Israeli teenagers are a nuisance in Poland.

Israeli teenagers are a nuisance in Poland.

In my opinion the problem is that ISRAELI GOVERMENT sending young Israelis people to visit Poland does not set the rules straight. There is a basic international traditional custom.

If coming as a guest to any country you have to respect any local laws and local tradition and local communities.

This kind of behavior listed below is not acceptable in any country and especially in Poland, country which did so much good to the Jewish People over 1000 of years which no historian can dispute.

ISRAELI GOVERNMENT has to start to do the reorientation to the young Israelis coming to Poland to teach them positive aspects of our 1000 years old history (see listed below)
You want to do the students exchange? Do the correct way or don’t do it.
Show to them Polish history places as well.
I was part of the large student exchange back 20 years ago between young people Poland, Soviet Union, Germany. Yes we have developed o lot of personal friendships, we did learn about history of other countries. Yes it was very positive for all.
Before our trip to foreign country our school teachers did informed all of us
That after we pass Polish border we have to act as young Ambassadors of Poland.

If this situation listed below will not improve then as polish people in Poland and in Diaspora all over the world we will ask our politicians to change the law and the rules.

1. Any person coming to Poland and committing this kind of violation will be on the black list no to enter the country again.

2. Any violation will be subject of penalty under the Polish law with no exceptions.

3. Absolutely there is no need for young students to travel Poland with security bodyguards armed. By doing this you just create fear for the students.

4. Stop any financial aid, loans, grants to the organizers of this trips
by Polish Government, European Union and the United States.


Odwiedzające Kraków wycieczki izraelskiej młodzieży od kilkunastu lat słyną z bezprzykładnego chamstwa, arogancji i brutalności. W zeszłym tygodniu wieści o tym dotarły do redakcji warszawskiego tygodnika „Przekrój”. Czyżby w polskiej prasie dał o sobie znać wzrost nastrojów antysemickich?

W „przekrojowym” tekście opisano przypadki napaści i pobić, jakich niejednokrotnie dopuszczali się ochroniarze izraelskich wycieczek przybywających z wizytą do „kraju-cmentarza”. Opisano również arogancję i chamstwo izraelskiej młodzieży, której ofiarą padli pracownicy polskich linii lotniczych i krakowscy hotelarze. Ci ostatni podjęli w konsekwencji bezprecedensową decyzję o zastosowaniu odpowiedzialności zbiorowej i w ogóle odmówili obsługiwania w przyszłości wycieczek z Izraela. Czyżbyśmy zatem mieli do czynienia z manifestacją powszechnie znanego „polskiego antysemityzmu”? Setek milionów czytelników hiszpańskiego „El Pais”, amerykańskiego „The New York Times’a”, nie wspominając o izraelskim „Haaretz” z pewnością nie trzeba co do tego przekonywać. Koń jaki jest, każdy widzi… I niewiele tu zmieni wątły głosik działającego w Tel Awiwie stowarzyszenia Żydów polskich, którzy podnieśli larum z powodu dostrzeżonych przez „Przekrój” ekscesów.

W moim przekonaniu prawdziwy problem nie tkwi w braku elementarnej kultury młodych Izraelczyków i ich (bezprawnie) uzbrojonych, nadużywających przemocy opiekunów. Nie tkwi także w ostentacyjnej pogardzie okazywanej polskim gospodarzom. Prawdziwy problem leży w konsekwentnej i z całą pewnością nie przypadkowej polityce władz Państwa Izrael wobec Polski. Jak zauważył w „Przekroju” (oraz w wywiadzie udzielonym „Rzeczpospolitej”) prof. Moshe Zimmermann z Uniwersytetu Hebrajskiego w Jerozolimie: „Izraelczycy zasadniczo uważają, że Polacy nie są dla nich równymi partnerami. I nie chodzi o to, że nie potrafią ich dzieciom zapewnić bezpieczeństwa. Nie są równymi partnerami do jakiejkolwiek dyskusji. Dotyczy to także wspólnej i dzisiejszej historii oraz polityki. Efekt jest taki, że młodzież izraelska widzi w Polakach
ludzi drugiej kategorii, postrzega ich jako potencjalnych wrogów.”
Tak się składa, że opinię prof. Zimmermanna miałem okazję wielokrotnie zweryfikować na własnej skórze. Wycieczki izraelskich licealistów spotykam na krakowskim Kazimierzu niemal co dzień. Zaciekawiony w równym stopniu żydowską historią, co żydowską teraźniejszością, parę razy próbowałem nawiązać z nimi normalną, przyjacielską rozmowę. Taką, jaką bez większego problemu udaje mi się odbyć z turystami ze Skandynawii, Niemiec, Ameryki, Ukrainy, Francji, czy Hiszpanii. Ku swojemu zdumieniu, Izraelczycy za każdym razem traktowali moją wyciągniętą dłoń jako przejaw agresji. Pomimo mojego lekkiego, letniego ubrania, nieodmiennie postrzegali mnie, jak gdybym był zmierzającym do muzułmańskiego raju, obwieszonym trotylem bojownikiem Dżihadu…

Ale może trochę przesadzam? Może tak naprawdę powinienem być wdzięczny? Jak dotąd bowiem – w odróżnieniu od pewnego Włocha - nie zostałem przez naszych gości pobity. Jak dotąd, nie skrępowano mi rąk plastikowymi kajdankami i nie wylądowałem twarzą w psich odchodach… Mówiąc krótko: na własnej ulicy wciąż mogę się czuć bezpiecznym.

Jakiś czas później dowiedziałem się, że izraelskie ministerstwo oświaty w specjalnej instrukcji zwraca się do młodzieży wyjeżdżającej do Polski celem na przykład wzięcia udziału w Marszu Żywych w słowach: „Wszędzie będziemy otoczeni przez Polaków. Będziemy nienawidzić ich z powodu udziału w zbrodniach”. Wyobrażacie sobie Państwo instrukcję dla polskich licealistów lub studentów, wybierających się do Izraela, w której członek polskiego rządu wzywałby do nienawiści do obywateli odwiedzanego państwa? Motywując tę ze wszech miar pożądaną postawę, powiedzmy, udziałem żydowskich komunistów w stalinowskich zbrodniach, albo gorliwą współpracą żydowskich policjantów z gett w hitlerowskiej eksterminacji ich własnych ziomków…

Poza opisanym wyżej, codziennym obliczem kontaktów polsko-izraelskich warto zwrócić uwagę, na kilka okoliczności. Po pierwsze: interesujące wydaje się samo istnienie podobnej instrukcji izraelskiego ministra. Po wtóre: warto przypomnieć trwające ponad dekadę, bezskuteczne zabiegi polskiego MSZ o ekstradycję stalinowskiego zbrodniarza, (podobno) zmarłego niedawno w Izraelu, Salomona Morela. Po trzecie - o czym pisałem w innym miejscu – fakt, iż jedyna napisana po hebrajsku i opublikowana w Izraelu książka na temat tysiącletniej historii Żydów w kraju nazwanym przez rabina Isserlesa „Paradis Judaeorum” (rajem Żydów) liczy sobie „aż” osiemdziesiąt(!) stron. Ostatni z wymienionych faktów warto porównać z setkami żydowskich publikacji, festiwali, instytucji i wydarzeń kulturalnych, które cieszą się w Polsce niesłabnącą popularnością. Mam wrażenie, że owe okoliczności stanowią niebagatelne, a zazwyczaj niedoceniane argumenty w dyskusji o stanie relacji polsko-żydowskich.

Przyznam, że nie mogę się oprzeć zdumieniu, ilekroć obserwuję w ową zaskakującą dysproporcję między światem przedstawionym (w mediach i oficjalnym życiu publicznym), a rzeczywistością tout court. Zastanawiam się, dlaczego swego rodzaju „zawodowi” specjaliści od dialogu, szermujący nieraz bardzo ostrymi zarzutami pod adresem Polaków (którzy - sądząc z wielu wypowiedzi, a nawet komiksów - w największej mierze ponoszą odpowiedzialność za Holocaust), nie kwapią się z uwzględnieniem owego kontekstu. Zachodzę również w głowę, dlaczego w podobnych sprawach nie wypowiadają się tak wytrawni intelektualiści i pisarze, jak prof. Paweł Śpiewak, Bronisław Wildstein, albo Tomasz Jastrun. Sądzę, że nie jestem jedynym, który chętnie zapoznałby się z ich opiniami na temat trudności w dialogu między Polakami, a Żydami.

