6/VIEWPOINTS
VOLUME XX, NUMBER 3, 1992
POLAND AND THE JEWS -Ckmtiiiued from page 5
Reading Krajewski I have come to realize that, rightly or wrongly, many Poles see themselves in the ' same way as many Jews: chosen by God, perhaps for a higher purpose, the price of which is frequent, if not constant, suffering. With such similar perccpdons,-it becomes difficult for the one to acknowledge the claims of the other. Although there have been many Poles, some in responsible positions, including the Polish Cardinal Glemp, who have tended to dismiss every charge of Polish anti-Semitism as a manifestation of the anti-Polonialism of those who make the charge, thoughtful and influential Polish intellectuals have made serious public and publicized attempts to pay full attention to Jewish legitimate claims, without in any way compromising with their own self-understanding as Poles.
It is, therefore, according to Krajewski, too superficial and facile to describe all Poles as anti-Semites. Despite his own documentation of Polish anti-Semitism, he urges us to recognize that anti-Semitism divides, rather than unites, Poles. Therefore, he, together with another Polish-Jewish intellectual, vehemently and publicly opposed Prime Minister Shamir's statement that the Poles get their anti-Semitism with their mother's milk, as he has repudiated the offensive pronouncements by Glemp and others. Stereotypes are bad, whether they come from Jews or Poles, Krajewski insists, and we have every reason to agree with him.
The Auschwitz Convent Controversy
The recent Auschwitz convent controversy has not only complicated Polish-Jewish relations^ but it has also frustrated progress in the relationship between the Jewish people and the Catholic Church. The fiact that the Pope is Polish is, of course, highly relevant. The fact that his pronouncement includes statements to the effect that the Jews have brought disaster on themselves by rejecting the Christian message is painful to Jews and embarrassing to many Catholics. The fact that he quotes the Hebrew Prophets as his "evidence" makes his theology offensive. But I have to save that aspect for another lecture.
WhatlbDoNcKt
I am sure that most of those present here tonight have a different perception of Polish history than the one presented by the Polish Catholic Bishops, the Polish historian I quoted earlier, and even the Jewish intellectual Stanislaw Krajewski. But T am not at all sure that debating that particular issue is going to take us much further. Instead, I would like to ask the more Jewish, and pragmatic, question. What are we to do next? It is quite obvious that we neither can nor want to eradicate the memory of Poland from Jewish consciousness. It is equally clear that we cannot let "bygones be bygones" and smrt afresh. Therefore, we have to ask, what other options are available to us?
To start with, let us learn about the past. Our origihal reason for establishing the Polish-Jewish Heritage Foundadon was to remind our fellow Jews that there is more to Polish-Jewish history than martyrology. Since a large proportion of the world's Ashkenazi Jews have origins in Poland, it is important for them to know that their ancestors were not only "wandering Arameans" but also women and men of culture and learning. They contributed much, not only to the shape of Poland but to Judaism, and that has to be documented and acknowledged.
We also need to show that Jews were not always persecuted in Poland but often lived in considerable safety and much greater comfort than the vast majority of the country's largely peasant population. Although Jews chose to live in their own self-contaiiled society as much as they were driven to it, some played an important part in all aspects of Polish life, and many more would have done so, had the opportunities been given to them by the authorities.
Next, we must learn to distinguish between the lethal mixture of nationalism, religion and anti-Semitism that poisons Polish life to this very day, and the progressive forces that do exist there now, and have existed in the past. By condemning all Poles we '^are unjustly denigrating the memory of those, be they many or few, who did risk their lives in the Holocaust,
and unjustly punishing those who today withstand popular pressures by speaking out with courage in defense of Jews and Judaism. Precisely because it is our duty to repudiate anti-Semitism, we are morally bound to strengthen the forces of progress and justice in Poland^^Then we refuse to do sc^, we are in danger of playing into the hands of the anti-Semites we despise. If we are to claim the right to be understood as Jews, as we must, we are also duty-bound to seek to understand others, even if we, in the end, come to disagree with them.
Recent lyminski Story Must Be Carefully Assessed
Let us take an example from the Canadian scene. We have every reason to be outraged by the comments of Tyminski, the Canadian Pole who did not succeed in becoming the dictator of Poland, over his blatantly anti-Semitic remarks, as we should be gratified at the reaction by Stanislaw Orlowski, a past president of the Canadian Polish Congress who, rightly, described
"GLEN'S t)REAM" BYGHrTTACAISERMAN-ROTH GALERJESHQIA ROTH, TORONTO
Tyminski's charges as preposterous. We must be careful not to punish the Orlowskis of this world for the sins of the lyininskis by making general statements about the behaviour of all Poles — but neither must be overlook the depravity of the lyminskis because of the Orlowskis.
