How common is it for other people of Polish origin to discover they are actually Jewish?

I'm not interested in discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict I'm just curious about intermarriage in Pre 1939 Poland.

It works both ways... can you always tell a Polish Jew from a Pole? Allot of them look Mediterranean, but some of them could pass native Poles, I'm sure there would have been some admixture throughout the centuries, I mean many Ashkenazi Eastern European Jews don't look Middle Eastern.

For instance:

Alicia Silverstone : /uk.askmen.com/celebs/women/actress/41_alicia_silverstone.html

Blue eyed Russian Jew Abramovich

Israeli Actor Itay Tiran:

Her mother was Scottish.

wait. i don`t understand how you mean- `to discover they are actually Jewish`? How can one suddenly `discover` his ancestry? by some genetic tests or we maybe speak here about adopted children?

People are aware of their ancestry all the time. You can`t discover your ancestry. But, one maybe can `discover` that he likes to be something else... its possible.

most people accept what they are told. it might not be the truth. a lie passed down the generations becomes the new truth.

Not genetic tests, my maternal grandmother was lying about the fact she was Jewish, she changed her name, and only now Iv'e discovered documents that show that her parents were Jewish. being a Jew is determined through the descent of the mother, so technically I'm also Jewish.

I think it's the stereotypical work ethic more than anything else. I know a Jewish family in the UK, and to say they're hard working is an understatement. All of them are successes, but they also put a vast amount of time into learning, studying and practising - far more than their non-Jewish compatriots.

Did grandma hate her own parents? Do I understand you correctly? That sounds bit strange...

so very true....my kid told me he "wants to be Jewish so he can be rich", I told him to get off his azz at school then, like they do.

To get noble prize there is needed something more than hard work... I believe it's called genius.

Jason Isaacs Famous English actor from Eastern European Jewish descent could easily pass for a native Pole

jasonisaacsphotoalbumsonline.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Isaacs

so you put religion above your cultural and/or blood origin? is that the case?


very interesting, indeed. i heard for this role of mother within Jewish society

i can tell you that i know for some people in Serbia who are frustrated about their ancestry and has some frictions within themselves when it comes to mixed Jewish-Serbian marriages. If father is a Jew he don`t insist that much about Jewish nationality of a child but, when it comes to Jewish woman they sometimes suddenly (in some stage of the marriage) creates problems to the their Serbian husbands.

See, in Serbia (among Serbians in general), in cases when person has Serbian father, especially in cases when father define his relations to his son, father say to son: `my son, after my death you would be the bearer of family SLAVA and your obligations are....` So, things are clear. In cases of female child- daughter, its not that rigid but, father anyway announce: `my daughter, when you marry to some man you still have obligations to respect SLAVA (meaning- ancestors) of your ancestral family (meaning- father`s clan) and you should take care to burn candle on the day of your old family SLAVA.

NOTE: Serbians are last Slavs who, in its Christianize form, celebrate ancient Slavic family custom- SLAVA.

Yes she moved from Bialistok to Warsaw and changed her name then she married a Polish guy

And why she emigrated to England?

My Grandfather escaped and joined the RAF

Only an x amount of Jews follow this idea that its descent of he mother.
A good number still claim they are Jewish if it was from father side or even grandparents, etc.

My father is actualy a Serb and my mother Jewish lol. kako si brat? ti si srbin? My mother raised me Jewishm, but i rebelled against the whole Jewish religion thing in my teens. Don't belive in any religion but I still respect my Jewish and Serbian roots .

And I have the most un Jewish surname possible, It means Christmas (Bozic) in Serbian.

pozdrav brate Srbine, wherever you are

i see. You innitialy didn`t grow up in the spirit of Serbian traditional family. tell me, did your father explained concept of Serbian SLAVA to you?

SLAVA is source of Serbian vitality. Its what we owe to the our ancestors.

How does Israel solve this issue? You surely won't be granted citizenship if you just converted to judaism...

And she joined him after the war, I assume. Did she change her surname after or before war?

Not really as my mother raised me in England and my father left when I was very young. He always spoke to me in English, but I have tought myself some Serbian. He is from Banja Luka originally. my mother is from Israel (Polish Parents).

Stupid question, I'm sorry. I assume she probably changed her name before the war. But the whole story sounds a bit weird. I mean why she would do that?

She was a nurse in an military hospital in Warsaw from 1936-42'. They met at the hospital in 36' and got married soon after. He escaped via Romania in 39' and were reunited after the War.

I am not Jewish but I read somewhere that you have to provide paper to show your Jewish or that in some cases they take blood/dna tests. You would have to ask someone who knows more about it.

i can tell you that i have every respect for Jewish culture but, as i can see, you are Slavic man.

Seek to learn more about SLAVA concept. That would help you to found peace within your heart

God bless you

She changed it before the war,she didn't look very Jewish and started to wear a cross and she was never found out but her parents were not so lucky.

That's weird. There was no reason to change her name before the war. Besides that how come she was an antisemite if her parents died in the Holocaust? Maybe you simply tracked a wrong person?

Her father used to beat her and his wife she hated her parents so she ran away at 15 and and wanted to erase every trace of Jewishness and at 18 changed her name and converted to Catholicism she never saw her parents again. I have checked the history of deed poll name changes in Warsaw for the 1933 and she is there.

I always knew she ran away from home and hated her parents but I never knew that she was Jewish up until recently.

Many Jewish people changed their names to Polish sounding ones during the interbellum - especially those who wanted to blend into the general Polish society - many educated Jews did assimilate into the general Polish society (think Jan Brzechwa, Janusz Korczak)

Oh that's sad story. Sorry if I asked too many private questions, I thought you didn't know what were the motivation of your grandma and thought it's a riddle you ask us to solve :)

that is very racist attitude sp,