Few cities would seem more suitable for a Jewish museum than Warsaw. Jews have lived in Poland for a thousand years, and by the eve of World War II made up over a third of the population of many parts of the country, including the capital. Half of all Jews who perished in the Holocaust were from Poland. Most American and European Jews can trace their roots to the region. And while many do not acknowledge it, 25,000 Polish citizens today are believed to be of at least partial Jewish heritage. But Poland’s complicated postwar history has rendered the recovery of its long Jewish legacy a thorny task. POLIN, the museum’s name, echoes a Polish-Jewish legend: the first Jews to arrive in the tenth century heard a whisper from the Heavens: po, Hebrew for “here”; lin, “shalt thou dwell.” Polin is also a Hebrew name for the Polish nation.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:05:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015