Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
After the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989, Jewish cultural, social, and religious life has experienced a revival. Many historical issues related to the Holocaust and the period of Soviet domination (1945–1989) in the country – suppressed by Communist censorship – have been reevaluated and publicly discussed leading to better understanding and visible improvement in Polish–Jewish ...
There was an increase in Jewish immigration to Ireland during the late 19th century. In 1871, the Jewish population of Ireland was 258; by 1881, it had risen to 453. Most of the immigration up to this time had come from England or Germany. A group who settled in Waterford were Welsh, whose families originally came from Central Europe. [19]
In 1939, Poland's 3.3 million Jews constituted by far the largest Jewish community in Europe, with 30% of the population in Warsaw and other major cities; in some parts of eastern Poland, Jews were the majority of the resident population. The Polish Jewish community was one of the most vibrant and free in Europe.
The flight of Jews was motivated by civil war in Poland and the efforts of a strong Polish-Jewish lobby at the Jewish Agency working towards a higher standard of living and special privileges for immigrants from Poland. Yitzhak Raphael, director of the Immigration Department (who lobbied on behalf of Polish refugees), insisted on their ...
After Poland regained independence in 1918, the Second Polish Republic had a large Jewish minority.The early Polish Army was formed in the aftermath of World War I mostly from ethnic Polish volunteers, but as the situation stabilized and the country enforced regular conscriptions, the number of soldiers in the Polish Army from various ethnic minorities, including Jewish, increased.
The Polish government condemned wanton violence against the Jewish minority, fearing international repercussions, but shared the view that the Jewish minority hindered Poland's development; in January 1937 Foreign Minister Józef Beck declared that Poland could house 500,000 Jews, and hoped that over the next 30 years 80,000–100,000 Jews a ...
The result of the concern over the fate of Poland's Jews was a series of explicit clauses in the Versailles Treaty protecting the rights of minorities in Poland. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ] In 1921, Poland's March Constitution gave the Jews the same legal rights as other citizens and guaranteed them religious tolerance.
The number of Jews in Poland on September 1, 1939, amounted to about 3,474,000 people. [13] In anticipation of the German attack, during the Summer of 1939, Jews and ethnic Poles cooperated preparing anti-tank fortifications. [39] Contrary to many misconceptions, Jews in Poland were not simply victims of the ensuing Holocaust.