Bożena Umińska-Keff

Here is the promised review of the evening with Bożena Umińska-Keff, the noted feminist, Jewish Polish woman which was at the Edith Stein House, as part of the 'Three Women' series.

Before I shall do the review, I shall give you a brief summary of feminism in Poland (a longer version is on wikipedia); I shall then briefly summarise the modern situation of feminism in Poland (using Pani Bozena and others) before coming to the event that happened in the Edith Stein House.  There is little work available in English on Pani Bozena, so excuse the fact that I am trying to be quite thorough.

Feminism from 1800 till now

From 1800 till 1918  four waves of feminism happened, largely taking its cue from western countries and which showed a concern on education, equality in the professions, the perverting of the fundamental humanity of women by society, female passivity and prostitution.

The new Polish state of 1918 brought changes, and led some women to believe that their liberation has having occured (equality in education and in work, as they saw it).  Some however saw new concerns and radical feminists railed against emotional relationships with me and other issues were raised, such as that of planned parenthood, sexual education, divorce and abortion, as well as the 'interference by the RC church'.

WWII effectively silenced feminsts (though who knows, perhaps some feminist tomes were made in women's camps?) and the next wave was from 1948 with the establishment of the communist state of Poland.  The state actively promoted equality of the sexes with regards to productivity and farming.  Abortion was legalised in 1956.  However, feminism was something from above, and other issues were supressed by the state.

The change of 1989 also brought changes for women.  The RC church's increased power showed itself in a fierce opposition to feminism, which identified feminism as having the poor communist era reproductive policy.  Abortion was delegalised in 1993 and till now sexual education and a state funding of contraception has been suppressed since 1998.  According to Pani Bozena (in this excellent publication you can read here) feminism was linked in the minds of many with left-wing traditions, traditions which are not popular in Poland since the end of the communist state. 

This has been shown by Elwira M. Grossmann, who when analysing Polish theatre said that "When one scrutinises the language of Polish scholarship, it becomes quite obvious that the majority of both sexes still considers feminism to be a dangerous disease of people who are intellectually inferior. The stigma attached to the term “feminism” forces many to search for euphemisms when presenting their views in public."

The RC church plays a part here.

'Solidarity' and the Roman Catholic church in Poland

To tell the truth, I am partly loath to go down what for many people on the left is a familar route: To demonise the RC church, especially when it is clear how much good the RC church achieved in Poland before 1989.  That said, it would not be possible to talk about feminism in Poland without mentioning what feminsts are saying about the RC church (also when it is not their campaign against statist communists which is being criticised, rather its sexism).  Pani Bozena purports (on page 18 and 19 here) that the RC church is a 'hierarchical, inflexible (church) based on obedience' and where women are less important.  It was this that she says strongly influenced the Solidarity movement, where, as Sylwia Chutrik says (in the same publication on page 40), anti-communism was linked with the RC church.  During the round table discussions in 1989 only one person out of thrity on the solidarity side were female (on the opposing side there was also only one woman)

Two current issues for feminists

One is abortion.  Pani Bozena highlights two aspects to the delegalisation of abortion: One is that it forces women to undergo illegal abortions which can be dangerous (or force them to go across the borders to pay out for abortions there); the second is the danger to women that results.  She mentions the story (on page 22) of a 25 year old girl who had a disorder in her intestines.  The doctors were afraid to touch there as due to the foetus, and the girl ended up untreated as a result (for 'reasons of conscience').  She died as a result.

The other issue is that of free market capitalism.  Despite what one hears in right-wing newspapers in the west, not everybody has seen an improvement in the situations of their lives since the end of communist rule here.  Consequently many feminists have linked their work to that of things like anarchism (many anarcho-feminist collectives exist in Poland) and, not trusting the state to surrender their (largely male) power and have therefore set up many NGO's.  Indeed, in other countries criticisms from and even towards feminism has came from the left (the book mentioned here in Germany postulates that many women are in a comfortable situation due to their husbands being rich, and therefore limit their campaigns to things like baby-care and ignore the fact that many other women are not so lucky and have more pressing concerns; while an article in konkret magazine submits the claim that the quota-debate in Germany ignores the real situation of women, largely immigrants from the east, due to capitalism).

