ANDRZEJ BRKY
237
[if
so, what] from the war about the Jews?" Among the children at the pri–
mary and secondary schools, over eighty percent stated that the horrible
plight of the Jews during the war had occasionally been mentioned in the
context of war movies with Jewish protagonists. The rest stated that the
topic had never come up for discussion, although there were several answers
which avoided the actual question, stating that the discussion sometimes
centered on the prewar activities of the Jews, and that in an unfavorable
context. About fifty-five percent of the university students had discussed the
topic of the Holocaust with their families and friends, mainly in the wake of
the Blonski article, with a division between the older generation and the
younger, the older in the majority objecting to Blonski's statement. Forty
percent stated that the topic was mentioned
in
connection with war movies.
The rest had not discussed it in their homes, although some mentioned that
sometimes they heard stories in their families about the Jews before the war,
and that these stories were mainly centered on the theme of Jewish
competitiveness in the professions and commerce.
There was a visible division between students of the humanities and
the others; the former usually were much better informed. Although the
picture that emerged from my survey is not completely clear, I would risk a
statement that in general Polish school children have, surprisingly, a rather
decent grasp of the realities, although this is essentially a matter of
interpretation, especially as compared with the general historical conscious–
ness of the Polish youth, which is far from accurate.
It
also may show that
the youth
in
general has been impervious to official half-truths and distortions.
One has to be rather cautious, however, since the survey was conducted in
the larger towns, where the exposure to information and culture is naturally
much greater than
in
the countryside.
My experience of public lectures about Polish-Jewish relations may be
pertinent here. The atmosphere usually was tense and the discussion heated.
It
was apparent that there was a division between the older generation,
partially displaying old prejudices, and the younger generation, largely free
from them.
Jewish history is coming back to the younger generation of Poles in
other ways. A large number of books on Jewish subjects have been pub–
lished in the last few years. Two institutions devoted to the study of the his–
tory and culture of the Polish Jews have been established, at Jagiellonian
University in Krakow and Warsaw University. There is a growing move–
ment among college students, mainly those studying architecture and art, to
help restore the Jewish cemeteries destroyed by the Germans or devastated
after the war. Although examples of the old prejudices can still be found ,
many churches and Catholic intelligentsia clubs have organized series oflec–
tures about Judaism, Jewish-Polish history, and related subjects.
An
intense
curiosity about the minority that once lived in Polish society is evident, and it
