The Horse Adjutant

The Horse Adjutant

The Soviet reign that overshadowed Poland after the fall of Nazi Germany con- tributed to building a great wall of mistrust between people, including Poles and Jews, and even among Poles themselves. Five decades of Polish subordination to Moscow, from 1945 to 1989, brought about an atmosphere of ongoing suspi- cion and accusation, leading to expelling Jews who survived the Holocaust from Poland in 1968 by the Soviets. But the Polish struggle for freedom is relentless. Through the efforts of the Solidarity movement and the Polish Pope, John Paul II, Poland once again returned to freedom in 1989 and the Iron Curtain fell. Thanks to those events, Polish-Jewish contacts can now revive, favorably, on the ground of the former common history of Jews in Polish land. Today many Jewish culture festivals are held, and many books and music are be- ing released. Old Jewish sites like synagogues and cemeteries are being renovated and a new Museum of Polish Jews is being built in Warsaw, documenting almost one thousand years of Jewish presence in Poland. This is expected to be dedicated to not just its terrible end but also the rich culture it created and hopefully a new beginning. The Memory of our Jewish neighbors should be a part of Polish iden- tity we cannot forget.

Kamil Kmak 2010

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