International Women's Day

Only anecdotally speaking, but I gather that some feminsts in Poland are highly criticial of the day that feminsts in richer countries are supportive of: International Women's Day (though it must be said that IWD is very small in the same countries), in that, it is like saying, 'You women must do most of the child-rearing alone, and we won't always listen to your voice, and in the professions you shall find that your prospects are limitted, but nevermind, here's a flower to make you think we respect you.'  (I would say that a greater profile of International Men's Day (November 19th) is needed in Poland, seeing as the promotion of gender equality, i.e. also for women is one of its aims.)


Indeed, the reknowned feminist writer Agnieszka Graff in an interview with her speaks of how women have nothing to celebrate in Poland during IWD, due to what she sees to be the siezure of women's issues by the far-right (i.e. some members of the PiS party.)

Whatever one thinks about IWD, it shows that the situation of feminsts in Poland is such that such a view is a minority one, due to the aforementioned prejudice against feminsim in Poland.

Finally, the review of the evening in the Edith Stein House!

 

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During the evening she read from the book mentioned in this review (which is about the play version of the book), which is about the relationship between a Shoah survivor and her daughter.  While the issue of the impact of the Shoah may be the main interest, the discussion during the evening went in another direction: That of the power of the mother, whose 'power is absolute'.

During the discussion many people spoke of their experiences with their mother as well as with the rest of the older members of the family.  The common theme was of domination, of not being free to live one's life, to make decisions for oneself (such as to what one studies, who and how one marries).  The picture presented were generations of people (including people who are in their 50's) who have been oppressed by their parents, but have not been aware of this, as, as Pani Bozena says, the cultural 'norm' that one 'respects ones parents' is so strong that people are not aware of an alternative, the consequence being that it is not considered to be a problem.  She also said that, while other issues in Poland may be more spoken of (say, treament of people with mental health problems) may lead to books and articles, the generational conflicts that occur in Poland is not thematised.

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Again, anecdotally speaking, I know plenty Poles for whom the relationships with their parents and older family members are problematic.  Of course, Poles are not alone in having this (see this poem from the British poet Philip Larkin.  The born in Poland psychoanalyst (also of Jewish descent) Alice Miller has written of how people are prone to consider criticism of their parents (in her writings on child abuse), as they were encultured to love their parents, upon whom they are dependent, and therefore nurse, as she says, an unconscious anger against their parents for abuses they may have suffered.  

Now, I am not saying that all Polish parents abuse their children with violence.  I am saying that our cultures tend to tell us that those who are our parents (and by extension, people older than us) are good people and it can be difficult to consider that they may have done bad things.  Such a revelation was strongly apparent in the German generation who were students in the 1960's.  Of course, in GB The Beatles benefitted from an opening ability of young people to rebel against their parents.  In GB, the US, Germany and many western countries, the 1960's saw such waves of rebellion, rebellion that was fed by culture (and vice versa).  Such events in Poland did not happen as people had other concerns, living as they were in a statist country.

As I have said before the ability of people in Poland to deal with problematical issues is still being affected by its history, and the thematisation of feminism and the domination of children by their parents are underdeveloped themes.  Pani Bozena laments that on this video (it is in English).


Anyway, many people participated in the discussion and the evening lasted a lot longer than planned.

Some more about Bożena Umińska-Keff

As one could see in the event in the Edith Stein House, Pani Bozena engages herself with more than straightforward "women's issues'.  That makes sense for a feminist, in that one key aim is dealing with domination (termed as 'patriarchy'; I am happy with the concept though not with the name).


In this video

she also deals with the treatment not only of Jewish Poles, but also people who are LGBT in Poland.  As it is in English I do not need to write any more about that, only to say that she as a heterosexual person has been very vocal in her support for members of the LGBT community in Poland.


An area that I shall like to briefly focus upon is patriotism.  In this article (the translation is not the best but better than nothing) she approves of Tomasz Zuradzki who spoke of patriotism as being the same as racism, and goes on to link patriotism to 'patriachy' and militrism, as well as stereotypes, prejudices and resentments.  She quotes from one of Agnieszka Graff's works, speaking of grass and sky where there is nothing particularly Polish, and where the same sky is over Slovakia.  She says 'The planet will be much longer than we are.  And our patriotisms.'

I would add, and our gender roles as well.

Post Scriptum: This article published just over a month ago written by Agnieszka Graff supports many of the points here, but points a more positive future due to the work of the current PM, Donald Tusk (I say quickly that I am not a total supporter of his, but am quoting what Pani Agnieszka says.)

