Nurturing a Jewish revival in Poland

An interview with Shana Penn

Still, it seemed that Polish Jews who began developing cultural or communal interests after 1989 were vulnerable to antisemitism and intolerance – especially during the 1990s. In the 1990s, international Jewish organisations, such as the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, helped this country’s relatively small Jewish population cope with a re-emergence of antisemitism, to reknit interreligious relationships in a revived interfaith environment and to build dialogue diplomatically with the relevant ministries. Remember how President Lech Wałęsa fuelled an international furore prior to and during the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Soviet Red Army’s liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1995? Elie Wiesel threatened to boycott the official ceremony if Wałęsa continued to obscure the fact that the Jews, not the Poles, were the primary victims of suffering and death in the Nazi death camp. The distortions were responsibly addressed in the Polish mainstream media, taking advantage of the diplomatic blunder to execute what became a public education campaign in truth-telling about Holocaust history. This subsequently spawned a decade of widespread public education in democratic values, such as tolerance and pluralism, and in redressing the historical distortions inherited from the communist era, in particular the Holocaust in Poland. The controversies over the uses of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp site, whether for the Carmelites convent or the placing of large crosses, triggered heated debates and protests. And of course, the most transformative two-year national controversy and public debate followed the publication of Jan T. Gross’s Neighbours in Poland in 2000. By this time, effective public education had transpired so citizens felt safe and amazed that one of the most painful chapters in modern Polish history could engender the most sophisticated public discourse to date on Poland’s Holocaust past and Polish-Jewish relations.

In addition to reckoning with Holocaust history, there were reactions during the 30th and 40th anniversary commemorations of March 1968. The Polish-born Jews who had emigrated and lost their citizenship in the wake of the 1968 antisemitic campaign and student demonstrations tried, with great difficulty, to reapply for citizenship but were met with bureaucratic red tape and popular resistance to the possibility that Polish Jews would repopulate the country. Slowly, as many grew secure with their identities and lives as Jews, external interventions were not exclusively needed, though always welcome and useful. Jews became increasingly self-reliant in defending their rights and interests during the time of the Jedwabne debate and onward.

But the controversies have continued, even recently, with the law on the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Poland…

Jewish community organisations and Jewish cultural critics were outspoken in denouncing the IPN legislation introduced last year. It was not possible to know where the crisis would lead and it frightened many people with whom I spoke, especially young people who had never witnessed such an onslaught of antisemitic expression in Polish society. The crisis over the law was followed by commemorative events on the 50th anniversary of March 1968, which were also met with heightened antisemitism. The fallout continues, but one important development occurred this past year. International Jewish groups stepped in to advocate for Polish democracy as much as, if not more than, for Polish Jews, as Polish Jews have shown themselves strong enough to voice their own concerns. As a result, today we see multiple generations of Jews, with diverse interests, contributing to Polish society. Jewish cultural live is alive and well created by Poles both Jewish and non-Jewish. However, all face with disturbing realities, which at least are not forcing Jewish Poles into isolation but instead into continuous collective action with other like-minded citizens.

Is Poland a unique example or would you say similar developments are taking place in other post-communist countries?

Poland is one of many countries that has been undergoing a Jewish revitalisation since the demise of the Soviet Bloc. Others include a reunified Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine. Two factors distinguish Poland from other countries’ experiences: the first is that prior to the Second World War, Poland was the epicentre of world Jewry for hundreds of years. It was in Poland that religious learning flourished and major developments in secular Jewish culture took root. Home to 3.3 million Jews prior to the war, Poland had the largest Jewish community in Europe. Hence, today Poland’s material and cultural legacies are unique, fragile and demand preservation and education. The second factor is that today, Poland’s contemporary Jewish population is very small and yet, the modest size of the population does not deter from the dynamism of its cultural and communal innovations. Today, Poland’s Jewish culture debunks the notion that quantity is better than quality, or that quantity leads to quality. I’m part of an international network of Jewish philanthropies which support Jewish life across Europe (east and west, north and south), and all seem to agree that some of the most exciting programmes, trends, ideas and leadership come from Poland. I wholeheartedly agree.

Why is this so?

In part, and of course I would perceive this, it is because Poland has an active civic life that fosters long-term creative partnerships between its citizens who are not Jewish. Many of those relationships were forged in the 1980s as part of the grassroots social movement Solidarity. Poland was the only country under state socialism that mobilised a mass-based opposition movement and that collective experience, which helped nurture a Jewish revival in Poland, contributes to some of the unique qualities in Polish Jewish life today.

What are some examples of this innovation?

Some of the strongest academic Jewish studies and Holocaust studies programmes are in Poland. The only Jewish museum forged from a public-private partnership looks to the future in its retelling of a thousand-year-old history; I am referring, of course, to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. And there is the Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, which is the largest such festival in Europe and possibly the world, the Galicia Jewish Museum and two Jewish community centres – the list goes on, and most are supported by both the state and private donors. 

