. It really depends on who you come across: you may encounter anti-Semites but you may also have to deal with normal people. But you should be careful all the time.
In fact, I don't know what the motives were. They were attacked by some hooligans in the street (separate cases). It could be coincidence but as well it could be based on racial prejudice - Polish skinheads are quite well-informed.
