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

I think that people sometimes read through the line what they want.

As Kartofel said he is not very religious, he speaks polish, he wants to assimilate and he will be still Jews. Is it bad? As his family originates from Poland he has some roots, sentiment. Quite simple for me.

What is the difference to lots of polish living abroad.

I have noticed that the only people who see it as positive are polish.

When I was growing up Kazimierz in Krakow was a ********. Full of drunks. Now it is renovated, with some charm. (Property prices are growing up there madly).I would quite like to have proper jewish district there.

People say that Poland is so homogenous. Maybe we need some of emigration like this. We have clearly much more in common with Jewish than with any arabic/muslim culture.

@Iwonka you nailed it about me :) I'm glad it does make sense to some people here :P

As for the country and whether you need more Jewish districts or not - its not up to me to decide of course but I wouldn't mind that ;)

I really loved Kraków as a tourist, it is one of the more beautiful towns I've been to in Europe, very classy - but I understand Warsaw could have more job opportunities possibly?

@Lenka I like your idea of coming to Poland and seeing for myself but I'm not yet able to so I've only been as a tourist - it was lovely tho :)

To be honest the way how it goes this district will create slowly itself.
But that is what we need - Years of Communism killed any variety in Poland.

It is sad to say but yes, I think that there are more work opportunities in Warsaw.

Well.. when the time comes it will be more meaningful :) its interesting tho :)

Kartofel,we need to remember,no more than we need to remember anyone who did anything wrong during the war,But to dwell or emphasize the few,inveritably leads to perpetual nonsense and unproductive anger.I'm just saying that if you go to Poland,to be mindful of that,is all,not an attack.

@P3undone I'm aware of that and I agree :)

Not at all, it is not true for at least 1000 years. Must be a part of the Jewish mytholgy.


None taken that is simply not true.


Poland is still the safest country in the world for Jews to live in. However some Jewish cicrles are working hard to change that.


Who would stay in Izrael if they would have been told the truth? :)


That would be Poland. Denmark know nothing about Jews and have but few.


Your sort like to stir things up and to look down on people, you are a nasty sort of people.


Created and run by Germans.


The same can be said about Jews. There were Jews who worked for Germans. Alongside Jews fighing against Germans there others who were hostile to other Jews and Poles both during and after the war.


Jedwabne typical German action on occupied territory, Kielce an action of the Soviet secret services aimed at giving polish fighters for independent Poland a bad name.


Why Jews who cooperate with Germans make no complication?

@Lolek how can you say Jedwabne and Kielce weren't Polish pogroms when it has been proven exactly so? Your opinions are rather ignorant, no offence, its like you make Poland perfect and blame it on everyone else?

I did not read the whole thread, mostly because after reading your very first post I thought to myself that it will lead exactly to this.

Funny, huh?

@f stop it was not my intention to have it come. to this but you just can't deny most of the Poles' actions during and after the war, whether good or bad...

That is not discussing being a Jew in modern day Poland. I don't think that was your intention at all.
And therein lies the rub.

@f stop of course my intention was to talk about how much Poland is to blame for WWII and how unworthy it is of our Jewish presence, god forbid.

well, you let it go there. Modern day Poles cannot do anything about the past.

@f stop they can learn from the bad things, which is how the thread connects to being a Jew in modern day Poland or vice versa if you'd like. I don't see the problem.

They? What exactly do you want "them" to learn? What exactly do you want "them" to do?

Anyway, this attitude is exactly what your problem might be in Poland, if you're really thinking about spending any considerable time there. Which, honestly, I don't think you do.

This is just another fishing expedition, ending at a very predictable place.

You don't know that nearly half of the victims of the concentration camps were Polish? and Poland lost over 3 million people at least (not including Jews). Do you know how much Slavic people in general suffered during that war? If you wan't respect you first have to show others it first. Next time start a thread with your real intentions...this makes you malicious.

See what I mean Kartofel? Once you start, nothing good comes out of it.

You are just looking to blame me for hidden intentions all the time. By the way Szalawa, that post was SARCASTIC. Jeez.

If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.

Quote: Winston Churchill

Yea!
(I had to read the speech to see if it applies)

Anyway I hope I made it clear with my sarcasm my intentions were not directly blaming the Polish nation for war crimes.

Merged: What Do Israelis Think Of Poles?

Hiii/Szalom! :D
I wanted to ask if there are some Israelis here and what do they think about Poland?
Please describe what do you think about Poland and explain why, if it affects you in some way, is there something you think is related between Israel and Poland and you can even describe about the history of Poland that you might know :D

Thanks for all of those that will answer/Toda al situf ha peula :D
~Mikołaj

Merged: Would I be accepted as a Pole?

Hello everyone :) it is nice to be posting here.

I was always wondering - if I were to immigrate to Poland would I be accepted as a Pole by the local Poles?

My story is like this: I'm half Polish (my grandma and grandpa are both from Poland) but I was born in Israel and we are all Jews. I do have Polish citizenship and I do speak the Polish language. Im proud of my Polish side and not afraid to embrace it. I've learnt about the country's history and culture and I have been to Poland twice but never really lived there. My name is completely Israeli (thus foreign to Polish ears) since my dad thought it'd sound better in Israel.

Looks wise, I do look like a Pole so I doubt anyone would look at me strange or anything, but do you think that, not being born there, being of a different religion and not even having a Polish name, I'd still be accepted as a fellow Pole?

Thank you for any insights :)

If not right away but after some time when you intigrate you will be for sure.

If you're half Polish and speak Polish language, and, as you write you're "proud of your Polish side and not afraid to embrace it" then for majority of Poles who live in Poland that makes you already part of Polonia (Polish diaspora - people of Polish origin who live outside Poland). And considering that you have Polish citizenship... Well, all you need to do is to consider yourself Polish or half-Polish, and introduce yourself as such and that's how you will probably be viewed usually. I think that due to years of emigration Poles have pretty liberal view of who is Polish - one doesn't have to be born in Poland. It's probably especially true about those people who ended up outside of Poland against their will (citizens of the former Soviet Union, for example, who have Polish roots can apply for Karta Polaka - Pole's Card - a document confirming belonging to the Polish nation which grants all kinds of privileges).

Thank you for your answers :)

Do you think that the other Poles wouldn't differentiate because of my different religion?

Anywhere you go where the religion is different to yours there will always be some differences. Not just there. Hopefully your personality will overcome any of that stuff from various 2000 year old books of fiction and people will like you for who you are not which non existant imiginary friend you keep.

@Marsupial

I sure hope so man :D (I'm not a religious man anyway, I just know that in general religion plays (or at least used to play) a rather big role in Poland .

Religion is slighly less powerful in Poland now as opposed to many years ago but it's still there very strong. You just need to say 'I am jewish or my parents are Jewish but I dont practice or believe or whatever and I dont care much for it'. Something like that. For 99% of ppl that's the cue to finish that line of questioning. For my money I don't care if they are from mars and covered in purple stripes just as long as they don't **** me they can believe whatever they want.

It depends on how big a deal you make of it. Most Poles are not especially religious (doing only the minimum required to be considered catholic).

How religious are you? If keeping kosher and not using electricity on the sabbath are really important to you then you may find it hard to socialize. If you're more secular and/or flexible then no one is likely to care (beyond extreme nationalists of which there aren't that many).

You might consider a Polish first name as well (Polonizing your Israeli name it that's possible and just picking a Polish first name if it's not). The last name isn't as important.


The strength of religious feelings in Poland has always been exaggerated as far as I can tell, especially in cities.