Na rzeczywistość relacji między dwiema (trzema?) społecznościami w większym stopniu niż oficjalne okrągłe zdania, rytualnie wypowiadane przez najbardziej znanych polityków i publicystów, wpływają doświadczenia zwykłych ludzi. O prawdziwym potencjale solidarności Polaków i Żydów, lepiej niż artykuły prof. Szewacha Weissa, mówią oddolne inicjatywy zwyczajnych obywateli. To na podstawie tych doświadczeń można pokusić się o wnioski bardziej ogólnej natury. To one stanowią prawdziwy probierz intencji, nastrojów i możliwości. Kiedy niedawno w imieniu Fundacji Paradis Judaeorum ogłosiłem list otwarty do MSZ o podjęcie zdecydowanych działań prawnych przeciwko Pilar Raholi i dziennikowi „El Pais”, okazało się, że wśród ponad stu sygnatariuszy znalazła się tylko jedna osoba reprezentująca tak liczne w naszym kraju instytucje żydowskie. A przecież oficjalne zaproszenie wysłałem do wszystkich żydowskich stowarzyszeń i fundacji, które mienią się rzecznikami i animatorami polsko-żydowskiego dialogu…

Jakie z tego płyną wnioski? Po co o tym wszystkim wspominam? Otóż chciałbym powyższe uwagi zadedykować wszystkim, którzy tkwią w okowach stereotypów. W okowach uproszczeń często nie mających wiele wspólnego z rzeczywistością. A także tym, którzy podobnie jak niżej podpisany (nieraz wbrew dojmującym faktom) wierzą, że ludzi dobrej woli jest więcej. Mimo wszystko.

Obyśmy tylko mieli okazję dowiadywać się o tym trochę częściej. Nie tyle z telewizora czy z gazety, co z własnego doświadczenia.

Zobacz także:
„Młodzi Izraelczycy rozrabiają w Polsce”, „Przekrój” z 9.05.2007
„Dla Izraelczyków Polska jest nie mniej winna niż Niemcy – rozmowa z Mosce Zimmermannem”, „Rzeczpospolita” z 13.04.2007

Source: Przekrój weekly of May the 10th 2007
Link to original article in Polish
Author: Anna Szulc
English translation: MoPoPressReview
The list of losses Israeli teenagers’ visits leave behind is long and costly. It begins with burned carpets in Polish hotels, and ends with Jewish teenagers’ trauma. But more and more often with local residents’ trauma too.

Roberto Lucchesini, originally from Tuscany, for several years now a resident of Krakow, hasn’t been sleeping well recently. Before he will be able to move his arms normally again, he will have to go through long rehab. All this because of how he was treated, in broad daylight in front of passers-by and several teenagers who were hermetically closed in their coach-buses. Israeli bodyguards equipped with firearms, binded his arms behind his back over his head with handcuffs. In Krakow, in the middle of the street. A moment before, the Italian was trying to make coach drivers parking in front of his house turn their engines off. - ‘Israelis handcuffed me, threw me on the ground, my face landed in dog excrement, and then they were kicking me’. After that the perpetrators were gone. Italian had to be freed by the Polish police.

Lucchesini moved to Kazimierz, a district of Kraków that used to be a Jewish commune of whom the only things left now are synagogues and memories, often painful. He found an apartment with a view on the synagogue. - ‘Back then I had thought this was the most beautiful place on Earth’ - he says - ‘after some time I understood that the place is indeed beautiful, but not for its today’s residents’.

Kicking instead of answers

Jews search tourist

Other resident of Kazimierz, Beata W., office worker is of similar opinion. Israeli security searched her handbag on one of the streets, without telling her why.
- ‘When I asked what this was all about, they told me to shut up. I listened, I stopped talking, I was afraid they’d tell me to get undressed next’ - she says annoyed.
A young polish Jew, who as usual in Sabbath, went to pray in his synagogue couple months ago, also didn’t get his answer. He only asked why he can’t enter the temple. Instead of an answer, he got kicked.
- ‘I saw this with my own eyes’ - says Mike Urbaniak, the editor of Forum of Polish Jews and correspondent of European Jewish Press in Poland. - ‘I saw how my friend is being brutally attacked by security agents from Israel, without any reason.’

All this apparently in sake of Israeli children’s’ safety.
- ‘For Poles it may be difficult to understand, but security agents accompany Israelis at all times, both in Israel and abroad’ - explains Michał Sobelman, a spokesman for Israeli embassy in Poland. - ‘This is a parents’ demand, otherwise they wouldn’t agree for any kind of trip. Poland is no exception.’

But it was in Poland, as Mike Urbaniak reports, where Jews from Israel brutally kicked a Polish Jew in front of a synagogue, and then threatened him with prison. In plain view of the Israeli teenagers.

- ‘We are very sorry when we hear about such incidents’ - Sobelman admits - ‘Detailed analysis is carried out in each case. We will do everything we can, to prevent such situations in the future. Maybe we will have to change training methods of our security agents, so that they would know Poland is not like Israel, that the scale of threats here is insignificant?

Professor Moshe Zimmermann, head of German History Institute at Hebrew University in Jerusalem thinks however, that the problem is not only in the security agents’ behavior. He thinks Israelis basically think that Poles aren’t equal partners for them. And it’s not only that they think Poles can’t ensure their children’s safety.

- ‘They are not equal partners to any kind of discussion. It applies also to our common history, contemporary history and politics. In result Israeli youth see Poles as second category people, as potential enemies’ - he explains bluntly.

An instruction on conduct with the local inhabitants given away to Israeli teenagers coming to Poland couple years ago may confirm professor’s opinion. It contained such a paragraph: ‘Everywhere we will be surrounded by Poles. We will hate them because of their participation in Holocaust’.

Jews hate Poles

- ‘Agendas of our teenagers’ trips to Poland are set in advance by the Israeli government, and are not flexible’ - says Ilona Dworak-Cousin, the chairwoman of the Polish-Israeli Friendship Association in Israel. - ‘Those trips basically come down to visiting, one by one, the places of extermination of Jews. From that perspective Poland is just a huge Jewish graveyard. And nothing more. Meeting living people, for those who organize these trips, is meaningless.’

A resident of Krakow’s Kazimierz district, who is of Jewish descent, says that there is nothing wrong with that: - ‘Israelis don’t come to Poland for holiday. Their aim is to see the sites of Shoah and listen to the terrifying history of their families, history that often is not told to them by their grandparents, because of its emotional weight. Often young people who are leaving, cry, phone their parents and say “why didn’t you tell me it was that horrible?”. To be frank, I am not surprised they have no interest in talking about Lajkonik‘.

However according to Ilona Dworak-Cousin the lack of contact with Poles, causes Israeli youth to confuse victims with the perpetrators. - ‘They start to think it were the Poles who created concentration camps for Jews, that it is the Polish who were and still are the biggest anti-Semites in the world’ - adds Dworak-Cousin, who is Jewish herself.

The above mentioned Kraków resident has a different opinion. - ‘I don’t believe anyone was telling them that the Poles had been doing this. That’s why there is no need for discussing anything with the Poles’.

Teenagers behaving badly

However, many Israelis say that although the instruction was eventually changed, the attitude to Poles has not changed at all.
- ‘Someone in Israel someday decided that our children going to Poland have to be hermetically surrounded by security’ - says Lili Haber president of Cracovians Association in Israel. - ‘Someone decided that young Israelis cannot meet young Poles, and cannot walk the streets. Basically these visits aren’t anything else but a several-day-long voluntary prison.’

RIch brat jews

Voluntary, but also very expensive: 1400 USD per person. Not every Israeli parent can afford such a trip.

