My story would not have been complete, if I would not mention the main reason of my "emigration" from Poland.

It happened that I tied my fate to the land of my birth, so I never thought that I would ever leave Poland. I thought that because I was born in Poland, I was raised in Polish culture, lived everyday life as a Polish citizen, I had right to consider myself as a Pole of Jewish descent. I was of the opinion that religion or race did not make any difference. Consequently, I thought that I was recognaized by the rulers of the country as a citizen with full rights.

I was freed from this mistaken way of thinking by the infamous speech by Gomulka, the First Secretary of the Polish Worker’s Association i.e., the Polish Communist Party, on the 19^th of June, 1967. As a result of this speech, an atmosphere was created in Poland, which increased racial prejudice of some of the government leaders. And in consequence, Poles of Jewish descent were leaving the Polish "People’s Republic". For one not familiar with the events in Poland during 1967/68, it should be understood that not only myself, but tens of thousands of Polish citizens of Jewish descent left Poland.

To explain this, I have to go back to the year of 1967, when the conflict in the Near East became a convenient pretext for a full-blown anti-Semitic campaign, under the pretence that it was a so-called anti-Zionist reaction. These events are, naturally, the subject of study for historians, but because they touched me, I have to tell about them briefly.

The policy of the Arab countries against Israel, including the closing of the Gulf of Akaba and not recognizing its right to exist, was supported by the Soviet Union, as well as by its satellite countries which led to the conflict. In a short war the Israeli army smashed the much larger Arab armies, and at the same time conquered a number of territories: the Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula, and East Jerusalem.

This amazing victory in the Six Day War in June 1967 echoed far and wide, and was met with diverse reaction in the Polish population. The small numbers of people of Jewish origin, who were still living in Poland either openly or discreetly, manifested their satisfaction with the fact that the Arabs did not succeed in destroying the young Jewish State, and were not able to "push the Israelis into the sea", as they had promised.

This victorious war was compared to the Biblical story of David’s victory over Goliath. Indeed, many Poles expressed their admiration for the effectiveness of the Israeli army. Nearly all of them listened to the broadcasts of Radio Free Europe, and the BBC in London. Thus they were aware of the true reasons for the outbreak of the war. However the Polish Communist regime had a different opinion. Following the Kremlin policy of backing the Arabs, it condemned Israel, and in a few days, like the Kremlin, ceased diplomatic relations with Israel. Afterwards, on June 19, 1967, the First Secretary of the Communist party - Gomulka, in his speech, demonstrated his real position. He described the Jews who were living in Poland as a potential "Fifth Column", who, he claimed were endangering world peace, and at the same time the security of Poland, because they were siding with the aggressor. He also made it clear that the Polish People’s Republic would gladly say good-bye to its Jewish citizens. In his way of thinking, all Polish Jews were suddenly held responsible for the 1967 Six Day War in the Middle East.

Gomulka’s reasoning was indeed distorted - the Jews of Poland had expressed their satisfaction that a new Holocaust did not come to pass, this time caused by the Arabs, but according to Gomulka’s logic, the enthusiasm of the Polish Jews was in fact "against world peace". The opinions of the First Secretary of the Communist Party were at that time binding on all party members. With his speech Gomulka started an anti-Semitic campaign which was just what the nationalistic faction in the Communist party was waiting for, in order to use it to their advantage in a fight for political positioning. In all sections of the government and the party, the nationalists, headed by a General with the name Moczar, started to attack the Zionists who became synonymous with "Jews".

The Communist government authorities organized gatherings and public meetings in factories and other places of work, in order to condemn the Israeli "aggressors". The anti-Semitic campaign was going on non-stop, but the Polish population as a whole did not participate in it, and looked at it in surprise and amazement. But into that chauvinistic, racist campaign stepped in the traditional anti-Semitic groups. A direct result of all this were the "cleansings", i.e. the firing of Jews from responsible positions. An especially anti-Semitic purge began in the Polish army, and in the government.

After the events of March 1968, the anti-Zionist attacks and the efforts to look for an imagined enemy became even stronger. In the press, articles appeared, unscrupulous in their choice of anti-Jewish rhetoric, and all this turned into a real mass campaign. A new anti-Jewish slogan was born: "Zionists to Zion !" At that time "Zionist" was the synonym for "Jew", so that the slogan "Zionists to Zion" was similar to the former slogan of "Jews to Palestine". This time, however, the anti-Semitic campaign was organized with the help of their propagandists - the Communists - some of them in the highest positions in the government and in the Party.

In this atmosphere many Polish citizens of Jewish origin, among them many assimilated families and intermarried couples, suddenly learned that they were only Jews, i.e. "Zionists", and not welcome in Poland. In his speech, Gomulka already let it be clearly understood that Poland would say "good-bye" without regret to Polish citizens of Jewish origin. In an atmosphere when many were relieved of, or fired from their positions, some were thrown out of work and had no means to make a living. All this started an exodus, a stream of emigration. History repeated itself but in another form. In this anti-Semitic campaign, craftsmen also became unwanted. People were forced out of their own private workshops by having their operations choked by long lists of legal operating rules.

The particulars of this conspiracy were much wider, but I only mention it briefly to point out the vile actions of some people who exploited this artificially created atmosphere of racial hatred.

During the German occupation, I hid from the Nazi racist persecution. To be treated by home grown racists with contempt and malevolence, as all Jews at that time were, became unbearable for me. Although I worked hard to build up my business, which was prosperous, I left everything behind. If I would have to answer the question why I left Poland, I would have to state that the reason was the above situation, and everything that resulted from it.