An evening with Ursula Waage and Danuta Orłowska

As part of the 'Three Women' (Trzy kobiety) series at the Edith Stein house I attended a talk given by Ursula Waage, born in Germany and a resident of Breslau (now Wrocław) and Danuta Orłowska, born in Poland and someone who was a forced labourer in Breslau during WWII.

Picture the scene: Ursula Waage, born in 1928 was sitting in the salon.  She has written a book about her experiences of living in Nazi Germany in Breslau, 'Crossroads at the Odra river' (a book in German called 'Kreuzwege am Oderstrom') and managed to survive the 'Siege of Breslau' which almost lasted for three months, an event that was to result in the death of at least 29,000 civilians and military personal (estimates wildly vary as to just how many people died).  She, along with almost other Germans were forcibly expelled from what became Wrocław in Poland, and left in 1947.

Sat next to her was Danuta Orłowska, a woman who had herself been in Breslau during the Siege of Breslau.  They had never met during their years in Breslau but came into contact during an historical event four years ago and decided to keep in touch, as their life's paths had both been strongly marked by WWII.

Danuta Orłowska

I have been to many talks by historical witnesses* and generally one person has been interviewed, and they are themselves the centre of the talk.  With this talk things were different.  Ursula Waage put Danuta Orłowska at the centre of the talk.  She reported from her biographical story, something she had done in the aforementioned book.

Danuta Orłowska was born in Greater Poland and was together with her mother and siblings sent by order of the German occupation powers to work as forced labourers in Breslau shortly after Poland capitulated to Germany.  Her father was sent to the Dachau concentration camp as a member of the intelligencia (part of the 'Aktion AB') and was due to be executed, but the executioner decided to let him free, and he managed to survive in hiding during the rest of WWII and eventually came to Breslau to look for his family.

During this time Danuta Orłowska's mother had for a short time taken in a young child which was Jewish.  She reported that the child immediately ran into the cupboard upon being delivered to the house, a sign that it was used to being in hiding.  This child was a fearful child that would run to the cupboard whenever any noise outside was to occur.  The family were in danger by taking in this child.  The protection of Jews carried the death penalty in Poland (only in Poland.)  After a week the child's aunty came and took the child away, bringing it has to be said relief to the family.

As preparation for the Siege of Breslau an airfield was to be made on Kaiserstrasse (now the area where Plac Grundwaldski is) Danuta Orłowska, her mother and siblings were made to work there.  (Interestingly enough she got breaks from work (which lasted a few hours) and used the time to go into the city centre and she very much liked the town hall, wanting to work there afterwards; something she eventually did).  Her father managed to find them and eventually they went into hiding in a cellar during the bombardment of the city.

One day the noise has subsumed and, thinking the war was over, went outside, only to be confronted by Gestapo personal.  This was during the days of martial law where people were being executed for all manner of crime, and they were all sentenced to death.  They were separated from their father and were taken to be shot.  The Gestapo man however shot to the side of them and let them go, telling them they could get help from his sister in Munich if need be.  The father was also let go.

Danuta Orłowska was to eventually settle in Wrocław.

Ursula Waage

It is notable that Ursula Waage decided to put the attention on Danuta Orłowska.  She also faced the danger of being killed during the Siege of Breslau due to the perilous nature of being there.  After the war ended she faced hostility from Poles who moved to Wrocław (in fact, Poles who were by and largely forcefully expelled from their homes in the east).  She said that she realised that Germans were hated by Poles and she also felt in danger of being attacked and raped during the nights, so much so that she took to hiding in the cellar (in his book 'Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City' the Welshman Norman Davies included many reports of German and indeed also Soviet and Polish woman of being raped by both Soviet soldiers as well as Polish marauders).  

Once she was at what is now the Nadodze train station (not that far away from where I am writing this article now) seeing Germans who were being deported to Germany.  She reported how she saw children lying on the bank and wondering why no-one was looking after the children.  Then she saw how a mother passed a two-month old baby out of the train window, a baby that had died.  Then she realised that the children lying on the bank were also those who had died on the train.

In 1947 she and her family were themselves forced to leave the now named Wrocław and she was sent to Leipzig.

