Anti-Semitism has penetrated and is being tolerated in practically every phase of life in Poland today, including the Communist Party, the government, the educational system, courts and police, according to an official report made to the Central Committee of the United Workers (Communist) Party of Poland. The report, just received here, was written by Alexander Slav, secretary of the Central Committee’s Commission on National Minorities.
Calling for the closing of the gap between Communist Party theory and government law on the one hand, and practice on the other hand, Mr. Slav denounces sharply “the negative manifestations of discrimination, narrow nationalism and anti-Semitism which have come to the surface recently among various groups of Polish society.”
The “Polish masses,” according to Mr. Slav, are on the whole free of “narrow nationalism.” He attributes much blame for such manifestations to national minorities such as the Ukrainians, White Russians, Lithuanians, Czechs and Slovaks living in Poland. The Communist official declares there are 600,000 members of these national minorities in Poland, but warns that “the political effects of the problem cannot be measured by figures alone.” The effects, he holds, penetrate the entire country.
Mr. Slav calls attention to a resolution adopted by the leaders of the Federation of Jewish Cultural Organizations which held that the “narrow nationalism and anti-Semitism stems from those who are enemies of the country’s system,” But he accuses Communists and members of government alike of frequently refusing to discuss the problem of anti-Semitism, ignoring those problems. Even the Communist Party’s official daily newspaper, “Tribuna Lyuda,” has paid insufficient attention to the problem, he said.
While the Communist official cites precise figures as to the numbers among other national minorities, he does not disclose the figure about the number of Jews left in Poland. He concedes that “in the last two years, the Jewish population has decreased significantly,” without mentioning the fact that nearly all of the Jews who left Poland recently emigrated to Israel. “The reason for the decrease in Jewish population,” he declares, “are very complicated, but many of these reasons stem from the tragic past.” However, he emphasizes that anti-Semitism is present at this time.
He blames “administrative organs” and insufficient application of the laws for anti-Semitism. He cites reports spread by “various anti-Semites and reactionaries” who contend that Jews monopolize executive positions in the country. In reply to such “legends,” Mr. Slav provides figures claiming that 52 percent of the Polish Jews are engaged in light or heavy industry; about 20 percent are in government-owned commercial enterprises or in civic work, while 12 percent are artisans.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
