Why Poland matters

By Rabbi Dow Marmur

Canadian Jewish News

Each time he returned to Israel, he was asked if anti-Semitism in Poland is still prevalent. "Yes," he'd reply, "just as in other European countries." He'd add: "Polish Jews are tied to their bad memories and refuse to free themselves from them. They don't want to see a different Poland. I've the impression that they don't put similar questions to those who return from visits to Germany or France."

The speaker was Shevach Weiss, Israeli academic and parliamentarian, who recently retired as Israel's ambassador to Poland. He was born there and survived the Holocaust with his family thanks to Polish and Ukrainian neighbors. His return to his native land enabled him to help create a new climate of understanding between Poles and Jews.

A series of interviews Weiss gave on Polish radio have been collected in a book, now also available in Hebrew. Though throughout his tenure he persistently and vigorously drew attention to many acts of gross anti-Semitism in Poland, he has refused to describe the country as suffused with anti-Semitism. He has distanced himself emphatically from the statement by former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir that Poles get their anti-Semitism with their mothers' milk.

"In the eyes of the majority of the Polish elites, anti-Semitism is a source of great shame," says Weiss. He knows what he's talking about. He speaks the language, knows the country and was actively involved in Polish life. He has also been a great source of strength to Poland's small Jewish community there. Most Poles have responded to him with enthusiasm and generosity. Poland's staunch support for Israel is largely due to him.

In the words of Anthony Polonsky, the renowned expert on Polish history, the loss of the Jews has cut off a limb of Poland. Many Poles still feel the phantom pains. It seems that helping them to cope also helps us to heal our own wounds.

When some of us started the Polish Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada, today active in Montreal and Toronto, most Jews responded, at best, with indifference and, at times, with hostility. They asked, often polemically, the same kinds of questions that Weiss heard in Israel. Those who were prepared to listen to answers, perhaps even to visit Poland, saw a more nuanced picture.

So we've persevered, with some success. We've been able to show that, in addition to the vestiges of the old anti-Semitism there's now also another Poland, aware of its loss of the millions of Jews who once lived there and determined to preserve as much of its Jewish culture as possible. It behooves us Jews to respond accordingly. I'm proud to have played a small part in it.