- ‘Moreover, as it turns out, the children are too young, to visit sites of mass murders’ - adds dr Ilona Dworak-Cousin. Traumatic experiences that accompany visits in death camps have its consequences. Kids become aggressive. And instead of getting to know the country of their ancestors, in which Jews and Poles lived in symbiosis for over 1000 years, Israeli teenagers cause one scandal after another.

Shitting in beds

It happens sometimes, that somewhere between Majdanek and Treblinka, young Israelis spend their time on striptease ordered via the hotel telephone. It happens sometimes, that the hotel service has to collect human excrement from hotel beds and washbasins. It happens sometimes, that hotels have to give money back to other tourists, who cannot sleep because Israeli kids decided to play football in hotel corridor. In the middle of the night.

Jews block streets

6-year-old Krzys from Kazimierz played football too. On Sunday night on 15th April, after shooting two goals, he wanted to go home, as usual. He lives near a synagogue, in front of which hundreds of young Israelis have gathered on celebrations preceding March of Living. Just before Szeroka Street he was stopped by some not-so-nice men. - ‘This is a semi-private area today. There is no entry’ - he was told. It didn’t help, when he told them, his mum will get upset if he won’t be home on time.

Security officers, which is interesting, were Polish this time and accompanied by the Polish police. They also denied access to the area to a Dutch couple, who had reserved a table at one of the restaurants on Szeroka Street six months ago. - ‘Is this a free country?’ - One of the tourists tried to make sure.


On a normal day you can access Szeroka Street from several sides. That evening from none. I tried to get through myself, without any success. Only eventually, the police helped me to pass the security line.

- ‘There are no official restrictions here’ - they were convincing me a moment later, although the “unofficial practice” was different.

- ‘We have only set certain restrictions in movement’ - Sylvia Bober-Jasnoch, a spokeswoman for Malopolska Region Police press service, explained to me later.

The police cannot say anything else. Polish law does not allow residents to be denied access to the streets they live at. Even during the so called mass events (however the celebrations on Szeroka did not have that status) residents have the right to go back to their homes and tourists have the right to dine in a restaurant. Also Israeli security agents have no right to stop or search passers-by.

I tried to find out more on the rights of Israeli security agents in Poland. First at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from where my question was sent to…. the Ministry of Education. I have also sent questions to the Home Office. Although I was promised, I received no answer. Only person eager to talk on that matter was Maciej Kozłowski, former ambassador in Israel, currently the Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Polish-Israeli relations.

- ‘Regulations are imprecise’ - admits Kozłowski. ‘Basically bodyguards from a foreign country should not move around Poland armed. However for the government of Israel security matters are a priority. Any convincing that their citizens should use the services of Polish security turned unsuccessful’.

Airplane like battle field

The Polish-Italian couple, Robert Lucchesini, his wife Anna, and their two-year-old daughter, cannot understand Polish government’s attitude. Which contrary to the Israeli government, is not able to ensure the safety of its citizens. Safety is not the only thing among the pair’s priorities, but also peace and quietness. They are however being woken up every morning by the loud noises of engines, of the Polish coach-buses with groups of Israeli youth. Their Polish drivers brake driving regulations all the time. They’re allowed to park at the square near the synagogue (in front of Robert’s house) only for up to 10 minutes. They stay there much longer, even hours. With their engines turned on. Reason? Youth’s safety - they would be able to leave quicker in case of a threat. And because Israeli kids need to be served coffee. Because even though Kazimierz is full of cafes, Israeli teenagers don’t go there. They are being told: no contacts with environment, no talking to passers-by, no smiles nor gestures.

This has been going for years. Israeli groups contact with Poles only there where they have to. First in airplanes.

Slapped stewardess

- ‘A plane after such group has landed, looks like a battle field’ - admits a worker of LOT Polish Airlines asking for his name not to be published. - ‘The worst thing is these kids’ attitude to Polish staff. Recently a stewardess was slapped by a teenager in her face. Because he had been waiting for his coca-cola too long’.

Leszek Chorzewski, LOT spokesman, admits that Israeli youth is a difficult customer. - ‘They demand not only more attention than other passengers, but also more security precautions’ - he adds. These precautions are long aircraft and airport controls conducted by Israeli services. These are also the high demands of the teenagers’ security agents.

Katarzyna Łazuga, student from Poznań, could see that first hand. She participated in a tourist guides’ training on one of Polish airports. ‘Young people from Israel entered the room we were in’, she recalls. - ‘Our group was then made to stop classes and rushed out of the room. Israeli security officers told us to go out, right now and without any talking. Because… we were “staring” at their clients. Yes, we were looking at them. They were catching attention, they were good looking.’

Young Israelis see Poles also there, where they board - in Polish hotels. If any of them still wants to have them. Most of those in Kraków don’t want to any more.


- ‘We have resigned from admitting Israeli youth once and for all’ - admits Agnieszka Tomczyk, assistant manageress in a chain of hotels called System. ‘We could not afford to refund the loses after their stays any more’.

Shiting in beds

These loses being: demolished rooms, broken chairs and tables, human excrements in washbasins or trash bins, or like in Astoria, other hotel in Kraków, burned carpet. Astoria also backs out from having Israeli groups. One of the reasons is that the teenagers’ security agents were ordering other guests, whom they didn’t like, to leave.

- ‘I understand that Israeli security agents are over-sensitive to any disturbing signals. They are coming from a country where bombs explode almost daily, and young people die in terrorist attacks’ - ensures Mike Urbaniak. - ‘But Poland is one of the safest countries in Europe. Here, excluding tiny number of incidents, Jews are not being attacked, and Jewish institutions don’t need security, which is very unusual on a world scale’.

Huge business

Chasidim, travelling in great numbers from Israel, also (surprisingly) don’t need security agents. Including for example many Orthodox Jews, who came to visit our country recently, as they wanted to pray at Tzadik of Lelów’s grave. They came to the market square in Kazimierz without any security assistance and without any fear.

- ‘They chatted eagerly with tourists interested in their outfits, with passers-by who don’t see Jews with side curls every day’ - adds Urbaniak.

In Kazimierz chasidim are nothing unusual. Like groups of Israeli teenagers. This year 30,000 Israeli teenagers are coming to Poland, and they will have 800 security agents to protect them.

Roberto Lucchesini reported to the Polish police that he got beaten by Israeli security. Krakow Prosecution Office is investigating the case, and so is its counterpart in Israel.

- ‘Results of this investigation are of medium importance’ - thinks Ilona Dworak-Cousin. - ‘What matters is if the youth that visits Poland, will still treat it as hostile and completely alien country’.

Polish-Israeli Friendship Association in Israel and Cracovians Association in Israel both try to convince the government of their country, not to send any more teenagers to see only the death camps in Poland. Chances are slim.

- ‘These trips are mostly a huge business for people who organize them’ - says Lili Haber - ‘including Israeli bodyguards’.
Młodzi Izraelczycy rozrabiają w Polsce
By Anna Szulc
Lista strat po masowych wizytach izraelskiej młodzieży w Polsce jest długa i kosztowna. Rozpoczynają ją wypalone dywany w polskich hotelach, kończy trauma żydowskich nastolatków. I coraz częściej trauma tubylców

Toskańczyk Roberto Lucchesini, od kilku lat mieszkaniec Krakowa, ostatnio prawie nie śpi. Zanim zacznie normalnie poruszać rękami, będzie musiał przejść długą rehabilitację. A wszystko po tym, jak w biały dzień na oczach przechodniów i kilkudziesięciu nastolatków zamkniętych szczelnie w autobusach zaopatrzeni w ostrą broń izraelscy ochroniarze skrępowali mu z tyłu ręce nad głową i skuli go kajdankami. Na środku krakowskiej ulicy. Chwilę przedtem Włoch na różne sposoby próbował zmusić kierowców autobusów, by wyłączyli silniki.
– Izraelczycy założyli mi kajdanki, rzucili twarzą w psie gówna i kopali – żali się Lucchesini. Następnie oprawcy po prostu odjechali. Włocha rozkuła dopiero policja.
Na krakowski Kazimierz, dawne żydowskie miasteczko, po którym zostały jedynie synagogi i ludzkie, często bardzo bolesne wspomnienia, Lucchesini przeniósł się z miłości do polskiej kobiety i polskiego miasta. Zamieszkał w kamienicy z widokiem na bożnicę.
– Wydawało mi się wtedy, że to najpiękniejsze miejsce na świecie – mówi. – Po pewnym czasie zrozumiałem, że miejsce, owszem, jest piękne, ale nie dla jego dzisiejszych mieszkańców.

