Report by the POLIN Museum:
Whom do Poles see when they see a Jew?
Kogo widzą Polacy, kiedy widzą Żyda?

At the end of 2023, a Report on research carried out by the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews was published: “Whom do Poles see when they see a Jew?” (Kogo widzą Polacy, kiedy widzą Żyda?). The document, edited by Marcin Napiórkowski, issued a series of substantial conclusions. Below, we quote a few of them.

The author notes that

Jews, even if absent, remain a key element of Polish identity as the Other that defines and completes it. Poles will often unconsciously define themselves as non-Jews.

Cultural codes describing Jews remain the default clichés through which the “new others” appearing in the cultural space.

Anti-Ukrainian and anti-Muslim stereotypes are built largely by assembling old codes of anti-Semitism into a new whole, while the cultural image of Jews themselves may absorb new elements from modern, globalized circulations, used in other contexts to build xenophobic rhetoric directed against completely different groups (e.g. conspiracy theories).

According to the study, the first source of stereotypes is the false belief of non-Jews that they have considerable knowledge about Jews. These stereotypes were deeply rooted in the past, showing a lack of contact with contemporary Jewish culture and its diversity. The main recommendation to address this problem is to “to build a rich, diverse image of contemporary Jewish culture among recipients, based on curiosity and empathy”, given that “the fight against anti-Semitism can not only prevent discrimination against a specific group (Jews), but also constitute a key tool in the fight against disinformation, conspiracy theories and pseudoscience”.

Yet, it was noted that antisemitism “is not a static whole”. “The cultural image of Jews themselves absorbs new elements from modern, globalized circulations, which in other contexts are used to build xenophobic rhetoric directed against completely different groups, becoming, for example, an important factor increasing society’s susceptibility to conspiracy theories”.
This observation lead to the recommendation that the “communication must be carefully tailored to target groups, with special attention to generational differences”.

Jews seen through the eyes of non-Jews

• Non-Jews, trying to define Jewishness, focus on aspects that emphasize the otherness of this group, distinguishing features.

• These are primarily aspects related to religion or tradition: religion, rituals (e.g. Shabbat, kosher, circumcision).

• Another distinguishing feature of a Jew is his characteristic appearance: physical features (e.g. aquiline nose, large ears, sidelocks, beard) or elements of clothing (yarmulke, shawl, wigs for women).

• Sometimes the system of values and behaviors is mentioned: traditionalism, family-oriented, entrepreneurship.

• Some, especially older ones, refer to the issue of inheritance of Jewishness (from the mother) as the “true” determinant of who is and who is not Jewish.

Jews seen through their own eyes

• According to Jews (especially older ones), the sign of being a Jew is origin, but understood not only literally, but also as discovering one’s roots, respect for the past, and closeness to Israel.

• An important element of identification is the sense of belonging to the Jewish nation, sometimes built on the community of experiences (ancestors: the Holocaust) and the burden of the legacy of the Holocaust.

• Jews are also defined by tradition, culture, both knowledge on the subject and practice (e.g. kosher), and to a lesser extent by religion or language itself.

• For some of the interlocutors, being Jewish is a certain distinguishing feature, sometimes a “superpower”: difference in a positive sense, resulting from the belief that they have traits such as entrepreneurship, perseverance, steadfastness.

• For some people (especially the older ones), being Jewish means not revealing oneself, a certain secret, an identity passed on to them by their grandparents at the end of their lives.

• For younger people, being a Jew means being a citizen of the world, the ability to adapt, and openness.

A false belief in a high level of one’s knowledge about Jews while being unaware of the cultural diversity of this group may be an important source of stereotyping. The principle of the illusion of cognitive depth is at work here, i.e. the false belief that you have knowledge that you do not have. Such a false belief in our own knowledge leads to the creation of a simplified image that does not add up to any meaningful whole, and at the same time fills the gap, making us not ask questions because we think we know.

Research confirms the relationship between the illusion of cognitive depth and political polarization and prejudice. This creates a key cultural tension that generates anti-Semitic content. People who do not identify as Jews feel that Jews are easy to recognize by a set of universal, very characteristic features, and at the same time (because these features are the result of false perceptions) they do not see Jews around them. This contradiction is the subsoil from which subsequent stories grow: about hiding, secret conspiracies and associations, identity changes, masks, and finally the postulate of “disclosure” of Jews.