not have time to look after their children. Over time, such a situation resulted in a profound cultural disparity between the older and the younger generation, making any closer contact virtually impossible. In the Polish school where I worked, this phenomenon was not as severe. Parents hailing from the Jewish intelligentsia and bourgeoisie who sent their children there took almost too much interest in them. But they also lost touch with the younger generation, especially in older forms. The new intelligentsia and bourgeois youth seemed alien to them, and were often confusing for the elders. I have a feeling that those young people were approaching the ideal set by the sanacja regime. The new generation was empty, devoid of any sound intellectual and even moral basis.
The question remains where and how young people found outlets for their vital forces. First of all, it was in the field of sexual life. I have always been struck, both in male and female schools, how extremely early pupils reached puberty. I feel that this also had a very negative impact on mental development. Even 11or 12-year-old girls and boys devoted most of their free time to pastimes of a sexual nature. Lack of adequate explanation of these problems by the school or parents led to “spontaneous” mutual education. They developed [5] a brutal approach to issues of sexuality. Lack of idealism and an overly realistic attitude among young people was evident in this regard.
This lack of any idealism was a characteristic feature of many young people from the milieu of bourgeoisie and intelligentsia, with whom I have interacted directly and indirectly. If they did join political organisations, they were not profoundly involved in that activity, and therefore were just as quick to sign in as to leave. Young people were eager to become members of school sections of academic corporations. They found such affected claptrap appealing. Boys and girls liked all the hats, sashes, rapiers, and other accessories. In addition, their involvement gave them more opportunity to meet members of the opposite sex.
Young Jews were very attuned to the day-to-day violent manifestations of the sanacja regime’s antisemitic policies, along with the political events of recent years in general. As I mentioned, the revisionist and Stalinist leanings were prevalent. However, this was only a vague atmosphere, and almost no one sought to form a system of beliefs via intense mental work. Young people were neither used to, nor prepared for it, and they carefully avoided any
