Jewish Roots of Poland

Where did James Joyce get his inspiration for Leopold Bloom, then?

Or the line in the song "Waxies dargle" which goes 'I went up to Cable Street to the Jew-man money lender'.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_in_Ireland


Yep, Limerick had it's own pogrom.


Yes, but Ireland was under the English crown at the time of the expulsions. There was no such expulsion from Scotland. Infact, many 'English' Jews may have moved to Scotland after the expulsion.

Certainly big community in Glasgow.

In order to avoid persecution in the Russian Empire, Jews settled in the larger cities of the UK, including Scotland, most notably in Glasgow (especially the Gorbals), although there were smaller populations in Edinburgh and to a lesser extent, Dundee, Aberdeen, Greenock and Ayr. The Russian Jews tended to come from the west of the empire, especially the Baltic countries, and in particular Lithuania.

--- This might be hard for you to prove, but it seems to be easy to prove that you are a hyperactive, self-complacent and psychopathic Polonophobe. Why on earth a type like you sticks around in Poland? It is because such a type considers the Poles weak and gutless and this gives him "courage" to insult and slander them with impunity, right?

Hehe, how about your own Jewish "nationalism" or rather Jewish chauvinism? It appears evident in many of your posts.

A general observation, not addressed to dupadomine only: the title of this thread, "Jewish roots of Poland", is misleading, in that it seems to suggest that the historical base of Poland is Jewish. In reality, the base is not Jewish, but, obviously, Polish. Besides, Polish history seems to show that some ethnic groups other than Jews, such as Germans and Armenians, have played greater, and more positive role, in Poland's history than the Jews.

Where did Spielberg get his inspiration for ET? ; )

Seriously, not sure. I'm not saying there were absolutely no jews - but very few.

An estimated less than 2000 today, although in Joyce's time there were more - perhaps 5-6000.

Maybe it was decided that Bloom should be jewish precisely for the exotic factor?

Are you suggesting there are no illegal aliens in US?

The Jews in Ireland were mainly urban so probably more concentrated in places like Dublin. They were mainly merchants etc, so it would make sense for Joyce to have an urban Jewish character.

wiki:There was an increase in Jewish immigration to Ireland during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1871, the Jewish population of Ireland was 258; by 1881, it had risen to 453. Most of the immigration up to this time had come from England or Germany. In the wake of the Russian pogroms there was increased immigration, mostly from Eastern Europe (in particular Lithuania). By 1901, there were an estimated 3,771 Jews in Ireland, over half of them (2,200) residing in Dublin; and by 1904, the total Jewish population had reached an estimated 4,800. New synagogues and schools were established to cater for the immigrants, many of whom established shops and other businesses. Many of the following generation became prominent in business, academic, political and sporting circles.

The Jewish population of Ireland reached around 5,500 in the late 1940s, but has since (2008) declined to around 2,000, mainly through emigration to larger Jewish communities such as those in the United States, England and Israel. The Republic of Ireland currently has four synagogues: three in Dublin, one in Cork. There is a further synagogue in Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Yeah, I never intended for this thread to get so big. I only wanted to know what percentage of Poles have Jewish heritage which I already knew was a low percentage. It's a misleading title and I would have changed it if I could edit it but this forum doesn't give that option. :-(

As for the Sarmatian roots, you're telling me Poles are related to Iranians?

So if it's not Jewish blood, what gives many Poles the dark eyes and look, big nose etc, is it just whatever came up from Southern Europe and from the East?

(cheechaw-I think jews make up their history as they go along, whatever is convenient today.)
You are so wrong me being jewish and polish we know are history and roots for the jews are in isreal and for some polish nonjews they do have a bit of jew in them but not aware of it.so be nice please

poland's history had many different nationality's come thur it,kengis Khan for example had come to poland and alot of darker poles have that high cheek bone and slanted eye's also ever noticed in some regions how flat and round a poles face is,our Poland is great because we have so many different aspects to us.lets celebrate it all not divide it,I am a polish Jew and a good portion of my ancestors were killed off,and so were christians.muslins.jevoha witnesses and the mentally ill,we are all connected somehow embrace it>

dude.....what history are you reading....

What a thread, let me just say that there is definitely a lot of anymosity towards Jews.

