Jewish Self Criticism Candor Rubinstein
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My Young Years, by Arthur Rubinstein. 1973
A Polish Patriotic Jew Who Stood Up for Poland. Includes Candid Jewish Self-Criticism
Rubinstein, an assimilated Polish Jew, is beloved by Poles for his spontaneous display of patriotism. He played the Polish National Anthem, at the very first meeting of the United Nations in 1945, in protest of the fact that Poland (that is, the rightful, non-Communist Polish Government, in exile during WWII) had been denied representation in this new international body.
This book is about Rubinstein’s childhood and early career as a pianist through about 1916. My review focuses on matters related to life in foreign-ruled Poland. For a time, Rubinstein’s love for Poland was not in a patriotic sense. (p. 13). Later, he identified himself explicitly as a Polish patriot in response to the Prussian mistreatment of the Poles. (p. 44). When news came of Poland being in the process of resurrection as an independent state, Rubinstein wanted to join the Polish forces. (pp. 433-444).
Charges of anti-Semitism are so easy to make. While a boy, came to know pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski, and rejected accusations that Paderewski had been an anti-Semite. (p. 81).
SOME JEWISH SELF-CRITICISM
Rubinstein had discussions with his fellow Jews, in which the themes centered on Jews as victims and Jews as objects of envy. (pp. 364-365). Earlier, however, he had voiced frank criticism of certain aspects of Jewish conduct. He said: “My point of view was that anti-Semitism, in many ways, was justifiable. ‘When I see these rich Jews and their wives behaving in public the way they do, showing off their wealth, their jewels, their furs, pushing themselves forward wherever they go, I can understand the indignation of the Gentiles.'” (p. 363).
Rubinstein’s attitudes towards Orthodox Jews paralleled that of those (e.g., reputed members of Haller’s Army) who humiliated them. When reminded by his friend Dr. Goldflam that only a small minority of Jews were wealthy, Rubinstein retorted: “‘All right, doctor, all right,’ I argued hotly, ‘but what do we have on the other hand? The ghettos? These masses of meek little men with their beards and side curls, afraid of everything and everybody? Why don’t they use their born gifts and intelligence for something better than buying and selling clothes? It infuriates me when anti-Semitic Poles slander us, calling us Jews usurers and thieves. I know that we have, fortunately, a highly cultured elite, too,…but it is too small–it is unable to offset the bad effect of the rest.'” (p. 363).
Earlier in life, Rubinstein’s opinions had been even stronger: “We had been brought up in the Polish language. We were little concerned about Jewish laws or dogma, although we were always proud of our race. Still, I do remember having been derisively critical of the Polish Orthodox Jews, with their long black coats and their sidelocks and beards and their singsong. My father had taken me, once or twice, to a synagogue, but only for musical reasons–to hear a famous cantor perform–and on these occasions there was a curious mixture of Jewish worshippers and Christians who were enthusiastic about the singer.” (pp. 46-47). [Misconduct against Orthodox Jews was hardly limited to some of Haller’s men. The informed reader realizes that, even in modern Israel, Orthodox Jews sometimes face humiliations–in this case from fellow Jews.]
POLES SUCCESSFULLY PUSHED BACK AGAINST THE GERMANS
Now consider German-Polish relations. Rubinstein described how the Poles thwarted the harsh Prussian measures: “Being fervent Catholics, they produced many more children than their oppressors or any other European country–the Germans used to call them, derisively, ‘Polnische Karnickel’ (slang for Polish rabbits). But that wasn’t all–overnight these carefree, free-spending, light-hearted people turned into first-rate economists. In order to fight the German offensive, clergy, peasants, and landowners pooled their money, opened banks and other organizations of credit, and thus, well-armed, succeeded in buying, often under assumed German names, twice as much land as they had been losing to the settlers. The whole province became divided into two fanatically hostile groups…” (p. 44).
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- Anti-Christian Tendencies
- Anti-Polish Trends
- Censorship on Poles and Jews
- Communization of Poland
- Cultural Marxism
- German Guilt Dilution
- Holocaust Industry
- Interwar Polish-Jewish Relations
- Jewish Collaboration
- Jewish Economic Dominance
- Jews Antagonize Poland
- Jews Not Faultless
- Jews' Holocaust Dominates
- Jews' Holocaust Non-Special
- Nazi Crimes and Communist Crimes Were Equal
- Opinion-Forming Anti-Polonism
- Pogrom Mongering
- Poland in World War II
- Polish Jew-Rescue Ingratitude
- Polish Nationalism
- Polish Non-Complicity
- Polish-Ukrainian Relations
- Polokaust
- Premodern Poland
- Recent Polish-Jewish Relations
- The Decadent West
- The Jew as Other
- Understanding Nazi Germany
- Why Jews a "Problem"
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