AntiSemitism Can Be Rational Russell

Poland Revisited, by Sir Edward J. Russell. 1937

A British-Eye Analysis of Pre-WWII Poland. Anti-Semitism is Irrational in Britain, But is Rational in Poland

In this short booklet of 39 pages, Russell, a Briton, touches on several aspects of interwar Poland. The title refers to the author’s visits to Poland in 1930 and especially 1936.

THE DREAM OF A RESURRECTED POLAND NEVER VANISHED

Sir Russell notes how Polish-ness survived under the Partitions, as he says that: (quote) Both the Germans and Russians tried to stamp out the Polish language and Polish culture. The Poles rallied to their church, the Catholic Church, which became the symbol of their unity and the guardian of their tradition. The sermons, and such parts of the service as were not in Latin, were always in Polish’ a censor was always present, but the priests were both able and brave. The women never lost hope or courage, and refused to be brow beaten. So the Polish language was handed on from mother to children, and the tales of Poland’s past went from generation to generation. The countryside is full of stories of cheated and discomfited officials. Some of the old revolutionaries are now safely back in Poland, their hopes achieved and their adventurous career ended. I met some of them and most remarkable people they were. (unquote).

THE LITVAK PROBLEM. JEWISH ECONOMIC HEGEMONY OVER POLAND

Without using the term, Russell alludes to the role of the Litvaks (Litwaks: self-Russified erstwhile Polish Jews) as a major source of continuing Polish-Jewish tensions. He comments: (quote) Seventy percent of the population are peasants, but practically none of these are Jews. On the other hand, Jews [at nearly 10% of Poland’s population: p. 34] form about 50% of the merchant class, and about 90 percent of some of the professions: they own a considerable part of the wealth of the country. This disproportion is a source of great annoyance to the non-Jewish population. The problem is essentially a modern one: It began in its modern form in 1905 when the Russian government sent to Poland large numbers of Jews—more than a million, it is said—who were indeed hostile to Poland. (unquote).

BRITISH ANTI-SEMITISM IS UNJUSTIFIED: POLISH ANTISEMITISM MAY BE JUSTIFIED

The modern tendency is to treat all “anti-Semitism” as much the same, and for western Europeans to put on airs and act superior to the Poles owing to past Polish anti-Semitism. In contrast, Russell exhibits an even-handed view of Polish-Jewish relations, and suggests that what might pass for irrationality (and anti-Semitism) in England may well have an element of rationality in Poland (quote) …[Jews] remaining always distinct and giving the impression that in time of trouble their allegiance could not necessarily be counted upon. Their financial and professional powers are out of all proportion to their number. The Poles, being intensely patriotic, are nervous about them. In England we have no Jewish problem and should think it absurd to doubt the loyalty or sincerely of a man because he was a Jew. But in Poland, this is not so: the Jewish problem exists, and no solution has as yet been found. Much could probably be done by the Jews themselves to allay the suspicions with which they are regarded, and it is sincerely to be hoped that Poland will not follow the example of Germany and organize large scale expulsions.” (unquote). [Russell does not mention that England has no “Jewish problem” today because she had “solved” it by expelling her Jews in 1290.]

Well said! I wish that more western writers had the kind of common-sense wisdom exhibited by Sir Edward Russell.