No More Fear
After World War II, many Polish Jews abandoned their faith. Now their children are rediscovering the religion and culture that was hidden from them.
Jewish Market Day on Próżna Street in Warsaw.(Milan Durovic)
Malgorzata Lubinska, a 50-something Warsaw resident, always knew there was “something strange about our family,” she says. When she was in her 30s, she learned what that something was: Her family had been Jewish. After World War II, violence toward Jews and discrimination were facts of life in Poland; those who chose to stay were, almost by definition, those who were prepared to leave their Jewishness behind, as did Lubinska’s family. But as things have changed, a new generation that includes Malgorzata is exploring the faith and culture their parents took pains to conceal. Lubinska spoke to Natalie Kestecher for the Australian radio documentary “My Fear of Poland,” produced for ABC Radio National’s 360documentaries, in which Kestecher traces her family’s Polish heritage and explores the country’s Jewish renaissance. Vox Tablet presents Lubinska’s story, and you can find the entire broadcast here. [Running time: 8:41.]
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