Being a Jew in modern-day Poland; Israeli Jew who is of Polish descent

The article on Polish- Jewish relations seems to be the type of account Kartofel would be reading being of Israeli/Polish descent.

Well, that article is very praising and optimistic - the real question is whether or not it really is accurate? :P

It is more accurate than inaccurate but still has bits which are very simply wrong. For example it claims "Poland was the only occupied country in which the Germans issued a decree warning that anyone helping the Jews

would be executed." which is very simply not true. It also says "There are thousands of Poles who risked their lives and died in the process of helping the Jews. Only a few of them have been documented and are honoured by Yad Vashem, in the Righteous Among Nations." when in reality several thousand Poles have been honoured by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among Nations. It also says that "In fact, Poland was the only Nazi-occupied country which did not have a Quisling." but completely ignores the fact that Poles were never given the chance to have a Quisling (because the Nazis and commies agreed that there would not be a Polish state).

I think that we should look at it in some context. That is true that German were extremely nasty towards Jews and wanted to exterminate them as a nation but Polish were not treated much better. They clearly as civilian didn't lead nice leisure life ( like English did) .They were also sent to death camps. My dad was telling me like one of his relations was arrested at 'lapanka' in centre of Krakow.Without any reason people were surrounded by German , few big vans arrived ,everyone was put in and taken to death camp. So you could leave your house in the morning and never come back. People lived in permanent terror and threat.

That is why anyone who helped Jewish people to to survive, hiding them ( risking their life and their families) was a hero. But lets be honest- how many brave, heroic people are in each nations? If it was for French, Dutch ,American....Would they help more ???

That's certainly one of the reasons.


I very much doubt that they would have helped much more, or collaborated much less.

@Iwonka they didn't. The Dutch and French were kind of pussies. The highest number of righteous among the nations comes from Poland. That's why I say that if it wasn't for the pogroms and the fact everything happened on Polish soil, no one would probably blame the Poles for anything.

Proportionately more Dutch Jews than Polish Jews survived, didn't they?


Poland did have the largest population of Jews in Europe.

@Harry possibly proportionally things may not look so bright, but then again - Poland had a more "hardcore" occupation, isn't that so?

I'm afraid you forget that most of the Jewish population in Poland lived in the Ukraine and Byelorussia . It is clear that Kartofel bangs on the door of the wrong house

What about living in the Ukraine and Byelorussia ? Why not these countries?
The Jewish heritage is more impressive in these countries

Maybe so, but Ukraine on the brink of war and totalitarian Belarus....not so good advice.

No, the Jewish populations of Ukraine and Belarus lived in Ukraine and Belarus; the Jews of Poland lived in Poland.

Soon totalitarian Belarus will be in Eurasian Union so it will be better and Lukashenko wont live forever

@R.U.R. Excuse me, but my family came specifically from Świebodzice, £ańcut, Wrocław, Warszawa and £ódź. As far as I know none of these were outside of Poland?

Besides - Poland had the biggest number of Jews within EU prior to WWII and its a known fact.

And lastly - and most importantly - I wouldn't want to live in Belarus nor Ukraine since I don't have nor feel any relation to them, and I don't see them nearly as modern and advanced as Poland is. I also don't respect them as much as I do Poland because they are known as more primitive and racist countries (well, especially Ukraine).

Euro 2012 Is a good example for the superiority of Poland over Ukraine. I've nothing to do in Ukraine or Belarus other than visiting Chernobyl, Kiev or Odessa as a tourist.

Wroclaw most certainly was for a long time!

@Harry but after the war?

Bialystok and Lublin have long Jewish tradition, I think Bialystok was once know as the Jerusalem of the north

Certainly it was Polish then, but there were very few Jews left there after the war.


Lublin was widely referred to as the Jewish Oxford.

@Harry my grandma lived there after the war :)

This means that You do not care for Jewish culture . Do you want to be assimilated ? Ready for it ?



I see a contradiction here in the enigmatic jewish sole . The country is antisemitic but the number is growing . Sounds a bit strange to me

Can anybody explain this phenomenon to me?

I can. Some ppl do not look at some organizations statistics but come here and expirience real Poland. If they like it they stay.

@R.U.R. What do you mean I don't care for Jewish culture? As in don't wanna live within a Jewish community and such? Well, I don't really need that, and I don't mind assimilating as a Jewish Pole who does everything but celebrating the Christian holidays really.. I can keep my culture at home if I want, I don't need it in my daily life outside. If I wanted to live a Jewish life is stay in Israel.

Well, it seems to me that all you want is superiority. Sounds a bit strange to me. But Ok Thanks for the answer

@R.U.R. Ugh, come on. Where on earth did I say I want superiority, man? I just said Poland is head and shoulders above these countries, how is that bad? And how does that mean I want superiority? You're making me sound like some kind of villain from a movie lol. If I wanted superiority I'd go to Hollywood, mingle with stars and buy Facebook haha :P

And why does it seem like you want me to live in these countries?

OK , you are a good spirit from a movie, kind of Aladdin.....

But see the Ukraine has a warm see and something like Mediterranean culture, and the climate is mild, much better than in Poland , and the Jewish heritage

But as I understand the Crimea is not your choice . Ok

@R.U.R. I have enough warm climate here... don't like it... don't take it personally but what do I have to do with Crimea? XD

Wow. That's so interesting. Tell us more if its not a secret . What kind of the future do you and you friends envisage for Poland ?

@R.U.R. Why the attitude?

I wondered the same thing.

What kind of attitude ?
It was clearly stated that Crimea is not your choice . Ok

He is a wind-up merchant. Forget about him: he's not Polish and has never been here: he knows nothing about modern-day Poland and even less about being a Jew in modern-day Poland.