Middle Ages During the Middle Ages, Poland was inhabited by a relatively small number of Jews. By the mid-14th century, they were present mainly in
Silesia. The development of Jewish settlement in Poland accelerated in the later period, but their number was still not large in the middle of the 16th century and, according to Henryk Samsonowicz, amounted to about 20 thousand. They lived mainly in cities, in the territory of the Crown (excluding the Ukrainian lands incorporated after the Union of Lublin) the presence of Jews is documented in 294 cities out of a total of 1076. Jews settled mainly in Poland due to the persecution they suffered in Western Europe during the Crusades (12th century) and the Black Death (14th century). Polish rulers fostered this process by issuing a number of privileges for Jews, the first being the
Statute of Kalisz of 1264 issued by
Bolesław V the Chaste, later confirmed by King Casimir III the Great (in 1334, 1364 and 1367). The accumulation of privileges granted by the Polish rulers led to the de facto separation of the Jews in Poland and Lithuania as a separate estate. Unlike in Western Europe, they had the status of guests and were subject to the protection of the prince or king. In return for paying a special tax, they had almost complete freedom of movement and choice of profession. Murder of Jews was subject to the same punishment as murder of a nobleman. The institution of the
qahal, which did not exist outside of Poland, gave the Jews a large degree of self-government and took them out from under municipal law. The social status and political position of the Jews was much higher than that of the peasants who were serfs. The Jews themselves compared their position to the nobility, on whose lifestyle they modelled themselves. At the beginning of the 16th century, Jews living in noble private estates were taken out of the royal jurisdiction, this led to a further improvement in their situation as they were able to negotiate more favourable rights than those received from the king. Jewish privileges were met with displeasure by the nobility and the Catholic clergy. The chronicler and clergyman
Jan Długosz, writing in the second half of the 15th century, expressed the opinion that King
Casimir III granted privileges to Jews at the request of his Jewish concubine
Esterka; according to him, these privileges were "regarded by many as false, and in which there was no small harm and offense to God. These abominable endowments still exist to this day." Earlier, the Church had tried to limit Jewish freedoms by threatening excommunication for those Christians who interacted with Jews and ordering that Jewish settlements be separated from Christian ones. These principles, enacted by the two Lateran Councils of 1179 and 1215, were transplanted to Polish soil by the synods of 1267 and 1285. However, these provisions were never implemented in Poland.
Late modern period Unlike in other European countries, in the
Polish Commonwealth Jews continued to enjoy their special status achieved in the medieval era, as one of the
estates of the realm. In the 16th century, as a result of persecution in the west, the number of Jews in Poland and Lithuania increased rapidly, reaching approx. 300,000 in 1600. While the kings and
magnates of Poland tolerated the Jews as a useful source of revenues and services, the city
burghers often saw them as competitors in trade and crafts. Hostility towards Jews was also widespread among peasants, especially when their lords had placed them under the supervision of Jewish bailiffs and
leaseholders. The stereotype of the Jewish innkeeper profiting from the peasants' drunkenness and indebtedness was also very present in Polish folklore, popular mythology and literature. In this period Jews began to settle outside the lands belonging to the king, mainly on the private estates of magnates. Under pressure from the nobility, King
Sigismund I the Old agreed in 1539 to remove from his protection the Jews living in towns and private estates, who were now to be subject to the authority of the owners of these estates. Towns could obtain privileges limiting the number of houses belonging to Jews or the extent of their commercial activities, another type of privilege were those which explicitly in a town. However, these prohibitions were often disregarded by establishing so-called Jewish towns, i.e. suburbs just outside the city walls. The Lutheran cities of
Royal Prussia, led by
Gdańsk, where the Jewish population remained very small compared to the rest of the country, were particularly strict about this. While Jews were comparatively privileged compared to many other classes in the Commonwealth, and to the Jewish position in many other contemporary countries, their situation in the Commonwealth was hardly idyllic. From the middle of the 14th century to the end of the 15th century, there were 20 anti-Jewish riots on the territory of Poland and Lithuania; while from 1534 to 1717 there were 53. During that time, anti-Jewish sentiments were significantly related to Christian
anti-Judaism, collectively blaming the Jews for the death of
Jesus Christ. In some cases, Jews were taken to court on suspicion of
host desecration and
ritual murder libel. One of the key anti-Semitic activist of that time was journalist who argued (often in his magazine '''') that Poland had to be defended from "Jewish influence", and that Jews unfairly dominated the economy and exploited the peasantry. Knowledge of the massacre did not become widespread until turn of the century, when it shocked Polish populace. Polish main resistance,
Home Army, had a mixed relation with the Jews. Some of its reports labelled groups of Jewish resistance as communist-affiliated, causing significant disruption to local Polish communities. One Home Army assessment from May 1943 discussed the prevailing attitudes among Poles. It suggested that there was a strong anti-Jewish sentiment within Polish society, to the extent that some appeared to condone German actions against Jews. The report indicated that fear of Soviet rule,
towards which the Jews were seen as sympathetic, was a primary concern, second only to the prospect of continued German occupation. It implied that some Poles viewed the removal of the Jewish population as a means of combating communist influence. Another Home Army report from December that year presented a detached perspective on the Jewish situation. It described the emergence of what it termed "Bolshevik and Jewish bands" in several areas around
Lublin, and claimed that leaders of Jewish groups were actively seeking alignment with Bolshevik forces, promoting communist ideologies, and antagonizing local peasant communities through theft. This assessment reflected a focus on perceived communist threats rather than expressing concern for the plight of Jewish communities in the region.
Post-World War II Poland Another infamous anti-Semitic incident happed shortly after the war. The
Kielce pogrom was an outbreak of violence toward the Jewish community centre's gathering of refugees in the city of
Kielce, Poland, on 4 July 1946. The pogrom was carried out by Poles; as a result 42 Jews were killed and more than 40 were wounded. This incident and
several similar had a chilling effect on many Jewish survivors, encouraging them to leave Poland. According to
Jan T. Gross, Polish post-war Communist leadership adopted a stance that effectively distanced itself from Jewish concerns and issues. This approach aligned with a broader societal sentiment that sought to remove Jewish presence from the country entirely. As a result, the Communist authorities tacitly accepted the forceful expressions of anti-Semitic sentiment within society. This meant that there was little discussion of the Jewish-Polish relations, and little to no effort to investigate or hold accountable those who had participated in actions against Jews during the period of German occupation. The Communist regime effectively allowed these events to fade from official memory and scrutiny. Gross further noted that enduring antisemitism in Poland after World War II was rooted in concrete wartime experiences rather than pre-existing attitudes or Nazi influence. During the occupation, some Poles found common ground with the German occupiers in their desire to dispossess Jews of their property and social positions. This opportunistic behavior created a material incentive for continued antisemitism after the war. As Jews who had survived the Holocaust attempted to reclaim their property and roles in society, many Poles perceived this as a threat to their newly acquired assets and status. The resulting postwar hostility towards Jews was thus driven by a desire to protect these gains and avoid confronting complicity in Nazi-instigated crimes. Gross also referred to theory of
Kazimierz Wyka, who "observed that it was Poland’s misfortune not to have had a Quisling-like government during the occupation. Consequently, Wyka quipped, anti-Semitism was never compromised in public opinion as an attribute of servile collaborationism with the Nazis".
People's Republic of Poland (1956–1989) Friedrich notes that in the People's Republic of Poland, "the Jewish issue was time and again exploited in political machinations". At least 13,000 Poles of Jewish origin emigrated in 1968–72 as a result of being fired from their positions and various other forms of harassment. == Post-1989 Poland ==