Rebirth of Judaism in Poland
Seventy years after the Holocaust, who could
have imagined a rebirth of Jewish life in Poland? Certainly not my mother, Nika Kohn Fleissig,
who survived the Second World War as a young woman in Poland and Germany, and
began a new life in America in 1946. I
returned to Krakow and Warsaw in June together with my mother, not as tourists,
but to make presentations based on our book “From Miracle to Miracle: A Story
of Survival” which had just been published in Polish.
We spoke in Krakow, my mother’s hometown, at the
developing Center for Dialogue to Catholic Polish graduate students in Judaic
studies, at the Galicia Museum in Krakow to high school students, at the
bustling Jewish Community Center to adults and seniors, and then in Warsaw, at
the Progressive Jewish congregation, akin to Reform Judaism in America, before
their Friday evening Shabbat service. My
mother spoke in elegant Polish, adjusting her words and message to each
audience. I spoke in English, stopping
after each group of sentences for translation into Polish by young
volunteers. I began each presentation
showing slides of my mother’s large family before World War II, decimated
during the Holocaust, and gave some historical information about the Nazi
occupation of Poland, the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and liberation in 1945, as
the backdrop for her miraculous survival.
I also showed photos of our synagogue and congregational celebrations in
Sedona, ending with a photo of my mother as the proud matriarch of a new family
including her children, their spouses, and five grandchildren ranging from 7 to
37!
At our talks in Krakow venues, we were delighted
to have present the children of the beloved Polish Catholic piano teacher of my
mother who helped hide her at the early critical moments of the war when her
parents and brother were taken away, and made it possible for her to
survive. We spoke about how their mother,
Zosia Pozniak, had been honored through
my mother’s sponsorship with a medal as a Righteous Gentile, and had attended a
ceremony in 1979 when a tree was planted in her honor at Yad Vashem, the
Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, Israel. Her granddaughter told us that she had
visited Israel and was very moved to locate that tree and see a plaque at its
base with her grandmother’s name inscribed on it.
We had such positive reactions. People who weren’t Jewish cried
and were moved because of Nika’s story. Somehow it triggered memories of war losses
from their own families. There were always hugs at the end of our
presentations.
We had really no idea that there is re-emerging Jewish life in
Poland. From a population of about 3 million before the War, there are maybe a
couple thousand now. Under Communism
from the 1950’s through the 1980’s, religion of all kinds was suppressed, and
only in the past twenty years has democracy begun to flourish, and with it, a
renewed interest in Jewish themes, music, food, and contributions to Polish
life over the past thousand years.
Tourism to Jewish sites has become a big business. I was shocked to see tour trolleys with large
signs advertising “Tours to the Jewish Quarter, Ghetto, Auschwitz,” sites that represented horror and death. The tours also visit Schindler’s Factory, where
over a thousand Jews were saved by being on “Schindler’s List,” including many
of my mother’s schoolmates from her unique school in Krakow, where the students
learned Hebrew as a modern language in the ‘20’s and ‘30’s along with their
required Polish subjects.
We met graduate students, Catholic Poles,
interested in Jewish culture. There are concerts of Jewish klezmer music, plays
in Yiddish, restaurants with Jewish menus, kosher-style… all prepared by
non-Jews! We were introduced to several people who were in the process of converting to Judaism. Apparently there are
many adults who had found out in their twenties, in post-Communist Poland, that
they were part Jewish and were now learning about their Jewish heritage. My mother, who clearly remembers the
anti-semitic jokes and slurs, and the dangers of being a Jewish minority in
Poland, was amazed by this new positive attitude toward Judaism, and openness
to inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue.
She described how one always
had to be careful as a Jew... not belonging really although Jews had lived for
centuries in Poland and felt very Polish..but were treated as a tolerated, but
discriminated against minority. Certain professions and opportunities were
closed. Then during the War there was constant danger of death if one was found
out to be a Jew. The idea that now there
are people who want to convert is amazing to her. She heard how they are
attracted to the sense of community, of study and questioning, or being rooted
in an ancient tradition. There is still
anti-semitism… It has not disappeared, but there is also a young generation
searching for a more human understanding of people and refusing the old
patterns of stereotyping and discrimination.
As we walked through the cobblestone streets of
parts of old Krakow, I came upon views that I had seen in my mother’s paintings
when I was a child. I excitedly pointed
out the perspective of a narrow street with houses in perspective leading to
the Brama Florienska, the medieval Florian Gate, and exclaimed, “Isn’t that the
view in one of your earliest paintings that I remember from our house in White
Plains, NY?” My mother was thrilled that I recognized it. That moment for me was like seeing a still,
dark scene suddenly come to life with bustling people on the sidewalk. Throughout this trip I felt like I was
bouncing back and forth between the 1930’s, 40’s and today’s reality. I stepped into the painting of the past and
brought our life story into the present.
In Warsaw, my mother said it felt so unreal. In 1944, after the
Warsaw Uprising, before she was taken to Prisoner of War camp with 2000 women –
a whole other story - she had left a
totally bombed out city, all rubble, and now we came to a totally rebuilt
modern city. Past and present continued to merge.
For my mother this was a very healing and
satisfying trip. Young and old
approached her and thanked her for her inspiring message of developing one’s skills
and talents and using them for good. She has no room for hate or blame, but
rather looks for human connections with people of all backgrounds. She asked young people, “What is your
passion?” and challenged them to treasure their unique gifts and not waste the
precious gift of life. Every day for my
mother is another adventure, another miracle.
I will give a more in-depth presentation about
our odyssey for the Sedona community on Sunday, July 28 at 4 pm at the Jewish
Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, 100 Meadowlark Drive, Sedona, AZ.
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