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News Not Your Grandma’s Poland Anymore
When Poland’s new Sejm, or Parliament, was seated recently, the nationally televised event showed something never before seen in this conservative nation: a transsexual woman and an openly gay man being solemnly sworn in along with other parliamentarians. The seminal event was a consequence of the emergence of Palikot, a new, explicitly anti-clerical, libertarian-oriented party…
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The Schmooze ‘Jihad’ Banner Unveiled at Polish Soccer Match
In the latest news about the anti-Semitic behavior of European football fans, supporters of Poland’s Legia team unfurled a huge “Jihad” banner during a recent Warsaw game against Hapoel Tel Aviv. The banner was green, and “Jihad Legia” was written across it in white Arabic-style font. Green is one of Legia’s team colors, but it…
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The Schmooze Forward Columnist Masha Leon Honored by Poland
Columnist Masha Leon, who has covered social events for the Forverts and then the Forward for more than 30 years, was honored Thursday night by the government of Poland for her articles and other work that have helped further the understanding of Polish-Jewish lives, history and culture. The president of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski, pinned a…
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Culture Adam Michnik Strains for Solidarity Between Poles and Jews
In Search of Lost Meaning: The New Eastern Europe By Adam Michnik Translated by Roman S. Czarny Edited by Irina Grudzinska Gross University of California Press, 248 pages, $29.95 Even as a young Communist in postwar Poland, Adam Michnik demonstrated the courage of his convictions. He was first arrested in 1964, at age 18, for…
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Food Krakow’s ‘Jewish’ Cafes
Krakow’s old Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, is famous (or notorious, depending on how you look at it) for its Jewish-themed tourist infrastructure. Its “Jewish” cafes present a nostalgic literary image of prewar Jewish life — some with taste and sensitivity, others in a disturbingly kitschy manner. At least a dozen (and maybe more) cafes, restaurants, hotels…
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The Schmooze Convicted Nazi War Criminal Convalesces in Alpine Nursing Home
In Bad Feilnbach, a postcard-perfect spa town in the Bavarian Alps, residents are crying NIMBY. It’s not a cell phone tower or nuclear energy plant they are concerned about, but rather something many find even more toxic — convicted Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk. The 91-year-old Demjanjuk, a free man while his appeal wends itself…
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The Schmooze Russian Jews (Finally) Get Their Own Museum
They’ve largely disappeared as residents, but Russia’s Jews now have their own museum. Billed as the first Jewish museum in the country, the Moscow center opened recently following several years of planning. Exhibits are divided between two general themes, focusing on either Jewish practice or on Jewish history in Russia. Radio Free Europe reports that…
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Culture This is Not a Holocaust Book
Yes, that is correct. The sign on the big shelf in one of the largest bookstores in Warsaw says “Jewish books.” The books — fiction, nonfiction, academic, guides to Judaism and contemporary Jewish life (including a translation of Shmuley Boteach’s “Kosher Sex”) — are all in Polish. Such shelves can be seen in every big…
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