Kopniaki zamiast odpowiedzi
Podobnego zdania jest również inna mieszkanka Kazimierza, urzędniczka Beata W., której izraelscy ochroniarze przetrzepali niedawno na jednej z ulic torebkę, zupełnie nie wyjaśniając przyczyn.
– Kiedy spytałam, o co właściwie chodzi, kazali mi się zamknąć. Posłuchałam, przestałam się odzywać, bałam się, że za chwilę każą mi się rozebrać do naga – irytuje się urzędniczka.
Odpowiedzi na pytanie nie otrzymał również młody polski Żyd, który jak zwykle w szabat kilka miesięcy temu chciał pomodlić się w swojej synagodze. Zapytał jedynie, dlaczego nie może wejść do świątyni. Zamiast odpowiedzi otrzymał kilka kopniaków.
– Widziałem to na własne oczy – mówi Mike Urbaniak, redaktor Forum Żydów Polskich i korespondent „European Jewish Press” w Polsce. – Widziałem, jak właściwie bez jakichkolwiek powodów mój kolega został brutalnie zaatakowany przez agentów ochrony z Izraela.
A wszystko to podobno w imię bezpieczeństwa izraelskich dzieci.
Samolot jak pole bitwy
Dla Roberta Lucchesiniego, jak też jego żony Anny i dwuletniej córeczki, postawa polskiego rządu, który w przeciwieństwie do Izraela swoim obywatelom nie potrafi zapewnić bezpieczeństwa, jest zupełnie niezrozumiała. Do priorytetów małżeństwa z Kazimierza oprócz poczucia bezpieczeństwa należą także spokój i cisza. Tymczasem włosko-polską rodzinę dzień w dzień budzi co rano głośny charkot silników polskich autobusów z grupami młodzieży z Izraela. Ich polscy kierowcy permanentnie łamią przepisy. Przy skwerku obok synagogi – naprzeciwko domu Roberta – mogą zgodnie z przepisami stać najwyżej trzy autokary, najwyżej 10 minut. Stoi znacznie więcej, godzinami. W dodatku z włączonymi silnikami. Powód? Bezpieczeństwo młodzieży – szybciej odjadą z miejsca zagrożenia, gdy silniki są uruchomione.
Poza tym młodym Izraelczykom trzeba serwować kawę. Bo chociaż Kazimierz to dziś dziesiątki kawiarni, nastolatki z Izraela do nich nie zaglądają. Mają to jasno powiedziane: zero kontaktów z otoczeniem, zero rozmów z przechodniami, zero uśmiechów i gestów.
Tak jest już od kilkunastu lat – z Polakami grupy izraelskie kontaktują się wyłącznie tam, gdzie muszą. Najpierw w samolotach.
– Samolot po wylądowaniu w Polsce młodzieży izraelskiej wygląda jak pole bitwy – przyznaje pracownik LOT proszący o anonimowość. – Najgorszy jest jednak stosunek tych dzieciaków do polskiej obsługi. Niedawno jedna ze stewardes dostała od młodego Izraelczyka w twarz. Tylko dlatego, że zbyt długo czekał na coca-colę.
Leszek Chorzewski, rzecznik prasowy LOT, przyznaje, że młodzież izraelska to trudny klient. – Wymaga nie tylko więcej uwagi niż inni pasażerowie, ale też zdecydowanie większych środków ostrożności – dodaje. Ta ostrożność to przedłużające się kontrole latających maszyn i lotnisk przeprowadzane przez służby izraelskie. To także bardzo wysokie wymagania ochroniarzy młodych Izraelczyków.
Na własnej skórze przekonała się o tym Katarzyna Łazuga, studentka z Poznania. Na jednym z polskich lotnisk uczestniczyła w zajęciach kursu pilotażu turystycznego. – Do pomieszczenia, w którym przebywaliśmy, weszli młodzi ludzie z Izraela – wspomina. – W chwilę później nasza grupa w pośpiechu musiała przerwać zajęcia i opuścić salę. Izraelscy ochroniarze kazali nam się wynieść, natychmiast i bez gadania. Bo... za bardzo gapiliśmy się na ich podopiecznych. Owszem, patrzyliśmy się na nich. Zwracali na siebie uwagę, byli wyjątkowo ładni.
Polaków młodzi Izraelczycy widują jeszcze tam, gdzie nocują – w polskich hotelach. O ile polskie hotele chcą ich jeszcze przyjmować. Spora część krakowskich zdecydowanie już nie chce.
– Raz na zawsze zrezygnowaliśmy z przyjmowania młodzieży izraelskiej – przyznaje Agnieszka Tomczyk, asystentka szefa sieci hoteli System w Krakowie. – Nie stać nas już było na wyrównywanie strat po jej wizytach.
Te straty to zdemolowane pokoje, połamane krzesła i stoły, ludzkie odchody w umywalkach lub koszach na śmieci albo jak w Astorii, innym krakowskim hotelu, wypalony dywan. Astoria także wycofuje się z grup izraelskich. Między innymi dlatego, że ochroniarze żydowskiej młodzieży wypraszali z hotelu gości, którzy po prostu im się nie podobali.
– Ja rozumiem, że izraelscy ochroniarze są wyczuleni na wszelkie niepokojące sygnały. Przyjechali z kraju, gdzie nieustająco wybuchają bomby, a młodzi ludzie giną w zamachach terrorystycznych – zapewnia Mike Urbaniak. – Tyle tylko, że Polska jest jednym z najbezpieczniejszych krajów w Europie. Tu, poza nielicznymi przypadkami, nie atakuje się Żydów, a żydowskie instytucje, co jest ewenementem na światową skalę, nie potrzebują żadnej ochrony.

Wielki biznes
Ochrony nie potrzebują także, o dziwo, chasydzi przybywający licznie do Polski z Izraela. W tym na przykład kilkudziesięciu ortodoksyjnych Żydów, którzy niedawno odwiedzili nasz kraj, bo chcieli pomodlić się przy grobie cadyka z Lelowa. Zjawili się też na krakowskim Kazimierzu bez asysty i bez cienia strachu.
– Bez żadnych oporów rozmawiali z zaciekawionymi ich wyglądem turystami, dla których pejsaci Żydzi są wciąż niecodziennym zjawiskiem – dodaje Urbaniak.
Na Kazimierzu chasydzi są zjawiskiem codziennym. Tak jak wycieczki młodzieży z Izraela. W tym roku ma przyjechać do Polski aż 30 tysięcy nastolatków. A z nimi 800 ochroniarzy.
Roberto Lucchesini zgłosił pobicie przez izraelską ochronę na polską policję. Sprawą zajęła się już krakowska prokuratura. W Izraelu także toczy się w tej sprawie śledztwo.
– Jego wyniki mają średnie znaczenie – uważa Ilona Dworak-Cousin. – Znaczenie ma jedynie to, czy młodzież, która odwiedza Polskę, nadal będzie ją traktować jak wrogi i zupełnie obcy kraj.
Zarówno Stowarzyszenie Przyjaźni Izrael–Polska, jak i Związek Krakowian w Izraelu próbują dziś przekonać władze swojego kraju, by nie wysyłały więcej nastolatków do obozów zagłady w Polsce. Szanse na to są niewielkie.
– Te wycieczki to przede wszystkim wielki biznes dla ich organizatorów – przyznaje Lili Haber. – W tym również dla izraelskich ochroniarzy. n

– Polakom trudno to może zrozumieć, ale ochrona towarzyszy młodym Izraelczykom na każdym kroku, i to zarówno w kraju, jak i za granicą – wyjaśnia Michał Sobelman, rzecznik prasowy ambasady Izraela w Polsce. – Taki wymóg stawiają rodzice dzieci, w przeciwnym razie nie zgodziliby się na jakikolwiek wyjazd. Ochroniarze pojawiają się zatem wszędzie tam, gdzie młodzież. Polska nie jest tu żadnym wyjątkiem.
Ale to w Polsce, jak wynika z relacji Mike’a Urbaniaka, Żydzi z Izraela skopali przed polską synagogą polskiego Żyda, po czym zaczęli mu jeszcze grozić więzieniem. I znów działo się to na oczach młodych ludzi z Izraela.
– Jest nam bardzo przykro, gdy słyszymy o takich incydentach – przyznaje Sobelman. – Każda z tych spraw jest szczegółowo wyjaśniana. Zrobimy wszystko, by do takich sytuacji więcej nie dochodziło. Być może trzeba będzie zmienić metody szkolenia naszych ochroniarzy, po to by zrozumieli, że Polska to nie Izrael, że skala zagrożeń w Polsce jest znikoma?


