for safekeeping, sell or buy it, mediate, intervene, make something possible by backing them, lend or provide something, facilitate contact, or enable communication with the world beyond the wall. This mixture of the noblest and most heinous traits of character to be found in the Polish soul paradoxically allows for this kind of strange relationship, in which there is place for both the noblest impulse and the bestial malice for a captive. One is compelled to note that every society is recruited from two different types. However, we have already given the answer to that, as we cannot provide numbers which would tell us which attitude of Poles towards Jews expresses the wishes and feelings of the majority.
And one more thing. When talking about Polish–Jewish relations, at least a few words must be said about the attitude of Jews towards Poles. We are excluding business relations, because in this area only specific methods apply today, conflicting with each pre-war instance of morality. We must therefore first state that the Jews remember fondly and with profound gratitude the support and helping hand lent to them by individual Poles. They most certainly will never forget this and will try to return the favour in the near future. As for the insults and meanness—those they do not forget either, but choose not to remember. They have confidence in the Polish people. One thing strikes as unpleasant, though: a strong sense of inferiority. This Inferioritatis Komplex611 pleases every Jew when someone says that he looks like a Pole, or when he can boast of friendships and contacts with Poles, as though this were a reason for glory in itself. Most Jews behave meekly towards Poles, flattering and serving them as if they were indeed something significantly superior. A Jewess is proud of casual flirting with a tram driver or installer. A Jew bows low to the Pole, as his grandfather arendarz612 did to his squire. This cannot be eradicated because it apparently runs in the blood.
ARG I 659 (Ring. I/92).
Description: original, handwritten, notebook, ink, Polish, 155x195 mm, 11 sheets, 11 pages.
Published in: Selected Documents, pp. 615-620 (“Stosunki polsko-żydowskie” [Polish-Jewish Relations]), pp. 674-677 (“Polscy pisarze” [Polish Writers]).
