Anti-Semitism vs. Patriotism

For the Polish person, it is not enough to distance oneself from anti-Semitic point of view, it is not enough to heve different views, and then hide them from public, in the privacy of one’s home. Not if you are a decent person, and a patriot, that is. 

 

In Poland, we don’t have the luxury of being lukewarm on the issue. Because, our country is different from any other on Earth. It is here, on our territory, that German occupiers, during WWII, perpetrated the horror of the Holocaust. And we, our  fathers, mothers, friends, and relatives witnessed it, and we had to decide how to react to the genocide being committed in front of us. 

 

This burden weighted on us heavily, broke our spirit, crippled us morally. In many instances the challenge proved to be too much for our strength. And yet, in the abyss of human cruelty were found those, who proved themselves to be worthy of the name of the Righteous Among The Nations. 

 

This, however, doesn’t free us from the moral imperative of thorough, and honest evaluation of the attitudes of the rest of our society at the hour of need. In fact, it means quite the opposite. It is our duty to be very vigilant, extra cautious, when it comes to anti-Semitism. The fact, that, by far, the most numerous group among the Righteous, are Polish people, if anything, puts on us even greater obligation to take a good look at our past. That is how you honor them who overcame. They are our national treasure, and you don’t use jewels to cover your shame. To successfully deal withe present challenges we must examine the past. We need it desperately.

 

Because the present is troubling. There should be no tolerance for anti-Semitic views among us, and yet, people who hold them, can freely express them in public in Poland. They can do it with no, or very little, fear of being challenged. Even here, on the Salon24.pl, the only media outlet granted the privilege of interviewing President Obama during his visit in Poland, anti-Semitic views are tolerated, and even supported. 

 

And we, the Polish people, simply can’t afford it. We have a sacred duty to reject any traces of tolerance for anti-Semitic views, for we do know what they lead to. We saw it with our own eyes. We experienced it first hand.

 

To be a Polish patriot, means to fight anti-Semitism here in Poland, it means to have no patience for people who hold anti-Semitic views, it means to have no illusions about dangers of anti-Semitism.

 

While we indeed had no control whatsoever over what the Germans did on our land, we had some choices over how to react to the evil. The challenge is different today, but still, we do have to make a decisive choice. So far we are failing miserably. 

 

Nowhere in the world it should be more obvious, then here in Poland, that the only acceptable policy vis a vis anti-Semitism, should be a policy of zero tolerance. And yet, because of our negligence to deal with the past, today, even Germans publicly teach us about the wrongs of anti-Semitism.

 

It is not enough for Polish people to disagree with anti-Semitism. We simply have to hunt it down in our public spaces, eradicate it from among ourselves.