Izraelscy ochroniarze na terenie obozu Auschwitz-Birkenau podczas Marszu Żywych, 16 kwietnia 2007

Profesor Moshe Zimmermann, szef Instytutu Historii Niemiec na Uniwersytecie Hebrajskim w Jerozolimie, uważa jednak, że problem nie dotyczy wyłącznie zachowania ochroniarzy. Jego zdaniem Izraelczycy zasadniczo uważają, że Polacy nie są dla nich równymi partnerami. I nie chodzi o to, że nie potrafią ich dzieciom zapewnić bezpieczeństwa.
– Nie są równymi partnerami do jakiejkolwiek dyskusji. Dotyczy to także wspólnej i dzisiejszej historii oraz polityki. Efekt jest taki, że młodzież izraelska widzi w Polakach ludzi drugiej kategorii, postrzega ich jako potencjalnych wrogów – wyjaśnia bez ogródek.
O tym, że profesor ma sporo racji, świadczyć może instrukcja postępowania z tubylcami rozdawana jeszcze kilka lat temu młodym Izraelczykom udającym się do Polski. Znalazł się w niej zapis: „Wszędzie będziemy otoczeni przez Polaków. Będziemy nienawidzić ich z powodu udziału w zbrodniach”.
– Programy przyjazdów naszych nastolatków są ustalane odgórnie przez izraelski rząd i są bardzo sztywne – wyjaśnia Ilona Dworak-Cousin, przewodnicząca Towarzystwa Przyjaźni Izrael–Polska w Izraelu. – Sprowadzają się właściwie do odwiedzania kolejnych miejsc zagłady Żydów. Z takiej perspektywy Polska to wyłącznie wielki żydowski cmentarz. I nic więcej. Spotkania z żywymi ludźmi dla tych, którzy przywożą młodych Izraelczyków do kraju naszych przodków, są bez znaczenia.
Mieszkaniec krakowskiego Kazimierza, pochodzenia żydowskiego, uważa, że nie ma w tym nic złego: – Izraelczycy nie przyjeżdżają do Polski na wakacje. Ich zadaniem jest poznać miejsca Zagłady i posłuchać o straszliwej historii swoich rodzin, historii, która często nie jest im opowiadana przez dziadków ze względu na zbyt duży ładunek emocji. Często się zdarza, że wyjeżdżający stąd młodzi ludzie płaczą, dzwonią do rodziców i mówią: czemu mi nie powiedzieliście, że to było aż tak straszne? Szczerze mówiąc, nie dziwię się, że nie mają ochoty na rozmowy o Lajkoniku.
Jednak według Ilony Dworak-Cousin brak kontaktu z Polakami sprawia, że izraelska młodzież coraz częściej zaczyna mylić ofiary z oprawcami. – Zaczynają myśleć, że to Polacy stworzyli obozy koncentracyjne dla Żydów, że to Polacy byli i wciąż są największymi antysemitami na świecie – dodaje Żydówka.
Wspomniany mieszkaniec Kazimierza jest zupełnie innego zdania. – Nie wierzę, by ktoś im mówił, że to Polacy zrobili. Dlatego nie muszą prowadzić jakichkolwiek dyskusji z młodymi Polakami.
Nastoletni skandaliści
Jednak zdaniem sporej części Izraelczyków instrukcję dla młodzieży ostatecznie wprawdzie zmieniono, ale podejścia do Polaków nie.
– Ktoś kiedyś w Izraelu zdecydował, że nasze dzieci, jadąc do Polski, muszą być szczelnie otoczone ochroną – mówi Lili Haber, przewodnicząca Związku Krakowian w Izraelu. – Ktoś zdecydował, że młodzi Izraelczycy nie mogą spotykać się z polskimi rówieśnikami, spacerować po ulicach. W rzeczywistości te wizyty nie są niczym więcej niż kilkunastodniowym, dobrowolnym pobytem młodzieży w więzieniu.
Dobrowolnym, ale też niezwykle kosztownym – 1400 dolarów od osoby. Na przyjazdy do Polski nie stać wszystkich rodziców młodych Izraelczyków.
– W dodatku, jak się okazuje, zbyt młodych na to, by oglądać miejsca kaźni – dodaje doktor Ilona Dworak-Cousin. – Traumatyczne przeżycia, jakie towarzyszą wizytom w kolejnych obozach śmierci, mają swoje konsekwencje. Dzieciaki stają się agresywne. I zamiast poznawać kraj przodków, kraj, w którym Żydzi w symbiozie z Polakami żyli prawie tysiąc lat, nastolatki z Izraela wywołują w nim kolejne skandale.
Zdarza się, że gdzieś między wizytą w Treblince a Majdankiem młodzi Izraelczycy spędzają czas na zamówionym przez hotelowy telefon striptizie. Zdarza się, że obsługa hotelowa musi zbierać ludzkie odchody z łóżek i umywalek. Zdarza się, że musi oddawać pieniądze za nocleg innym turystom, którzy nie mogą spać, bo Izraelczycy postanowili zagrać w hotelowym holu w piłkę nożną. O drugiej w nocy.
Sześcioletni Krzyś z Kazimierza też grał w piłkę. 15 kwietnia, w niedzielny wieczór, po tym jak strzelił dwa gole, chciał normalnie wrócić do domu. Domu położonego blisko synagogi, przed którą zgromadziły się na uroczystościach poprzedzających Marsz Żywych setki młodych Izraelczyków. Tuż przed ulicą Szeroką Krzysia zatrzymało kilku zdecydowanie niemiłych panów. – Dziś jest to teren półprywatny. Przejścia nie ma – usłyszał. Nie pomogły prośby chłopca, że jak nie wróci na czas do domu, jego mama będzie się denerwować.
„Bramkarze”, co ciekawe, tym razem polscy, i co jeszcze ciekawsze, w towarzystwie krakowskich policjantów, okazali się również głusi na prośby wycieczki Holendrów, którzy pół roku wcześniej zarezerwowali sobie kolację w restauracji przy ulicy Szerokiej. – To wolny kraj? – próbował upewnić się jeden z turystów.
W zwykły dzień na Szeroką można się dostać z kilku stron. W ten wieczór – z żadnej. Sama bezskutecznie próbowałam przedrzeć się przez bramki. Pomogli mi dopiero policjanci.
– Tu nie ma żadnych zakazów – przekonywali mnie chwilę później, choć stan faktyczny wskazywał na coś zupełnie innego.
– Wprowadziliśmy jedynie pewne ograniczenia w ruchu – wyjaśnia mi kilka dni później Sylwia Bober-Jasnoch z biura prasowego małopolskiej policji.
Policjanci nie mogą mówić inaczej. Oficjalnie polskie prawo nie daje możliwości odcięcia obywateli od ulic, przy których mieszkają. Nawet podczas imprez masowych, a uroczystości na Szerokiej taką nie były, mieszkańcy mają prawo wrócić do swoich domów, a turyści mają prawo zjeść obiad w restauracji. Także oficjalnie ochroniarze izraelscy nie mogą zatrzymywać i rewidować przechodniów.
Próbowałam się dowiedzieć więcej na temat praw agentów ochrony izraelskiej w Polsce. Najpierw w polskim Ministerstwie Spraw Zagranicznych, skąd odesłano moje pytania do... Ministerstwa Edukacji Narodowej. Wysłałam też pytania do ministra spraw wewnętrznych. Mimo wcześniejszych obietnic nie dostałam żadnej odpowiedzi. Chętny do rozmowy okazał się jedynie Maciej Kozłowski, były ambasador w Izraelu, obecnie pełnomocnik ministra spraw zagranicznych do spraw stosunków polsko-izraelskich
– Przepisy są nieprecyzyjne – przyznaje Kozłowski. – W zasadzie ochroniarze z obcego kraju nie powinni poruszać się po Polsce uzbrojeni, ale dla władz Izraela kwestie bezpieczeństwa są priorytetem. Próby przekonania izraelskiego rządu, że ich obywatele powinni korzystać z polskiej ochrony, na razie zakończyły się fiaskiem.