Reflection

Danuta Orłowska's story is representative of stories that could be told throughout Poland: That of being a forced labourer (being effectively a slave) and seeing her family split up with no knowledge of where the others were, or if they were even alive; additionally death through execution or through mistreatment was a danger.  As I said here there are many individual histories in Poland that are traumatic and my experience of talks by historical witnesses is that they serve as a way of dealing with the pain of the past.  Danuta Orłowska was visibly moved by the talk and became more animated as the evening went on.  There were plenty more stories to be told and, despite her mature years, she had more energy to talk than most people there.

The narrative of the forceful expulsion of Germans from the former German territory which is now in Poland is a sensitive theme in both Germany but especially in Poland.  The head of the 'Federation of Expellees' (Bund der Vertrieben) is someone who has relativised Nazi war crimes and due the Bund's lack of attention given to the crimes are not liked in Poland.  (Indeed, some Poles can get quite emotional about her.)

Due to the nature of the crimes done by Germans during WWII and the fact that it took Germans a few decades before they were able to deal with crimes done by their compatriots, together with the fact that the statistics of Germans who were expelled from Poland were exaggerated leads many to have little sympathy for the plight of Germans such as Ulrike Waage.  In this sensitive political climate talks by people like Ulrike Waage, talks which also focus on the suffering of Poles during WWII are an important step forward, especially when, as the Karta organisation, enabled both Poles and Germans to tell each other of their personal histories.

The situation faced by Germans in Breslau after WWII are not, so I believe, part of the narrative of the stories spoken by Poles about those times.  Even Dorota Orłowska spoke of the years directly after 1945 as being a very good time, with people being 'very friendly and looking out for each other'.  In fact, the different experiences of Ursula Waage and Danuta Orłowska led to a small conflict between them as to life in Wrocław directly after the war's end.  As ever, the different personal (and national) narratives regarding the past leads to conflict.  A sense of victimhood by and large permeated both Polish and German people who were young during the WWII and immediate aftermath.  Of course, from the Polish perspective this is natural and appropriate.  Talks such as this one however shows that the narratives of German/bad Polish/good are not totally appropriate (i.e. Germans helping Poles; Poles attacking Germans).  While stories on both sides face the danger of being misrepresented (such as with anti-Polish feelings in the west) the more nuanced view that people on both sides suffered is one that emerges from such talks (I say that while stating that suffering can mean many different things.)

Just one thing.....

It is good when people from different countries can talk about their experiences of WWII.  It helps them and others to see that, for example, some Germans did good things, that Poles were also forcefully expelled from the east, and so on.  The human face behind history becomes much clearer.

Organisations like the Edith Stein House, the Foundation for German-Polish reconciliation, and the aforementioned Karta do much needed work to facilitate this.  Considering prejudices in both countries this is vital.

The thing is, is that the nature of such a dialogue brings a third 'group' into play: The 'Russians', or better said, people from the Soviet Union.  It is the 'Russians' who bombarded the cities, who raped the women, who were behind the deportations.  Unlike with the narratives about Germans and also Poles, only one side of the 'Russians' are shown, that of the people who did bad things.

Let's be clear, soldiers of the Soviet Union did human rights abuses during and after WWII.  Is it possible that such talks can help prejudices about people from the Soviet Union (or Russian) to continue?

Let's talk about rape

Rape is a crime.  It is a human rights abuse.  Willful rape is without excuse.  Let's be clear about that.

The thing is......while not seeking to excuse the men (and in this regard it was only men, as far as we know anyway; unlike the Wehrmacht there were women in the Soviet Army) who raped women during and after WWII, there are a few facts that need to be drawn into account.  The Soviet Union suffered massively in the war (see here,  though bear in mind that the figure given of deaths is wrong, and is more commonly estimated to be between 25-30m.  A key thing to focus upon is the treatment of Soviet POW's that led to the death of around 3.3m soldiers).  The men and women of the Soviet Army had lost family and friends during the war.  They also, again unlike the members of the Wehrmacht had no holiday from the war.  They could not return home for a break.  From the 22nd of June 1941 they were at war, and that was that.

War does not humane behaviour make.  As the film 'Anonymous, a woman in Berlin' shows quite well, the members of the Soviet Army were people with trauma behind them, and were brutalised by the war; a war their government had indeed helped to start in 1939 but a war which devastated millions of people in the Soviet Union.  Some of the men in the film were shown also to be young people, young people who actually fell in love with the women, who thought that they had started a relationship with them.