Unfortunately, most Jews don't like to hear what I have just said. I do not blame anybody, for I am as much aware as the next person of the deep wounds which the remnant of Polish Jewry carries and which it is bound to bequeath to future generations. I do not blame, but I ask everyone to be a little more discerning, if for no other reason than that such discernment helps the healing process. For hatred always causes more pain to the one who hates than to the one who is hated; it also breeds more hatred,and thus more pain.
I regard my own efforts to understand the complex relationship between Poles and Jews as a therapeutic process, as a way of working through my own conscious and uncounscious traumas. 1 haVe no desire to live in Poland, or even visit the country for reasons of recreation; you heard what I said to the . Polish philosopher. But I believe that it may be necessary to do so for reasons of health; you heard what I had to say about taking my family there three years ago.
Three More Reasons For Visiting Poland
Should I go to Poland again, it would be for one of the following three reasons.
Firstiy, to help preserve the past. Poland still has a number of Jewish cemeteries. I believe that we owe it to ourselves to keep them. It is characteristic that many young Polish Jews be^n to rediscover their origins by recording the names of Jewish tombstones and seeking to preserve them for posterity. The sites of ghettos and camps are also our cemeteries. We are, therefore, obliged to make sure that they are preserved in ways that reflect the truth and honour the martyrs by not allowing the Jewish dimension to be minimized, as is still often the case.
My second reason for going to Poland would be to reach Out in friendship and co-operation to those Poles who genuinely seek to come to terms with the past and go beyond it. If you follow, even in a limited way, as I have tried to do of late, what is being said and writtenjn Poland today, you caimot fiail to notice the :^ many genuine efforts in intellectual and artistic circles to integrate the Jewish dimensions into contemporary
Polish consciousness. It may not be enough, but it is better than nothing; it may be too late, but it is better than never.
A third reason for going to Poland would be because there are still Jews there, including some close relatives of ours. Yes, ihey-started off life by believing that communism would bring salvation and that they were instruments. Yes, in the process, they repudiated their own Jewishness. But history has proven them wrong, and they know it. As Jews we must not deny repentance to anybody. Therefore, it is our duty to support and strengthen the dwindling community, as it is our duty to support and strengthen every Jewish conmiunity, irrespective of numbers. They need to be in close touch with us, and we must not deny it to them.
To paraphrase an old Jewish saying, you may take a Jew out of Poland but you cannot take Poland out of a Jew. Poland may be on the verge of being a;///boM/ Jews, but the question of Poland and the Jews will remain on our agenda for a long time.
Postscript: A flrue Story
1 should have concluded my lecture here, but I have a need to tell you a true story. Six years ago while on visit to Gothenburg in Sweden, where I grew up after 1 left Poland in 1948, I met a member of the Jewish community there by the name of Altman. He told me that his brother in another Swedish town had just visited Poland where he had found the grave of their parents in the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw and had had it restored.
On his last day in the country he went back to the cemetery to say kaddish2X the new gravestone. While he was saying the prayer, a gust of wind swept away \uskippa. He searched for it in the thicket — anybody who has seen the cemetery in Warsaw knows its terrible condition — but to no avail. That distressed him greatly, for the came from his daughter's recent wedding and it was suitably inscribed; he greatly treasured the memento, As a last resort he asked the caretaker at the cemetery to look out for it, and, should he find it, send it to Sweden irrespective of the condition of the skullcap. He left his address and a dollar reward in anticipation.
Some time afterwards, a visitor at the cemetery enquired why one of the stones was so new. The caretaker told him that it had been recentiy erected and, as a matter of fact, he had the name and address of the man who had it done.
Yes, you have guessed it. The new visitor was a long lost brother. Unlike the two who now lived in Sweden, this one went to Russia, joined the army of General Anders and, together with many of his comrades, ended up in Great Britain where he was now a London cab driven He had made enquiries after the War through the Red Cross but to no avail. Similarly, the brothers had enquired and, in the end, concluded that he had perished in some Soviet camp. Now, the grave of their parents brought them together again.'
I propose to draw no conclusion other than to suggest that there is healing in remembering.
"ARGUS" BY ETHEL ROSENRELD GAU£RY SHEILA ROTH, TORONTO