What about 60 thousand Poles who lost their own lives during the war to save the Polish Jews? My grandmother from Krasnik is one of them.

Let me only remind you that during the Nazi occupation, the names of Polish towns and streets were Germanized. Speaking Polish in public in the incorporated provinces was prohibited. In the predominantly German-populated area of Gdansk (renamed as Danzig), the public use of Polish language became a capital offence on September 4, 1939.

On August 22, 1939, a week before his attack on Poland, Hitler exhorted his nation: "Kill without pity or mercy all men, women and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need." As many as 200,000 Polish children, deemed to have "Germanic" (Aryan) features, were forcibly taken to Germany to be raised as Germans, and had their birth records falsified. Very few of these children were reunited with their families after the war.

More than 500 towns and villages were burned, over 16 thousand persons, mostly Polish Christians, were killed in 714 mass executions, of which 60% were carried out by the Wehrmacht (German army) and 40% by the SS and Gestapo. In Bydgoszcz the first victims were boy scouts from 12 to 16 years old, shot in the marketplace. All this happened in the first eight weeks of the war. See Richard C. Lucas, The Forgotten Holocaust; The Poles under German Occupation. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky [c1986].
In the East, the Russians, collaborating with the Germans (Hitler-Stalin Pact of Aug. 23, 1939) attacked Poland on September 17, 1939, and occupied the eastern part of Poland until June 1941. Massive killings followed, among them 21,857 officers, mostly reserve members of the army, police and frontier guards, whose bodies were found later in Katyn, Miednoye, Kharkov and Tver. Other bodies from these massacres have never been found. About two million Poles, mostly members of the intelligentsia, were deported to Siberia or to Kazakhstan in North and Central Asia. More than half never returned; thousands were killed in the fighting and over 452,000 became POWs in Soviet Russia. Poland disappeared from the European map, divided between Third Reich and the Soviet Union.

Out of its pre-war population of 36 million, Poland lost 22%, the highest percentage than any other country in Europe. The heaviest losses were sustained by educated classes, youth and democratic forces that could challenge totalitarianism later on. See I. C. Pogonowski, Poland: A Historical Atlas. New York, Hippocrene Books, 1987.

According to the German AB Plan, Poles were to become a people without education, slaves for the German overlords. Secondary schools were closed; studying, keeping radios, or weapon of any kind, or practicing any kind of trade were prohibited under the threat of death.

In 1988, the public prosecutor, Waclaw Bielawski, from the Main Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against the Polish Nation, issued a list of 1,181 names of Poles who had been killed for helping Jews during World War II. In 1997, the Main Commission – The Institute of National Memory and The Polish Society for The Righteous Among the Nations in Warsaw, published Part III in the series Those Who Helped: Polish Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. It reduced the list of 1,181 names to only 704, by accepting only those whose accounts could be independently corroborated and verified fifty years later. The publication also included the names of more than 5,400 Poles, who have been recognized by the Israeli Yad Vashem Institute – The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, as “Righteous Among the Nations.” About 17,000 people of 34 nationalities were similarly honored. In Western Europe the automatic death sentence for help rendered to Jews did not exist, and applying it to a whole family or neighbors was unthinkable. The reign of terror that was organized in Poland was completely unique, and unimaginable in the West.

Those who were executed are not usually recognized as “Righteous”. They were generally murdered with the Jews they harbored, so there were no Jewish witnesses, while the Polish witnesses were not taken into consideration. Only in very rare cases (25 that were known in 1999), when a Jew managed to escape death and lived long enough to make the proper deposition in an Israeli consulate or at Yad Vashem (the State Tribunal of Israel) in Jerusalem, could the rescuers be recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations.”

Saving Jews was very difficult, as about 85% of Poland’s Jews either did not speak Polish or spoke a dialect. In many cases, Jews were easily distinguished by their appearance.

Poland, under the Soviet-imposed communist regime that lasted from 1948 until 1989, was cut from the West. Poles lost contact with the Jewish persons they saved, most of whom left the country. Many Polish Jews changed their names, either under the occupation or after settling abroad. Furthermore, it was dangerous to maintain correspondence with the West. Many of the rescuers also changed their addresses, due to the massive migration from the eastern part of the country, incorporated into the Soviet Union, to the western territories that were taken from Germany after the war.

The stories of the rescuers are a shining example of the most selfless sacrifice, surpassing in its heroism that of all the soldiers on the battlefield, whom we commemorate each November. In fact the soldier must fight; he cannot refuse. He is supported by the entire military organization and his efforts are mostly limited to battles that have a clear beginning and an end. He is paid and given the food, supplies and weapons that he needs.

Rescuers of Jews in Poland – on the other hand – were completely alone, often deprived of their pre-war means of livelihood, expelled from their farms, factories, businesses, offices and even homes, most of them living in dire poverty. For ome of them it was virtually impossible to earn a living. They were under no legal obligation to risk their own lives and, even more, the lives of their families and neighbors. Their help most often lasted days and nights, weeks, months, even years, always in secret, and always in the risk of discovery.

And what about the Polish woman, 95-year-old Irena Sendlerowa, who is credited with saving the lives of 2,500 Jews? Sendlerowa led about 20 helpers who smuggled Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto to safety between 1940 and 1943, placing them in Polish families, convents or orphanages.

She wrote the children's names on slips of paper and buried them in jars in a neighbor's yard as a record that could help locate their parents after the war. The Nazis arrested her in 1943, but she refused - despite repeated torture - to reveal their names.

Anyone caught helping Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland risked being instantaneously shot, along with family members.

Even now, more than half a century after the end of the war, questions are still being asked: What was the Polish nation's response to the unfolding Jewish Tragedy? Did the Poles try to help the Jews? How much help could have been actually offered in view of the rigours imposed by German Occupation? Such questions call for a well-considered response based on historical facts.

Poland was the only country in occupied Europe where - throughout the duration of the war - a secret organization existed whose express purpose was to help the Jews and find, at least for some of them, a place of safety. Initially coordinated by several committees, in December 1942 this action culminated in the creation of the Relief Council for Jews in Poland, code name 'Zegota'.

'Zegota' (1) organized financial aid and medical care for the Jews hiding on the 'Aryan side', and procured for them forged identity documents. 'Zegota' was successful in providing accommodation for many. This presented an extremely difficult problem as discovery of a person of Jewish origin on the premises resulted in an immediate execution of all the occupants.

E. Ringelblum (2) describes hundreds of such cases.

Some 2500 Jewish children from Warsaw were saved by 'Zegota' by placing them either with catholic Polish foster-families or in orphanages run by convents or local councils. Also, help in the form of money, food and medicines were organized by 'Zegota' for the Jews in several forced-labor camps in Poland.

