Polish Jews are required to indicate whether they have ever belonged to “any Zionist party” in applying for new identification cards which all Polish citizens will have to carry in the future, according to a report received here from Warsaw today.
Applicants for these cards must fill out a form answering about 200 questions. In answer to one question, the applicant must indicate whether he has ever belonged to a Fascist movement; the very next question poses “Zionist party” affiliation.
The juxtaposition of the Fascist and Zionist affiliations has caused considerable concern, the report said, because Polish Jews fear that in labelling himself a Zionist a Polish Jew may be casting doubt on his own loyalty to the state, just as he would if he called himself a former Fascist.
Many Jews who have been waiting for Polish passports to emigrate from the country fear that their passport applications, on which they had described themselves as Zionists, might have to be reconciled with the new forms they must sign now.
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.
