History / Poles and (Polish) Jews... Victims of war... and beyond [301]

Merged: Are Jews obsessed with Poles? Are Poles obsessed with Poles?

70 Years after the end of WW2. After hundreds of years together and a relationship that had ups and downs. Jews and Poles had a traumatic separation in a way neither ever wanted or imagined. Now Poland is an independent country. Likewise Israel is an independent country. Jews of Polish origin are still defined by their Polish roots and have a deep connection to Poland. Poles have strong and vocal opinions of Jews. Many young Poles have never met Jews. More and more Jews want to travel to Poland and not just for 'holocaust' tourism but to actually visit and experience Poland. Is this a love-hate relationship? Are Jews and Poles destined to have a deep connection with each other? Should Jews and Poles just forget all of this and move on? What do you think? What are your own personal opinions and experiences?

News / US slaps Poland in the face (Comey Poland) [92]

To Pol3. I am a Hebrew speaker of Polish background currently in London. I have friends and colleagues in Israel in their 40s who speak fluent Polish far better than mine. Traditionally the children of those that came in 68 etc. had Polish Catholic nannies in Israel and the Polish language for them has been maintained. My secretary in London who is Polish and occasionally speaks to these friends of mine on the phone and she says their Polish is perfect without an accent and she is amazed to hear some of them have never set foot in Poland. To be honest however Polish is more spoken by the much older age group and you are correct it is dwindling, these elderly people do have a strong accent with their Hebrew. There are still such cultural activities but it is really to cater for this much older group, theatre etc. I don't believe the Polish daily newspaper is available any more. You rarely see Polski sklep signs like in London. However much of the Polish dishes have become part of Israeli cuisine anyhow as I'm sure you are aware. Serek Wiejski for example is identical to Israeli cottage cheese. British cottage cheese is sour and disgusting.

History / Pictures of Polish Jews holding coins and lemons? [25]

Thanks Pol3
I now know more about my name! it sort of explains how as a young medical student in London during my oncology attachment I was assigned to look after a Polish lady dying of advanced cancer. She had been Poland's table tennis champion before the war and thereafter a fighter in the AK and survived and escaped a death march from Aushwitz. Her bed was surrounded by Catholic statues of the virgin Mary and crosses and other Catholic objects. I remember as a young naive Jewish student being mesmerised by her and she kept saying I was her 'sunrise over the forest'. To this day I never understood what she was talking about but now I realise she was referring to my name. Thanks for this!

History / Pictures of Polish Jews holding coins and lemons? [25]

Thanks jon357 now I understand this more. I guess it's a little more politically incorrect than offensive. I am surprised sometimes when Poles ask me where my beard is or why I'm not dancing but these pictures explain this I suppose, the concept of all Jewish people being religious. I am very intrigued about the Menorah thing also. My family that remained in Poland certainly didn't have any money or good luck, quite the opposite in point of fact!