Do you think that it is possible to balance the preservation of the massive amount of Jewish heritage with the development of today’s Jewish life in Poland?

This is a complex question that is best answered by the experts inside Poland who know the comparative costs of Jewish material heritage preservation versus the growth of Jewish life. The experts include the government, which finances major preservation and restoration projects such as the Warsaw Jewish cemetery and archives like the Jewish Historical Institute, in addition to some communal programmes. Experts also include the Chief Rabbi and the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland.

Why is it that there seems to be relatively few American Jewish organisations interested in working in Poland?

I am curious why you say there are relatively few American Jewish organisations in Poland. What is your basis of comparison? In fact, several key organisations have offices in Poland, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the American Jewish Committee and ELNET. The Ronald S. Lauder Foundation has continued its major involvement since 1990. The American Defamation League, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry are also involved. In addition, given that Poland’s Jewish population is much smaller than other European countries, such as Hungary and Ukraine, the involvement seems to be considerable.

As there are more people outside of Poland with Jewish-Polish roots than within, what is needed to rekindle their interest in the country and their heritage?

We always say “seeing is believing” and certainly visiting Poland can be a transformative experience: meeting real people, participating in Jewish cultural activities, engaging in Polish society (the arts, cuisine, the sophisticated public discourse, etc.) When the Taube Philanthropies began to develop its Jewish Heritage Initiative in Poland, we set ambitious goals – to support the redevelopment of the Jewish community and culture in Poland, to increase awareness of the centrality of the Jewish experience in Poland to contemporary Jewish life worldwide, and to recognise the millennium of Polish Jewish civilisation as a foundational element of American Jewish and Israeli cultures. Over the past 16 years, our versatile philanthropic strategy has produced remarkable and tangible results. We have disbursed more than 450 grants to more than 100 cultural and community programmes, including the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Taube Jewish Heritage Tours, the Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, the Galicia Jewish Museum, the Global Education Outreach Program (GEOP), Jewish community centres in Kraków and Warsaw, the Jewish Genealogy & Family Heritage Center (JGFHC) housed at the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, and the Institute itself , especially its Ringelblum Archives. We support Jewish studies programmes, museum exhibitions, archival preservation, genealogy, community and capacity building and heritage study tours for youth and adults. The foundation increasingly devotes its resources to strengthening both local community and global Jewish connections. The Taube Philanthropies provides opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and on-the-ground experiences of Poland; for example, we initiated the GEOP at the POLIN Museum in Warsaw. Taube Jewish Heritage Tours brings mainly American Jewish groups to Poland throughout each year, including high school and college students, Jewish community centres and organisational boards.

You have written two books on women in the Solidarity movement in Poland. Would you say that women have a comparably unique role to play in the Jewish revival here?

The present-day is a better time to be a woman than during the decades under state socialism and in the opposition. Those were rigidly patriarchal times and women were proscribed secondary roles to men and socialised not to compete with men. Today, thanks to the hard-won efforts of Polish feminists over the last 30 years, there is increased gender awareness in Polish society, even though we are also witnessing a widespread top-down assault on women and gender in recent years. Gender awareness, in the mainstream educated milieu, has certainly emboldened Jewish women to play important, multi-faceted roles in Jewish life in Poland. The feminist debates of the 1990s and early 21st century encouraged enlightened Poles, whether Jewish or not, to institute gender parity and diversity in their Jewish programmes. There is still a long way to go. Within traditional institutions, such as the Warsaw Gemeine and the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland, women have finally been nominated to lead them. Women are active in progressive Judaism as congregational leaders and there is also a woman rabbi in Kraków. Jewish women are recognised in the arts and academia. Scholars and students are developing Jewish gender studies in Poland and their work is contributing to the international field. I look forward to seeing the future impacts of their varied efforts.

It seems that a lot has been achieved in Poland when it comes to the revival of Jewish life but what challenges and opportunities do you see that lie ahead?

This is a critical time for both Jewish Poles and Poles who are not Jewish but who lead Jewish programmes to prepare younger generations to take the leadership mantle of its key communal and cultural institutions. Who will become the next Chief Rabbi of Poland when Rabbi Michael Schudrich retires? Who will replace Janusz Makuch as the director of the Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, or Marian Turski as chairman of the POLIN Museum Council? Along with a generational leadership transition in the near future there are positions currently occupied by Americans or other expats that will hopefully be filled by native Poles, whether Jewish or not. Another challenge regards the sustainability of organisations and communities. The non-profit sector, in general, faces the same challenge – namely, the constant search for resources. Is it possible that a philanthropic culture can develop in Poland to help the nation’s non-profit sector? Let’s hope so, though it remains to be seen.

Shana Penn is the executive director of the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture. In 2013 she was awarded Poland’s Commander Cross of the Order of Merit for her contribution to the development of Polish-Jewish dialogue and Polish gender studies. She is the author of Solidarity’s Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland.

Daniel Gleichgewicht is an assistant editor with New Eastern Europe.

Jewish life in Poland, Shana Penn, Taube Foundation