None of this excuses rape, or takes away or relativises the suffering of the women raped in Breslau after WWII.  I am just saying that the men who committed rape were human beings and it is possible that they were people traumatised by and unable to deal with war.  I am not advocating forgetting what happened, or saying that rape is OK, rather, I am trying to understand why it happened.

Hands open to the east

To be clear: I am not against such talks as the one last week.  I am not against the work of the aforementioned organisations that deal with Poles and Germans.  I am also not against the moderation of the talk last week.  I think I have been clear in saying that they are vital.  How, though to deal with the danger of strengthening the 'evil' figure of Soviets?

May I suggest the following: 

A greater education of not only the crimes suffered by Poles (and also some Germans) is needed, but also that of Soviets?  Seriously; did you know how many Soviet POW's died during WWII?  In my tours in Berlin I do not believe I have ever met anyone who knew that so many people died (more Soviet POW's died and non-Jewish Poles or than British and American casualties during both WWI and WWII together).

German-Polish work to be expanded into German-Russian and Polish-Russian.  Interestingly I shared my view regarding how Russians were spoken about with two Poles and both agreed with me, one saying that Polish is not yet ready to open the hand to Russians.  Bear in mind that Soviet citizens were also victims of Soviet crimes after 1945.  Many POW and forced labour camp survivors were executed.  Perhaps Poles could learn that Soviets also suffered and died due to Soviet policies (through the NKWD).

Perhaps events such as that in Krzyż can also take place in L'viv, Lut'sk, Brest and Vilnius, enabling expellees who now live in each of these countries could share their experiences?  Perhaps then young people in those areas would hear a wider narrative than that given to them by their families and schools?

The Edith Stein House

In this talk it has showed itself to be focussed on the 'other', not on the people in the 'we' group, but rather on people who have different and occasionally contradictory and even opposing views.  Long may the focus on the 'other' and its relationship with the 'we-group' continue.

To return to Ursula Waage, here you can hear her speak (in German).  Her book shall be translated into Polish so look out for it.  Otherwise you can read it in German.  Otherwise the final segment of the Edith Stein House's 'Three Women' series is with Sonia Winterburg on Wednesday the 31st of May at 6pm, where she shall talk of themes known to regular readers of this blog: war and trauma.

* The German word 'Zeitzeugen' is one of the most falsely translated words into English, often being translated as 'eye witnesses'.  This is false.  'Eye-witness' in German is Augenzeuge and in both English and German means someone who witnessed but was not the main character influenced by a historical event (say, of a crime on the street).  'Zeitzeugen' rather means someone who was directly influenced by the event and are reporting their own story.  They serve as living evidence of something historical (unlike, say, documentation of records of statistics) and therefore are 'historical witnesses' of their own experiences.  See Harold Marcuse for more information on this term.  Depending on what they have experienced, they may also be titled as Shoah or genocide survivors, dependent on whether it could be considered that their death would have been likely, such as with the Shoah or genocide in Srebrenica.

Response to Timothy Garton Ash's article about Poland in The Guardian

The British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ is doing a week-long focus on Poland as part of its interest in ‘Europe’ (a term which in GB means continental Europe.) 

In the article ‘Poland: a country getting to grips with being normal at last’ Timothy Garton Ash, writes about his impressions of the changes in Polish society within the past twenty years and the possibilities how it may turn out.

I shall come to a few points he raises, but first I wish to note something.

He wrote the article in Warsaw.  Many of the comments on the page are by those who live in Warsaw or have been there.  Nothing wrong with that.  Most people know the capital city of any country better than the other towns.

In trying to understand Poland, however, one needs to know much more than the life in the capital city.  Some people (on the comments board) have noted the urban/rural divide in Poland.  That is true and others who live in rural areas can contribute much more about that.

What I can say more about is another aspect of Polish history.  A difficult one that still causes resentments across both sides of the Oder/Niesse border.  I mean, the forced transfer of ethnic Germans.  From Lower and Higher Silesia around 5.2 million ethnic Germans were forcefully repatriated to the newly defined Germany.  These were replaced by less than 2m Poles from the areas of former Poland that were now in the Ukraine and Lithuania.

The Poles who arrived in the former German city of Breslau, now named Wrocław, found a city in ruins following the Siege of Breslau where they suddenly had to make their homes.  