As soon as the Jewish Tragedy became apparent, the Polish Government-in-Exile, the Underground State and Polish diplomacy embarked on a massive campaign, informing the free world of the plight of the Jews. Efforts were made to obtain help for them from the Allied Governments, the Vatican and from various organizations in the Allied countries. There were countless broadcasts, articles in the press, organized meetings, approaches to Allied leaders and governments in which the Free Polish leaders, ministers, politicians and diplomats over and over again informed that a crime of genocide was being committed by the Germans against the Jews. (3). The full story of the Jewish Tragedy was brought to the Allied countries by special couriers from the Polish Resistance, one of them gaining access to the inside of the Warsaw Ghetto and to a death camp. The couriers tried to persuade the Allies and the Jewish organizations that there was a real danger and urgency to help the Jews. Unfortunately the efforts of the Poles were in vain. The Allies were too busy with the on-going war to consider the plight of the Jews in Poland. The Jewish organizations in the free world could not bring themselves to believe the Polish reports - they thought it was all an exaggeration.

So, where were the rich and influential Jews from New York and London? What did they do to help their folks? And so, one more time the same question appears: HOW DARE Mrs. Pilar Rahola and El Pais attack Polish people and Poland?


The military wing of the Polish Underground State, the Home Army, tried to involve the Jewish organizations in Poland in resistance activities. At first, there was much reluctance on their part to participate. However, in 1942 the Jewish resistance movement began. The Home Army helped by providing military intelligence, communication with the Allies and eventually by providing some weapons, explosives and military expertise for the fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (4).

It is worth noting here that Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Remembrance Authority, has recently expressed both thanks and appreciation to the special unit of the 'Zoska' Battalion of the Polish Home Army, which in August 1944 captured the Warsaw Concentration Camp, the so-called 'Gesiowka', liberating 348 prisoners, Polish and European Jews.

Now, what about the ordinary Polish people - were they prepared to offer help to the Jews? At the early stage of Poland's occupation the Jews were selected for special treatment by the Occupant. This meant gradual isolation, degradation, starvation and eventual denial of the right to life for all Polish Jews.

Poland was the only country in all of Nazi-occupied Europe with death penalty for sheltering Jews. Germans knew how sympathetic Poles were to Polish Jews and in that way they could get rid of them both. Entire families, sometimes whole towns were murdered for sheltering Jews. Besides, 75% of the Jewish population spoke only Yiddish, which later became a problem for those who wanted to be saved and pretend to be Poles.

The harsh reality of life for the rest of Poland's population was that everybody was preoccupied with the constant struggle for survival. To find work, to obtain enough food and other necessities of life - all these were of utmost importance to very many. Furthermore, there was the constant fear of being arrested and sent to a concentration camp, to forced labor in Germany, or to be taken as a hostage for public execution by a firing squad or hanging.

Three million Poles and three million Polish Jews perished as a result of the German occupation. Poland was the only country in occupied Europe where giving any kind of help to the Jews resulted in a collective execution of the helper and his or her family. Under such circumstances it would require a person of a special kind of courage and love of humanity to offer help to a Jew. How many saints would one find in any given community? How many such people would we find in Western Europe in the times of war? And yet there were Polish people who did help. It has always been difficult to establish the exact number of helpers, but some idea of that number can be gleaned from the Yad Vashem list of the 'Righteous among the Nations' (1). The list, as of 1st January 1997, gives the names of 14,706 persons from 34 nationalities that helped the Jews. 4,954 of them are Polish helpers. Among them are listed 11 catholic clergymen and 18 nuns. Only three organizations are honored by Yad Vashem, one being the Polish organization 'Zegota'. It is likely that - as research into the role of the Polish people in the Holocaust continues - the list of Polish names will grow.

Those listed are the helpers who survived and their heroism was verified by those whom they helped. But there were many who paid the ultimate price. In most cases those whom they were trying to help perished with them. The publication 'Those who helped' (1) lists 704 Poles who were killed because they helped the Jews. Places and dates are also given of mass executions by the Germans (the so-called pacifications of villages) of a further 143 Poles who rendered help to the Jews. To obtain and verify the names of those helpers who perished presents an even more difficult problem. Inevitably there will remain a large number of unknown heroes.

One can finally ask: Was the help given to the Jews of some significance? Stewart Steven, who in his book 'The Poles' (5), gives an extensive account of Polish-Jewish relations, offers the following conclusion: 'Maybe Poland could have done more for its Jewish population, but then so could every country of occupied Europe. The record shows that the Poles did more than most'.

So, what can we say about Poles, mostly Roman Catholic, who risked their own lives to save Jews from the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland? But it is fair to say that rescuers came from every religious background: Protestant and Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim.


What about the fact that - despite the overwhelming and deadly idea of anti-Semitism in the Third Reich - there were a large number of individuals and organizations (such as Zygota in Poland) that risked (and sometimes lost) their lives in the effort to save Jews? They saved thousands of Jewish children from the Nazi, smuggled them out of the Warsaw Getto and hid with Polish families?

What about Jan Karski, a courier for the Polish government-in-exile, who alerted British and American politicians to Nazi plans to murder the Jews? After an unsuccessful attempt in Great Britain, he went to the United States to give all the proof of the Holocaust to the US President and the US Congress.

Finally, what about the Jewish collaborators with the communist regime under Stalin in eastern part of Poland after the 1939 Russia aggression?

Where is your journalistic code of ethics and – at least – common sense? Such articles as the one by Mrs. Pilar Rahola contribute even more to the ever-present anti-Polonism in the American and European media. Besides, it is too difficult to understand when the reader is not provided with wider information and truthful publications.

The double standards are evident by calling an event, such as the one in Jedwabne, an act of anti-Semitism, while burning a synagogue in Worcester, Mass in the United States was called "an act of vandalism", and a shooting in the Jewish Children Center in California - "an act of a mad man". If such acts took place in Poland, surely they would have been called anti-Semitic. American patriotism applied to Poles changes into nationalism.

For 1000 years, Poland had been the spiritual and religious center of Jewish Diaspora and produced one of the greatest world centers of Talmudic studies. 300 papers in Hebrew were published in Warsaw alone. Jews, unlike Blacks in America, were not forced to settle in Poland; they prospered, attended colleges and universities, owned factories, etc.

As early as in 1264, King Boleslav of Poland issued a charter inviting the Jews there. The charter was an amazing document, granting Jews unprecedented rights and privileges. For example, it stated that:
"The testimony of a Christian alone may not be admitted in a matter which concerns the money or property of a Jew. In every such incidence there must be the testimony of both a Christian and a Jew. If a Christian injures a Jew in any which way, the accused shall pay a fine to the royal treasury."

"If a Christian desecrates or defiles a Jewish cemetery in any which way, it is our wish that he be punished severely as demanded by law."

"If a Christian should attack a Jew, the Christian shall be punished as required by the laws of this land. We absolutely forbid anyone to accuse the Jews in our domain of using the blood of human beings."

"We affirm that if any Jew cries out in the night as a result of violence done to him, and if his Christian neighbors fail to respond to his cries and do not bring the necessary help, they shall be fined."

"We also affirm that Jews are free to buy and sell all manner of things just as Christians, and if anyone hampers them, he shall pay a fine."

Polish King Kazimierz was favorably disposed towards Jews. On October 9, 1334, he confirmed the privileges granted to Jewish Poles in 1264 by Boleslav V. Under penalty of death, he prohibited the kidnapping of Jewish children for the purpose of enforced Christian baptism. He inflicted heavy punishment for the desecration of Jewish cemeteries. And although Jews had lived in Poland since before the reign of King Kazimierz, he allowed them to settle in Poland in great numbers and protected them as people of the king.

Another Polish king, Sigmund II Augustus, issued another invitation. Here is an excerpt from his edict, granting the Jews permission to open a yeshiva at Lublin, dated August 23, 1567:
"As a result of the efforts of our advisors and in keeping with the request of the Jews of Lublin we do hereby grant permission to erect a yeshiva and to outfit said yeshiva with all that is required to advance learning. All the learned men and rabbis of Lublin shall come together for among their number they shall choose one to serve as the head of the yeshiva. Let their choice be a man who will magnify Torah and bring it glory."


GOLDEN AGE OF POLISH JEWRY

In Poland, the Jews were allowed to have their own governing body called the Va'ad Arba Artzot, which was composed of various rabbis who oversaw the affairs of the Jews in Eastern Europe. The Poles did not interfere with Jewish life and Jewish scholarship flourished.

