Poland is not yet lost!
The Mazurka, expressing the spirit that the nation of Poland, despite lack of political independence, should never perish as long as the Polish people would be still alive while fighting for its salvation and the honor, very quickly became one of the most admired patriotic songs all over Poland. (Retrieved from the World Wide Web, June 6th, 2011:
That’s a short excerpt from an entry about the Polish National Hymn. As such, one may find nothing surprising in this text. However, I would like to ask “who are the Polish people”?
In our first lecture held by Konstanty Gebert, a writer and columnist, we were encouraged to see Poland through the eyes of minority / majority. In other words, Mr. Gebert introduced us to the diversities in Polish society. Before the outbreak of World War II, over 3 million Jews, numerous Germans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians and Belarusians called Poland their homeland. After World War II, Poland is considered to be ethnically homogenous or mono-ethnic: over 95% of the population claim Polish nationality. This homogeneity is the outcome of the deportations of certain groups of people ordered by Nazi Germany but also by Soviet authorities, as well as the result of the border shifting after the war.
This mono-ethnic status did not seem to bother Polish society. Many Poles considered ethnic homogeneity to be a good order of the State. In fact, this was what the Socialist regime wanted the Polish people to belief. In other words, the regime presented the mono-ethnic status as a success. As we all know, it was mere propaganda. In fact, as we learned from Mr. Gebert, the society did feel that something is missing. To me, this 'phantom pain' is not surprising as the Polish history is so rich of cultural diversity. One cannot just erase or unwrite parts of history. Many regimes tried this but luckily failed in the end. According to Gebert, the Poles were not able to adapt or consume the history their people had produced in previous centuries. Similar to the situation in the Balkans, the people did not comprehend and appreciate their rich cultural heritage. Due to the immense looses during WW II, people and tools needed to enrich Polish culture were missing. Thus, Poland became “extremely boring” without all the missing ‘others’ who were not enriching Polish culture any longer. Another factor playing into it may have been the missing solidarity between the minorities in Poland, which Gebert stressed. Maybe, if united, they would have been able to raise their voice. Yet, there is hope. Over the last couple of years, the Poles seem to have overcome the “darkness” by remembering their multi-cultural history. Also, when walking through the streets of Warsaw, one can see that the structure of Polish society is changing, i.e. you pass a diverse range of people from around the world who call Poland their home.
Personally, I agree with Gebert that a multi-cultural society can bring about a win-win situation for all sides, given that all parties have equal say, and that no one has to choose one identity over another one. One can be a Polish catholic, a Polish Jew, Polish German or Ukrainian Pole…. In the end, it does not matter, so long as one feels at home in Poland. This is too simplistic, some may argue. Still, one may again raise the question: why to choose one identity over any other? Based on which grounds - religion, civic obligation, personal attachment, tradition, territorial and/or family ties? Viewed in the context of our globalized world, this question seems obsolete.
After all, I think that we should be grateful that there is a revival of Jewish culture nowadays in Poland, despite their near extinction by the Nazis. Gebert calls it the “presence of the absence”. The annual Jewish cultural festival of Krakow constitutes a good bridge between the past and the present; held in Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter of Krakow, it attracts Jews and non-Jews from around the world, both survivors and post-Shoah generations. Everybody is eager to explore Jewish culture and to trace family roots in Poland. To me, such an event is crucial in two aspects: firstly, to unite people from different religions and countries and, secondly, to restore what went missing that cannot be missed.With regards to my last remark, I do not want to miss to mention that we had the great pleasure to welcome two other speakers on this day: Dr. Sebastian Duda, a philosopher, theologist and journalist, talked about the Roman Catholic church under Socialism and in the free Poland. In the afternoon, we visited the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. Dr. Adam Bodnar, gave us a first-hand insight into the role of NGOs in defending human rights in Poland. Both lectures were fascinating and an eye-opening experience. In fact, they deserve their own blog entry.
