Interesting article.

However, I'm going to soapbox here because I am dismayed by the repetition of the by now widely accepted uninformed mischaracterizations of interwar Polish-Jewish relations through various vague insinuations. I wish I didn't have to do this, but hurtful, even hateful, untruths will become accepted as truth if such claims are allowed to continue and left unaddressed.

"Briefly put, it was no picnic, in particular because of the overt antisemitism of the popular National Democratic Party, which organized successful boycotts against Jewish-owned businesses. For the fascists and racists who waved the banner of the NDP, antisemitism was nothing less than a prerequisite to Polish patriotism."

"Antisemitism" is a racial or ethnic hatred of Jews. The quotidian anti-Jewish sentiment that existed during the interwar period in Poland, when it existed, was not racial or racist in character. It was largely economic in nature and based in grievances having to do with the dominance of Jews in certain occupations, economic classes, especially where these intersect with questions of national allegiance. These must be interpreted in the context of the prevailing historical and political conditions. Neither fascism nor racism were meaningfully represented in Poland. People have simply gotten lazy and used to interpreting nationalism entirely through the lens of, e.g., German racial theories, whereas in Poland, national allegiance and cultural affiliation were much more important questions. Whom the Jews were loyal to was the "Jewish Question", not your ethnic origins (the countless examples of assimilated Polish Jews provide such an example). Furthermore, the subject of Polish-Jewish relations is always covered in a superficial way. For example, if you speak with Poles who lived during that period, many will tell you of their experiences with Jews who harbored anti-Polish attitudes and looked down on the so-called goyim (e.g., by refusing to let their children play with non-Jews). Sadly, Polish-Jewish relations are always portrayed in a childish, simplistic, one-sided, black and white manner. The ignorance of journalists who merely parrot these bigoted sentiments does not help (using offensive phrases like "Polish concentration camp" is but the tip of the iceberg).

"Even so, being a Jewish composer, musician, or performer in Warsaw, whose population between the wars was roughly one-third Jewish, offered Jews a rare measure of personal and professional freedom. [...] Thus, for large swaths of the Polish population, especially those in Warsaw, Jewish composers, musicians, and performers were tolerated, and even welcomed, to the extent, that is, that they were entertaining."

Where does the author get such an idea. Poland was home to the largest number of Jews in the world at the time and had been for centuries as the "Paradisus Judaeorum". To this day, you can still find older Jews who will tell you that. The way the author writes makes it seem like Poles merely tolerated Jews as long as they managed to be entertaining. What nonsense. Jews have been involved in entertainment in many countries, including Hollywood (which was established by Polish Jews).

"The Jewish immigrants living there had fled less welcoming corners of interwar Poland than Warsaw [...] left the increasingly hostile environment of Eastern Europe for Palestine.""

Again, the insinuation is that Warsaw and broadly interwar Poland was a menacing place for Jews. An honest, historically literate person will know that's untrue.

"That sounds pretty hopeful, but given what we know about the interwar years, let’s hope that a repeat of 1930s Poland isn’t also right around the corner."

More weasel words. This sentence perhaps takes the cake and ultimately motivated me to write this comment because it confirms my original suspicions. First, the author misrepresents the general character of interwar Poland vis-a-vis Polish-Jewish relations (which he smears earlier in the article as I've shown). But then, the author makes an unintelligible insinuation that, whatever the menacing eldritch forces of 1930s Poland were (insinuated, but unnamed), a specter of these hitherto unnamed forces is at hand in Poland. What an absurd thing to say.

Had the author stuck to the subject matter instead of using his article as a platform for repeating tired canards, it would have been a much more enjoyable read about an interesting period of history and an interesting part of the world that regrettably few people in the West know much about, yet who believe many bigoted stereotypes about (some of which have their origins in Nazi/fascist propaganda and imperialist smear campaigns launched by, e.g., Germany to justify their claims on Polish soil). It's a shame that these canards serve as an introduction on the subject.

(For those interested in Polish-Jewish relations, I have been told that Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski's "Jews in Poland" is a good read.)