Some important personalities of this period, which every student of Jewish history should remember, were:

Rabbi Moshe Isserles (1525-1572), from Krakow, also known as the Rema. After the Sephardi rabbi Joseph Karo wrote the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish Law, Rabbi Isserles annotated it to fill in the rabbinic decisions from Eastern Europe. His commentary was, and continues to be, critically important in everyday Jewish life.

Rabbi Ya'akov Pollack (1455-1530), from Krakow. He opened the first yeshivah in Poland and was later named the chief rabbi of Poland. He developed a method of learning Talmud called pilpul, meaning "fine distinctions." This was a type of dialectical reasoning that became very popular, whereby contradictory facts or ideas were systematically weighed with a view to the resolution of their real or apparent contradictions.

Rabbi Yehudah Loewe, (1526-1609), not from Poland but important to Eastern European Jewry. He was known as the Maharal of Prague and was one of the great mystical scholars of his time. He has been credited with having created the golem, a Frankenstein figure, a living being without a soul.

Along with the growth in Torah scholarship came population growth. In 1500 there were about 50,000 Jews living in Poland. By 1650 there were 500,000 Jews. This means that by the mid 17th century about majority of the Jewish population of the world was living in Poland!

Where did these Jews settle within Poland?

Jews were generally urban people as they were historically not allowed to own land in most of the places they lived. However, they also created their own farm communities called shtetls. Although we tend to think of the shtetl today as a poor farming village (like in Fiddler on the Roof), during the Golden Age of Polish Jewry many of these communities were actually quite prosperous. And there were thousands of them.
The Jews in these independent communities spoke their own language called Yiddish. Original Yiddish was written in Hebrew letters and was a mixture of Hebrew, Slavic, and German. (Note that Yiddish underwent constant development and "modern" Yiddish is not like the "old" Yiddish which first appeared in the 13th century, nor "middle" Yiddish of this period of time.) Overall, the Jews did well, working alongside Polish and Ukrainian Christians

How many African Americans till the 20th century were able to do so?

Jews came to Poland on their own will, to the country of great opportunity. They found shelter from the hostilities of Western Europe, stayed in and prospered, had representatives in the Polish parliament, and had the freedom of expressing their religion and customs. In some towns of Eastern Poland, Jews accounted for more than 50% of the occupants. They were respected citizens. So, how could this be possible if the country was anti-Semitic, as it is widely presented in the book by Jan Tomasz Gross?

Polish Jews enjoyed equal rights and full protection of the law under the Polish government. The laws changed under the rule of Prussia, Russia, and Austria. But we need to keep in mind that it also affected Poles as well. Their situation improved again after WWI when the Polish government was reestablished.

Why, between the wars, was the Jewish population growing 6 times faster than the Christian population, if the alleged anti-Semitism took place?

The only prejudice that you can accuse Polish people of is to be anti-Communist. Marek Edelman, the last leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, who still lives in Poland, said: "It is not a Jew who is the enemy; it is an enemy who is Jewish." I'm sorry to destroy the beautiful image of the peaceful and innocent Jewish people but at the time of the massacre it was well known that there were "informers," "observers," "advisors," or in plain English "Soviet collaborators" among Jews then and through the war and after.

Those did not see the wrong they were doing; the comfort came from accepting a different way of thinking. They considered themselves Poles or Polish Jews before the war, now comfortably became only Jews, so there were no ties of loyalty to Poland or to the Polish people. Collaborators gave away Poles and Jews as well (Jakub Berman as an example).

But this would be too difficult to understand for us who - for decades - were fed on anti-Polish propaganda. The same propaganda that the Nazis and later the Soviets used and which is now being repeated with a nauseating consistency by the American press.

It is the backwardness of American Jews to prefer that stereotype. I was hoping that with the raising of the Iron Curtain, the flow of information about Poland would be available to the average American reader and TV viewer. Unfortunately, that did not happen. We rather prefer to publish such articles as the one in El Pais. Also, hiding Polish accomplishments from the public only adds to the image of the Poles as some primitive tribe. The fact that Poland's economy is one of fastest growing in Europe is a thorn in the eye for some. The anti-Polish sentiment spreads to minimize their success. We already forgot who first faced the Soviet power and fought Communism. And last, but not least, the public does not know that presently Poland and Israel have a very good relationship.

We must not forget that Poland was not only a victim during WWII but only recently freed herself from under Soviet occupation. We should remember that Communism in Poland was FORCED upon its people, that Soviets placed Jews on high positions, which triggered atrocities. There is no perfect nation in the world – there are always honorable citizens and there is scum in all of them. But it seems that we only find the bad in Poles and all the good in Jews. For a well-balanced story, the authors should mention what Soviet Jews did to Poles (Koniuchy massacre) and the fact that – out of 34 countries altogether – the Poles are those who have the biggest number of trees at Yad Vashem.

I guess American Jews don't rush to reveal some other information to the American public like: what were the Judenrat and the Jewish Police doing in the ghettos? Who took over the houses of Polish officers and their families in the east of pre-war Poland when they were taken to Siberia?

Do we inform that Poland's government was the only one in Nazi-occupied Europe to sponsor the organization to help Jews escaping the ghettos?

What did American Jews do to help their dying brothers?

In the American consciousness the Holocaust has become synonymous with Jewish history. Historical literature of the Holocaust has focused on the six million Jewish victims with the exclusion of the sixteen to twenty million Gentile (non-Jewish) victims.

We allow speculation on almost every aspect of Polish-Jewish relationship, never asking: "Why don't we speculate how many Jews would save Poles if the roles were reversed?"

For me, to have a different opinion is to risk being called an anti-Semite. An intelligent but objective Jewish person is called a "self-hating Jew". A "bystander" is someone who chose not to give his and his family's life for a strange, Jewish person.

Good things are happening in Poland .We don't rush to tell about the annual Jewish Festival in Krakow or about the opening of yet another Jewish school in Warsaw. Or even about the commemorating of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. We don't rush to tell about "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish at the Jewish Theatre in Warsaw. Instead, we publish misleading stories about a music concert in Auschwitz (!?) and killings in Jedwabne. Why is that? American historians should stop wasting their ink only writing about alleged Polish anti-Semitism. Any atrocities toward Jews either occurred during Nazi or Soviet occupation or were triggered by revenge and greed, not to be mistaken with anti-Semitism. Also, to suggest that all Polish Jews are long gone is wrong, many prospered and became famous: actors (Holoubek, Zapasiewicz, Himilsbach, Rudzki), movie critics (Waldorf), writers (Tuwim), philosophers and editors (Michnik), politicians (Mazowiecki, Suchocka), musicians (Szpilman, Zimmerman), heart surgeons (Marek Edelman), athletes (Kirszenstein a.k.a. Szewinska), singers (Szmeterling a.k.a. Jantar). Some Polish Jews just recently became interested in their religion; Jewish schools are reopening, while the synagogues, museums, and Jewish cultural institutes have always been present in Poland's cultural life. Positive Jewish characters are in every Polish classic; there are streets named after Jewish heroes; monuments accommodate their heroism and their tragedy. All this does not seem like an anti-Semitic country, does it? But it will stay in the American media, as long as we allow it to.

Poland is still poor country and Poland will not pay any compensation to radical Israelis mostly living in US and who had nothing to do with victims of the Holocaust in Poland during the Second World War by German Army. Most of them coming now to Poland did live in comfort in the US during the war and did not help the Jews in Poland or Poland in negotiations with Roosevelt and Churchill to put pressure during the war.
How you dare to get more money from Poland after they got over $100 billion from Germany and $10 Billion from Switzerland.

El Pais publisher’s profits surge. Media group Prisa, owner of the daily El Pais, announced that its net profit soared by 50% in 2006

Unfortunately, when a country is attacked, in Poland's case, by two great powers, chaos occurs.

Some are even lining up to collect money.

The difference between Holocaust victims in the US and Poland is that in Poland, Jews and Christians believe that there is no price on human despair, I guess American Jews found the price tag and the Holocaust became a good business.

Poles never asked to recompense their losses and they did not receive any help from the Marshal Plan either.

Poland lost almost 20% of its population; 6 million Poles were killed
Alex Lech Bajan

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