I come from a family of strong anti-semitic Poles. I recall one time a few years ago walking past a newly-opened Jewish restaurant in Warsaw, and asking my grandmother about this pretty enticing restaurant. "Pojebani Zydzie" and she spit into the ground with rage, that, quite frankly, I have never witnessed in anyone before.

I also recently found out her maiden name was Paryz. My father has black, curly hair, which is very unusual for a pole. My other grandmother, I suspect, is, too, Jewish. Both her parents were executed in the holocaust, and she was adopted as a small child. She's a "Catholic". Although she never goes to Church and doesn't celebrate Christmas. One of her ex-husbands' had the surname of Eiden, and was a pharmacist. She has black curly hair and is under 5 feet tall. She doesn't look Polish-- my mother said she's "Mongol". I called bull**** on that a long time ago-- PhD in Chemistry, and she happened to receive a "settlement" from the German government due to the war. I've never heard of non-Jews receiving **** all from the German government. I wasn't told much else. Her family was very wealthy from Lublin, which I have discovered recently was ~50% Jewish. She also coincidentally emigrated from Poland to Germany in the late 60's/early 70's, and has never returned since (right about the time the communists kicked out the remaining Jews). Nobody knows anything about my grandmother. The closest I've got was confronting my mother, who claimed I was full of **** and that indeed her family sheltered Jews. My mother also had me very young-- at age 18-- and gave me the middle name Beniamin, which is also a Jewish name. I'm quite sure my grandmother chose my middle name.

The fact is a very, very high percentage of Polish people have Jewish roots. It is bloody obvious, as hard as people may try to deny. And, I say, so what? It's interesting, but it doesn't really change much. Warsaw was nearly 40% Jewish. Lublin 50%, etc etc etc. One of my good friends, who hated Jews, was told by his grandmother recently that he's a Jew. He looks completely Polish.

Sigh. I am disgusted that so many Poles hate Jews. It is a very sad state of affairs. Poland has always been a tolerant nation, a model for democracy for over a 1,000 years.

If you're Polish and hate Jews, I say there is a >50% chance that you have a Jewish ancestor somewhere in your family tree.

Post of the century. Thanks for sharing that, Mate.

shhh, you're going to ruin it for everyone.

Agree with alex, great post.

it rather not possible. most of polish jews lived separately in their towns - "sztetl". they didn't know polish history, and they didn't speak polish, except very few necessary words. they lived inside their world - there was very few mixed marriages. that's it.

i've met a few Polish folk who have come across an obvious distortion regarding their family history.

Out of the big agglomerations, the poorer sections of Ashkenazi Jewish society did, yes. But in Lublin, Warsaw, Kraków? The professional classes? Hardly.

unfortunitely the fact is that some Poles "dislike" (not to say hate) Jews (observed in Poland and on PF).

Likewise, I too had family members who were, well, not very politically correct to put it mildly. I figured it's never too late to turn the tide. There's racism in most societies one way or the other. We like to make ourselves feel better by picking on others. Human trait.

To stir things up even more:

Publisher defends book on Polish plunder of Jews

The Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland -- A Polish publisher is defending his decision to publish a book arguing that Poles plundered Jewish wealth during the Holocaust.

"Golden Harvest," by Jan Gross and Irena Grudzinska Gross, is causing a stir in Poland even before it goes on sale March 10.

It argues that Poles actively profited from Jewish persecution during World War II, challenging the widespread view in Poland that the nation, by and large, behaved honorably during the Nazi German occupation.

Henryk Wozniakowski, the head of publishing house Znak, said Tuesday that the book aims to make the public aware of "these cruel and often difficult facts."

He said it "challenges our collective memory" and is an attempt to seek some justice for the victims of the Holocaust. An edition in English also is planned.

A fairy tail, if she was Polish she would never make a grammatical mistake like this. Use Google translate next time, you might have a better results perhaps then your story might seem to be plausible.


In 1938 Jews made up 29% of Warsaw’s population and even after the ghetto was established there by the Nazis Jews constituted only 33% of the city’s population. It’s all BS. Etc etc etc. Get your facts right.

PS. Funny story though, a Jew spitting on Jew pretending to be Polish anti-Semite.

