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I guess every group likes to have at
least one scapegoat; I just happened to fall into that category early on and
become the group's permanent focus. Looking back now, I strongly suspect that if
there had been a black or Hispanic student in my age-group, I would most likely
have been over-looked. Probably never popular, but not THE ONE to be taunted
and physically beaten up.
To this day, I still feel most Jewish
when I hear Judaism being attacked.
At home, however, I got somewhat mixed
signals about being Jewish. The tragedy of "The Six Million" (Jews
who died in the Nazi Holocaust) always loomed large. I was told you could never
really trust "the goyim" because look what happened to German Jews;
they had felt themselves to be Germans first and Jews second. Big mistake.
And yet...in my memory, my parents never
really practiced Judaism. Every Chanukah was filled with eight nights of
presents (wonderful!) and every Passover we had a special family meal, complete
with the four questions. But that was it. No Sabbath on Friday nights. No
fasting on Yom Kipper. We were like Christians who were really Christian only
on Christmas and Easter. About as assimilated as you could get.
It seemed that being Jewish was not a
thing you practiced; it was a state of being---and a dangerous state at that. You
never know when the ax might fall.
Informant was a female in her twenties.
THE BACKGROUND on these interviews, that
is, when they were conducted, who the informants were, and why I post them, see
here.
"To Chew Someone Down"
Bieganski Interview #1
"Poles are Inherently Comic
Janitors" Bieganski Interview # 2
"My Father Began to Conceal His
Jewish Origins" Bieganski Interview # 3
They Worked Like Moles Their Whole Lives
Bieganski Interview # 4
"She Never, and I Mean Never, Threw
Anything Away" Bieganski Interview # 5
"They Always Kept One Token
Jew" Bieganski Interview # 6
"White Privilege? I Laugh"
Bieganski Interview # 7
"Stalin Died and I Was Set
Free" #8
"The Jew is Clever. The Pole is
Obnoxious, Loud, and Stupid." #9
"My Grandfather Let Anastasia
Escape" #10
"I Have Always Been Afraid to Get
Close to Any 'Real' Jews"# 12
"Germans. I don't Like Hearing the
Language" #14
"Those Shoes Kick My People to
Death" #15
"Why Get Your Hopes Up?" # 16
"Goyim Sell Their Children for a Bottle
of Whiskey" # 17
"My Father Was Beaten Up By Right-Wing
Polish Extremists"
# 18
"My Great Grandfather Was Attacked by
Some Kids in Canada"
# 19
"You Cannot Get That Job Unless You Are
Jewish" # 20
"God Knew the Jews Were Going to Have a
Pretty Interesting History."
Bieganski Interview # 21
"Why Did You Bring This F---ing Jew Into
My Store?"
Bieganski Interview # 22
"That
Jew B------ Raised the Rate" Bieganski interview # 23
"You Never Know When the Ax Might
Fall" Bieganski interview # 24
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Bieganski the Blog exists to further explore the themes of the book Bieganski the Brute Polak Stereotype, Its Role in Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture.
These themes include the false and damaging stereotype of Poles as brutes who are uniquely hateful and responsible for atrocity, and this stereotype's use in distorting WW II history and all accounts of atrocity.
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