List of Polish Jews

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From the Middle Ages until the Holocaust, Polish Jews comprised an appreciable part of Poland's population. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, known for its religious tolerance<ref name="Hugh">Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, From Counter-Reformation to Glorious Revolution, University of Chicago Press 1992, page 51. Quote: "Poland, at that time, was the most tolerant country in Europe." Also in Britain and the Netherlands by S. Groenveld, Michael J. Wintle; and in The exchange of ideas (Walburg Instituut, 1994).</ref> and described as Paradisus Judaeorum (Latin for "Paradise of the Jews"),<ref name="Haumannp30">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Gellerp20">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Elphick2019">Template:Cite book</ref> had attracted tens of thousands of Jews who fled persecution from other European countries. Poland was a major spiritual and cultural center for Ashkenazi Jews.

At the start of the Second World War, Poland had the largest Jewish population in the world (over 3.3 million, some 10% of the general Polish population).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The vast majority were murdered under the Nazi "Final Solution" mass-extermination program in the Holocaust in Poland during the German occupation; only 369,000 (11%) of Poland's Jews survived the War.

The list below includes persons of Jewish faith or ancestry.

Historical figures

Politicians

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Others

File:Powazki wrzesien 4.JPG
Graves of Polish Jews among the fallen soldiers of the Polish Defensive War of 1939; Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw

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Sovereign Polish Armed Forces

  • Berek Joselewicz (1764–1809), Polish-Jewish Colonel in the Polish Legions of Napoleon's armies
  • Bernard Mond (1887–1957), member of the Austrio—Hungarian Army, 1914–1918; Polish soldier and officer, 1918–1939; sent to POW camp by the Germans; finished his career in the rank of Brigade General and, in command of the 6th Infantry Division (Poland), fought against the Germans in 1939
  • Poldek Pfefferberg (1913–2001), Polish soldier in 1939 saved from death by his sergeant major; Holocaust survivor; a man who inspired the book that the film Schindler's List was based on
  • Baruch Steinberg (1897–1940), Chief Rabbi of the Polish Armed Forces, murdered by the Soviet NKVD

Religious figures

Rabbis

Academics

Economists

Mathematicians

Philosophers

Sciences

Historians

Cultural figures

Artists

Musicians

Screen and stage

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  • Jerzy Toeplitz (1909-1995), film educator, director, writer<ref>"British Express Concern About Fate of Jerzy Toeplitz, Polish Film Figure." Jewish Telegraphic Agency 20 May 1968.</ref>
  • Konrad Tom (1887-1957), actor, writer, singer and director working in theater and film<ref name="yivoencyclopedia.org"/>
  • Dziga Vertov, film director; immigrated to the Soviet Union; brother of Boris Kaufman and Mikhail Kaufman<ref>Jewish Film Festival</ref>
  • Michał Waszyński (1904-1965), film and theater director; film producer<ref>Samuel Blumenfeld, L'homme qui voulait être prince: les vies imaginaires de Michal Waszynski (Paris: B. Grasset, 2006).</ref>
  • Michał Znicz, born Michał Feiertag, (1888-1943), stage and film actor

Writers and poets

Polish-language

Yiddish-language

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Business figures

Sports

Baseball

Chess

Fencing

Football

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Professional wrestling

Swimming

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Track and field

  • Myer Prinstein, Olympic long-jumper from Szczuczyn, Poland
  • Irena Szewińska, sprinter and long jumper; world records in 100-m, 200-m, and 400-m; three-time Olympic champion, plus four medals (for a total of seven Olympic medals)
  • Jadwiga Wajs, two world records (discus); Olympic silver and bronze (discus)

Weightlifting

  • Ben Helfgott, Polish-born, three-time British champion (lightweight), three-time Maccabiah champion; survived Buchenwald and Theresienstadt; all but one family member was murdered by the Nazis

Holocaust survivors

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See also

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References

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Template:Lists of Jews by country

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