Jewish settlement in Poland goes back as far as the XI century. Throughout the Middle Ages and until the eve of WW II, Polish Jews comprised the largest Jewish community in the Diaspora. The growth of the Hasidic, Zionist, and Socialist movements, as well as Jewish self-government experiences had their roots in Poland.
In 1939 Polish Jews numbered 3,500,000. Upon the German invasion of Poland, the Jews at first had to wear armbands identifying themselves as Jews. They were then cramped into locked ghettoes, from which they were taken to the death camps. Armed resistance took place in many areas, but, too late.
Approximately 350,000 Polish Jews survived WW II, the majority of whom (approx. 300,000) had escaped to the Soviet Union in 1939. Over 3,000,000 Polish Jews had been killed between 1939–1945.
On July 4, 1946 the biggest pogrom in post-war Europe took place in the city of Kielce. Over 100 Jews were murdered or seriously wounded. It was one of many pogroms which took place in Poland between 1945–1947.
There have been three major waves of Jewish emigration from Poland. They are: between 1945–1949; 1956–1957; and the last and most significant, 1968–1970. It was in 1968 that an upsurge of anti-Jewish sentiment, fostered by then Party Secretary Wladyslaw Gomulka, came about. All Jews in the Polish army, government, news media, university professors, etc. lost their jobs. Jewish students were expelled from the universities. “Zionist activities” was the excuse given. About 30,000 Jews emigrated from Poland to Scandinavia, the United States, and Israel.
There are now (1975) approximately 6,000-8,000 Jews remaining in Poland, the overwhelming majority being old and retired. When they die, almost a millennium of Jewish life and culture in Poland will die with them.
*Original text as written in 1975.