Many of the Poles who were deported to the 'Recovered Territories‘ (Lower and Upper Silesia as well as the former East Prussia, part of which was in the area which is now north of Poland) were used to a rural life and found themselves settling into buildings where Germans used to live, or were still living in.  That these 'recovered territories‘ hadn’t had ethnic Poles living in them as a majority for hundreds of years meant that those who were deported there didn’t treat the place as their home.  It was Stalin who had decreed that this area was now to be Poland (assented to by Churchill and Truman).  There are many stories I’ve heard of Poles not looking after the buildings in which they now lived in.  They believed that the Germans would come back, so saw no need in investing in the buildings.

That the Federation_of_Expellees occasionally agitate for compensation or even the return of houses and even territories to Germans causes all manner of worry for some Poles.  Of course, one should bear in mind that about 3m non-Jewish and 3m Jewish Poles died during WWII, and that both non-Jewish and Jewish Poles had themselves been deported during that time!

What you should understand is that, after the trauma of WWII, millions of Poles found themselves forced to live in a place they or their families had any contact with, sharing their communities with people they didn’t know; people from different social status‘ (from peasants to professors from L’wów).  A ‚home‘ it was not.  Some say that it took Vraclavians until 1997 to accept Wrocław as theirs, following the great flood of that year.

So, Poland is more than Warsaw.  It is home to inner-tensions which are more than about west and east, between capitialism and communism.  It is more than about tensions between urban and rural dwellers.  It is even more than about historical tensions with Germans, Russians or Ukrainians.

It has a tension with itself.  Like with the second republic, Poles had no say with the creation of their country (tell that to those who agitate the same point about certain areas in the middle east!)  People living in Poland (and bear in mind that German, Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Silesian, Kashubian and Mazurian minorities still exist here) found themselves put together in a new state.  Though not a national group, a massively reduced group of Jewish people; reduced of course due to the Shoah but also due to the state pogrom of 1968 ) may have shared suffering, but this suffering was different, and this suffering causes division (certainly, the passing of years and various initiatives have helped, but the division is still there).  A division which to some extent is brushed under the carpet of national mythology.  A division caused by the Polish civil war and also the establishment of communism.

'Who are we?‘  is the question which nations tend to ask.  Ash’s article shows that this question is still asked by people in Poland.  The 're-branding of Poland‘ as mentioned in the article came up with a new motto: 'Creative tension‘.

There is certainly enough tension in Poland!  Witness the reactions to the Smolensk tragedy, mentioned in the article.  I’ll quote Ash (hope he doesn’t mind!):

“There is the "normal" of contemporary Europe: the consumer society you see on the streets of central Warsaw and the TV screen. And there is the "normal" of most of modern Polish history: partition, occupation, unfreedom, ethnic conflict, economic distress, the blending of patriotism, romanticism and religion.”

Could this tension be creative in Poland?  Could such tension produce an outpouring of emotion which would then be cathartic?  Ash also uses the words ‘cognitive dissonance’.

Wikipedia defines cognitive dissonance as meaning "an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions.  Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying."

There are organisations in Poland who try to speak about difficult historical events and enable the different sufferings suffered by different ethnic groups to be recognised by each other.  One such is Karta http://www.karta.org.pl/ (sadly, the site is only available in English).  They do many projects, which includes events whereby ethnic Germans visit the places they used to live in in what is now Poland, and talk with elderly Poles who live there now, Poles who were themselves deported from the east.  A wise man said that ‘reconciliation can happen when one recognises the suffering of the other’.  Karta enable that to happen.

The Edith Stein House  is another organisation that carries out projects based on bringing people from different cultures and backgrounds together.  In 2009 German Jewish people who left the old Breslau after the Nazi pogrom of 1938 came back to their former city for the first time ever and showed young Polish and German people around the places of their former childhood.  This was a very moving experience for all involved.

It is happening and I believe that many younger Poles (and indeed, older Poles) are wanting to move forward.  Young Poles I know are interested in working on tolerance and respect for the 'other'.  They are in fact very curious about 'the other'.  Other Brits or perhaps Americans as well will confirm this!  This 'other' creates, of course, a tension.  A tension which can indeed be creative.

Poland is much more than the tension between west and east.  Poland has a tension about the 'other', an 'other' that can include other Poles.  Organisations like Karta and the Edith Stein House show  that some Polish people are working together with people from other cultures to try to deal with that tension in a creative way, thus 'changing their attitudes, beliefs and actions'.

Not a bad benchmark for the EU, no?  Certainly, such a dealing of mass cognitive dissonance would be useful in Egypt.