the jewish community of warsaw

 The Jewish community of Warsaw is in a very difficult situation. From one side it suffered in the Holocaust, there were many concentration camps in Poland. In 1939 31% of the population of Warsaw was Jewish. During the war most of them died, and some decided not to be Jewish anymore. The people who had most chances to survive the Holocaust were not orthodox Jews, who spoke polish and were well-educated. Some polish Jews are still afraid of anti-Semitism and are hiding and some of them don’t even know that they’re Jewish.

 From the other side Poland is not the best country for Jews. It is often said that it’s the most anti-Semitic European country, (in a survey from 2010 27% of Poles declared anthypathy towards Jews). The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich (who was attacked in 2006 by a neo-Nazi) said that it is a “false and painful stereotype that all Poles are antisemitic. (…) Today there is antisemitism in Poland, as unfortunately the rest of Europe; it is more or less at the same level as the rest of Europe. More important is that you have a growing number of Poles who oppose antisemitism”.

 There are nine communities in the the Jewish Communities Union of Poland, the Jewish Community of Warsaw is the biggest one. It associates over 500 members, which don’t have to be orthodox Jews – having one Jewish grandparent is enough to be part of the community. It was reactivated in 1997. It offers various cultural events and classes for it’s members and for other people. Most of Warsaw’s synagogues were destroyed during the war, now all the important events take place in the Nożyk Synagogue on Twarda street. Next to the synagogue there are buildings belonging to the community with a kosher shop and restaurant and a Jewish theatre (which is not a very good theatre…).

 We also have a Lauder school and kindergarden and a very beautiful cementary. The reformed jewish community is much smaller, the Beit Warszawa synagogue has approximately 300 “friends”. They have Shabbats each week, but it’s less impressive than the orthodox community. Both communities have rabbis form America.

 The best Polish Jewish Youth Movement is ZOOM (Żydowska Ogólnopolska Organizacja Młodzieżowa). Here are some informations from our website:

Polish Jewish Youth Organization associates young Jews living in Poland. We are open to people coming from different backgrounds, and everyone will be welcomed regardless of their views of history or their walk of life. We aspire to involve all of the Jewish youth into the life of the community. We would like to create truly inclusive framework of Jewish life; one that would bring together all of the people, who are willing to participate. We put our vision into practice by organizing summer and winter camps and other seminars. We celebrate holidays together; we participate in all the important events of communal life. We do not separate ourselves from the outside world – we offer open lectures and promote artistic and cultural activities of our members, which are often directed to the broad, non – Jewish audience. Everything that unites Jewish community is important to us – we are up to date with the life of the diaspora and the State of Israel, we follow the discussions in religious life and in the interpretation of the Jewish history. We also take part in public events, festivals and city-wide
activities. We promote individual projects of our members. Throughout our activities, we build a community that is able to respond to the challenges of external world as well as to the needs and needs of our members.

 It’s entirely true! I hope that one day ZOOM will get even bigger and more important and we’ll have a more important role in the Jewish life of Warsaw. I think the community needs more young blood and we’re on the best way to make it happen.