From early childhood I have been very passionate about history and I have read hundreds of books (literally) about many history events. I have always been particularly interested in the history of the World War II. I consider World War II to be the most significant event in the history of our modern civilisation. Recent contact with Jews in Australia has brought a mixed bag of feelings. Despite many positive experiences, I have heard several false anti-Polish statements that have roots in negative stereotypes popularised by the Western media which are not supported by historical evidence. As I personally know people who risked their lives to help Jews during World War II, these statements are deeply offensive to me, my friends and my nation and I simply won’t tolerate them. I would like to present comments expressed by Jews I have met in Australia for your consideration:
1. “Poles are Anti-Semitic”
As individual opinions typically vary, the cruel events of the World War II have greatly reduced the Jewish population in Poland (it has been reduced to around 15,000 people) therefore for most of my life I have never met a Jew and anti-semitism has never existed in my consciousness. Possibly, for the same reason I have never met anyone who has demonstrated anti-Jewish attitudes. According to Wikipedia, “Germany, France, Britain and Russia are the countries with the highest rate of anti-semitic incidents in Europe. The Netherlands and Sweden have also consistently had high rates of anti-semitic attacks since 2000”. Poland is not mentioned there. It is also an undeniable fact that Poland hosted the biggest Jewish community on the planet for many centuries, with first settlement records reaching back to the XI century. Read more about Jewish settlement in Poland through the following link:
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Poland