Interesting, I vividly remember a relative of ours visiting us in Stockholm many years ago and during one of the late night "discussions" I heard him talk about the "pojebani Żydzie" and there were a few more adjectives there, pierdolony, zakurwiały, Żydowski skurwysyn, etc. Not sure if I spelled those words correctly but nah, not a fairly tale at all.

He was as racist as it gets but if you told him that he'd say he had many Jewish friends. lol He died a few years back but from what I've heard from my relatives he never changed his ways.

Having said that, people like that are a tiny minority in Poland but they do exist. Of course, that applies to most other countries too as racism and xenophobia is not a problem that's unique to Poland only.

A fairy tail, if anything it should be 'pojebany Żydzie' or 'pojebani Żydzi' plural, insulting perhaps but at least a proper Polish for you. If you can’t get this short sentence right two words you’re not Polish period. A native would never make this mistake.

Your implied premise is that all native speakers get their spelling right 100% of the time. And, of course, that PwK claimed to be first-generation native Polish. Both are false. One extra e, therefore, looks just a little desperate as a basis on which to discredit a story.

I’m not implying anything. OP considers himself Jewish and admitted that both sides of his family are of Jewish origin, if anything it’s he that implies his grandma is Polish to prove his point. Besides it’s not the case of extra ‘e’ but that of declination typical mistake made by foreigners.

Are you for real ?sigh !


What is so great about this post? I think that is BS and stereotyping.


For you :

Well, any fool can say that but I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. Your scepticism as expressed so far is merely based on the fact that it's the internet and you are predisposed not to agree with anything that challenges your worldview.

(On which latter point, I guess I am probably not that much different. Human nature, and all that...)

For me, the anecdote PwK gives is ambiguous, complicated and therefore does not, for the love of God, easily fit into the f*cking childish, schematic, lazy pro/anti-Polish meme seen on threads throughout this forum which seems to reduce most of its participants to gibbering retards.

The anecdote he gives is a BS. Let’s entertain his notion that his grandma is a racist bigot and Polish for a minute. What do you suppose would happen if he had spit in public? I’ll tell you what; he would get such a whooping that it would be considered a chilled abuse in his native Canada, let alone old granny exhibit such a behavior in public but a Jewish lady is another story, I’ve seen worse behavior than that by an old Jewish lady in NY restaurant, all for a free meal, I haven’t seen anything wrong with my food or restaurant staff service.

Listen knock of this fair tale bs, I was there and I know what I heard. As I clearly stated I am not sure about the spelling as my Polish just isn't good enough, however I understand it and know what was said.

You have this preconceived notion of ALL Poles loving the Jews which is total nonsense. Some Americans don't like blacks, some French don't like Muslims, etc., etc. Likewise, some, notice I said SOME Poles do not like the Jews. Fact of life and denying it makes you look silly.

Case in point, my dad's father HATED the Jews with a passion. Born in Czechowice but raised in Kraków, Roman Catholic, Polish to the bone, he hated the Jews. Name a world crisis and somehow he'd show how those Cholerne Żydzi were responsible. He was obsessed and fortunately a total opposite of everyone else in my family, well almost everyone else. I don't think he was the ONLY anti-Semite in Poland.

Let me say it one more time so even you can understand it, the spelling is correct however the words used are in two different cases, they do not agree with each other, grammar, you can be an illiterate **** and still say this phrase correctly if you're native Pole.

I give up, I guess my grandfather not only hated the Jews, he also spoke improper Polish. Imagine that. LOL

Yours might have been a racist bigot and frankly I don't give a **** but his is made up fairy tail.


There’s another fact of life for you MOST American Jews hate Poles. Fact no denying it. No reason to make up stories though, just admit it, I'm OK with that and the feeling might be mutual. The more I read the more it gets my blood boiling with all those lies on this forum.

For me it was some spin of a story, full of ignorance about Poland. A lot of preconception about Poles I have noticed on PF and not only.

Did you charmed by complex tale, noticed - Poles hate Jews- intertwined with his narration and his nice ending ?


Like everyone, however I don't found anything in his post which would challenge my worldview, I would ignore his post if not other post praising his BS! Sure it could be honest ignorant poster but you are living in Poland, speaks the lingo, you should know better!