THE ROLE OF SHARED HISTORICAL MEMORY IN ISRAELI AND POLISH EDUCATION SYSTEMS. ISSUES AND TRENDS

In light of the suffering of the Polish nation and the fate of Jews and non-Jews in Polish territory as a result of the Nazi occupation, it would seem that these nations would identify with each other and find common ground based on their painful past. Moreover, considering the large numbers of Israelis who visit Poland, it would be only natural for Poles and Israelis to form positive attitudes towards each other. Moreover, Jewish culture in Poland is enjoying a revival, with young Polish people in Cracow, Warsaw, Lublin, and Gdansk learning Yiddish, dancing the hora, eating chopped liver, and listening to Hassidic music (Horowitz, 2011). However, the Polish-Jewish relationship has always been based on deep inconsistencies. This paper traces the history of the relationship between Poland and the Jewish people in order to explore important questions, including: Is Poland to be considered an ally, a second homeland where Jews prospered for hundreds of years, or was it the hostile scene of generations of pogroms? Was Poland the paradise where Jewish life, religious as well as cultural, national particularistic as well as assimilationist, thrived, or was it a historical setup where a Jewish civilization would eventually be trapped to death? Were the Polish people brothers-in-fate, victimized like the Jews by the German conqueror, or were they a hostile ethnic group relieved by the Nazis who cleaned Poland of its Jews for them?