The unending Jewish vilification of Poles

In many conversations, I hear Jewish individuals speak of how their families were persecuted and murdered by Poles and forced to leave. I always listen carefully and ask more, not to argue, but because I care about truth. Yet I often find these memories rooted in stories from the late 19th or early 20th century, during the time of the Russian Empire, a time when Poland as a sovereign nation did not even exist.

On top of this they can never provide relevant information particularly when it applies to Polish crimes – there are no specifics.

When Poland regained independence in 1918 after 123 years of partition and foreign occupation, it was a fragile, newly reborn republic surrounded by hostile powers. In this context, tensions flared sometimes tragically between ethnic groups, especially when some Jewish political leaders, like I. Grünbaum, advocated for territorial autonomy within the new Polish state. Imagine: a nation just resurrected from the grave, already facing demands for partition from within.

Much of the alarm over “pogroms” during this period was exaggerated or politically manipulated. Henry Morgenthau Sr., an American Jew and U.S. envoy sent to investigate these claims, concluded that while excesses occurred, they were neither systematic nor reflective of the Polish nation as a whole. He famously wrote:

“Just as the Jews would resent being condemned as a race for the actions of a few, so it would be unfair to condemn the Polish nation for violence committed by uncontrolled mobs.”

He counted 280 confirmed Jewish deaths — tragic, yes, but far from the thousands claimed. And context matters: Poland was a war-torn country trying to survive, not a genocidal regime. Many Poles resented calls for Jewish national autonomy not because of hatred, but because it felt like a betrayal after generations of Polish sacrifice and suppression.

The term pogrom itself is problematic – it is Orwellian. It has no equivalent for the anti-Polish atrocities committed by other groups, including certain Jewish militias during the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland in 1939. There are many documented cases recorded by Polish survivors, others even noted by Jan Karski of Jewish collaboration with Soviet authorities, including participation in identifying Polish officers, helping round up Polish families, and cheering the arrival of Soviet tanks. This also included atrocities to women and children.

This led to mass deportations, and over 1.5 million Poles were sent to Siberia, where many perished.

We cannot deny or excuse this history. Nor should we ignore it, but we must be brave enough to see both sides: the good and the bad, the victims and the collaborators — in every group.

Some Jews excuse criminal Jews by saying, “those Jews weren’t real Jews.” But imagine if someone said the same about Polish Nazi collaborators: “They weren’t real Poles.” That would be a dangerous and unfair excuse. Accountability must be consistent.

It’s often said with pride that many Nobel laureates are Jewish — and that’s a legacy worth honoring. But when individuals of Jewish background commit crimes or atrocities, they’re often disowned or deemed ‘not real Jews.’ No other group enjoys that selective affiliation. Accountability, like pride, should be consistent.

The goal is not to demonize anyone. It is to remember that history is not black and white. The Polish nation , so often wrongly painted as complicit in Jewish suffering was itself a victim of two genocidal regimes and it produced heroes like Witold Pilecki, Jan Karski, and Irena Sendler, who risked everything to help Jews, even as their own people starved, suffered, and died.

It is time we told these stories together not in competition, but in shared remembrance. To honor the Jewish lives lost, but also the Polish ones. To stop using “antisemitism” as a blanket accusation, and instead ask the deeper question: What really happened, and why?

History deserves  complexity – Poland deserves honesty.

Published on Facebook by Edward Reid – Polish History

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Other article on interest

The Jewish Courts that Judged Jews Accused of Nazi Collaboration

https://www.brandeis.edu/jewish-experience/history-culture/2023/february/holocaust-jewish-courts.html