70 Years after Auschwitz’s Liberation: 45% of Polish Hold Anti-Semitic Sentiment

According to a new poll from the Warsaw University Center for Research on Prejudice, “More than half of Polish youth visit anti-Semitic websites that glorify Hitler and the Nazi era” The poll has struck a chord in Parliament, leading to renewed debates about “laws governing hate speech” and “Poland’s dwindling Jewish population.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s study puts Polish anti-Semitism around 45%. On the other hand, Professor Dariusz Stola, director of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, has stated that roughly 25 percent of Poles are anti-Semitic.

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No matter which is a more accurate representation, the numbers are still sobering.

Yet in 2014 Poland has made an active effort to heal its relationship (and history) with the Jewish community. The most large-scale interactive effort can be seen in the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

Polin’s opening ceremony was heralded as an opportunity to stimulate Polish-Jewish relations. For this reason, it was attended by both the Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, and newly inaugurated Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Both presidents made statement saying that museum offered hope for the future.

The museum stands on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto. It was “built as a public-private institution, with the Polish government and the city of Warsaw providing $60 million for construction of the building and more than 500 private and institutional donors, many of them Jewish, contributing $48 million for the core exhibition itself.”

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Exhibits center around coexistence, thought the current centerpiece is a replica of the wooden bimah and ceiling of the 18th-century Gwozdziec synagogue.

The museum has garnered rave reviews and stands out as the most positive Jewish tourist attraction in the country.

For Poland’s population of around 15,000 to 20,000 Jews, this is a boon. But the most important aspect of the museum is that it provides an educational experience for Poland’s youth, an opportunity to counter the anti-Semitism they absorb from the web.

The 70th Anniversary of Auschwitz’s Liberation: Facing the Future

January 27, 2015 will mark the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. As the day approaches, I am given to reflection. As a Jewish individual, I feel it dutiful to attempt some understanding of the current climate we exist in, and what lessons we as a people have taken from the Holocaust.

The 70^th anniversary feels particularly significant. It falls immediately after a year of baseless and cyclical anti-Semitism. 2014 was the year we saw anti-Semitism rise drastically worldwide. It was the year of the Brussels Jewish Museum murders. It was the year that synagogues were firebombed and Jewish stores torched. It was the year that thousands of people marched the streets of Europe chanting “Death to Jews! Jews to the gas!” It was the year that Jews were attacked in the streets and even their homes…with little to no retribution.

In 2014 the director of the BBC stated, without any prompting, “I’ve never felt so uncomfortable being a Jew in the UK as I’ve felt in the last 12 months…Having lived all my life in the UK, I’ve never felt as I do now about anti-Semitism in Europe.”

I take this claim for what it is—astonishing. The BBC has often been subject to blame for stoking anti-Semitic sentiment in the UK, predominantly due to unbalanced reporting. So when the BBC Director, himself a Jew, makes such a statement….we can’t take it lightly.

70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz and we find ourselves on precarious ground once again. We face serious adversity. Looking back at the past year I find internal issues that need remedying. Where were mainstream Jewish organizations when Jews were attacked in the streets? When synagogues were desecrated? What are their future plans to combat the kind of anti-Semitism we saw in 2014?

Let’s end on what will hopefully be a positive note—our future generations. I see so much potential in Jewish youth. Groups like Young Judaea or B.B.Y.O. that are entirely devoted to nurturing Jewish identity, activism, and leadership. These organizations demonstrate that Jewish youth involvement means everything to our future.

I know that when January 27^th comes around I will commemorate the day with a heavy heart– but I will face the future with undiminished hope.