May the Poles Burn

I just read this in a facebook post.

I want to repost it, because it is such a succinct summary of one understanding of the Bieganski stereotype. Here it is:

***

"My father, who lost his entire family in Poland, told me: 'For a thousand years we lived there -- and still they turned us in. May they all burn.'

Racial policies against Jews were in place years before the German occupation. Limits on Jewish life was not a German invention. The Germans picked Poland for the location of the death camps because they knew that country was a fertile ground for Jew hatred.

What I find the most loathsome is the Polish idea of their own victimhood. OMG, at least hide your head in shame and shut up, hoping no one will notice.

And, incidentally, how do you explain the pogroms against Jews AFTER the poor muselmen came back from the ovens to their home towns? Who forced those on your poor Poles?"

***

My answer to this gentleman's concerns can be found in "Bieganski."

I think everything said here is important and needs to be addressed. I attempt to address it in the book. Perhaps this gentleman will read it and report back how confronting another point of view has affected his conclusion that all Poles should burn.


A follow up added after the author of the above post responded in the comments section, below:

Yori, I'm fascinated by your initial post because it is so short and yet it sums up so very much of the Bieganski stereotype. My book addresses your every point, and I hope you read it.

What you say, Yori, MANY people say, and believe. Not just Jews. Regular readers of this blog know that I have reproduced material even from Catholic publications that support these anti-Polish views. I have met college professors and average Americans who are not Jewish who are 100% invested in the very view you express here.

The Bieganski stereotype is very powerful and very widespread and I hope Polonia will join me in combatting it.

What I understand as your points, in sum, is below. Obviously this is my paraphrase of your main points:

***

Poles are essentially guilty of unspeakable atrocities and therefore they deserve our hate and they deserve to suffer.

We are righteous to hate them and to wish Poles ill.

I can say this because I am a victim of Poles' hate. My suffering justifies my position.

There was a teleological inevitability of the Holocaust. Even with a thousand years of history, it was inevitable that Poles would kill off all the Jews.

Poles are so essentially guilty that any according of sympathy to them for their suffering is itself an obscenity. Poles must be denied victim status at all costs.

Poles are so very bad that they are the only nation on earth that killed Jews after the Holocaust.

***

Indeed, every one of these powerful assertions is debated head-on in "Bieganski." I hope you will read it and get back to the blog and tell us what you think.

***

Yori, thank you for following up with a post in the comments section.

You and I have a lot in common.

You are deeply invested in your Jewish ancestry.

I am deeply invested in my Polish and Slovak ancestry, and my Catholic faith.

You have a grudge against Poles.

As regular readers of this blog know, I have a grudge against Germans. If I had had the power, after World War II, I would have used nuclear weapons against Germany. I would not have done that out of any just or strategic reason. I would have done that out of hatred of Germans and Germany.

Otto, a contributor to this blog, slightly nudged my mind on my hatred of Germans, in his blog post "Ripples of Sin."

I know what it is to feel what you feel, Yori.

Yori, you wrote, "My hatred is not based on stereotypes."

I will politely disagree.

Yori, you wrote, "All I have is a black hole where my family used to be." Please accept my human condolences for your human sorrow. We are both human and we both know what it is to grieve and we both know what it is to care and we both know what it is to make amends and to work for a better future. We can do all these together, both as individuals and as peoples.

Yori, you wrote: "I pray for a fire that will start at the Ural Mountains and sweep across the plains and burn down your cursed Europe where our Jewish shadows are roaming in the night air."

I can certainly understand that righteous anger.

I will say, though, that as I read these words, I feel concern for your eternal soul.

God did say, in Deuteronomy, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay."

We are not God. It is not ours to avenge in the manner you recommend.

It is ours to understand, and to seek forgiveness where possible, and to find humanity in our fellow humans.

Poles Organizing??? A Guest Post and a Response

A guest blog entry by Mietek de Woldan

For sure, the Bieganski stereotype surfaces from time to time outside North America. Examples: recently in Argentina a minister speaking about ‘stupid Polish farmers’; in Germany the media from time to time reporting on the ‘thieving nature of Poles’; in the UK some of the media seeing Poles (among others) as the ‘source of social problems’ through their drinking and rowdy behaviour; some of the Israeli press seizing every opportunity to imply to the world the ‘anti-Semitism inherent in all Poles’; the assertions by the UK’s BBC before the Euro 2012 football about ‘extreme racism’ in Poland. But, since there is no consistency of perception that applies across all of these countries, each 'incident' has to be addressed 'on its merits' as it arises.

Add to that the existence of specific local problems. Examples: Lithuania and Belarus - where the very identity of Polish minorities, their culture and organisations are under threat; Holland - where there is a powerful anti-Polish (anti-immigrant generally) ‘hate’ campaign instigated by a political party; Germany - where Polish children are being ‘germanised’ if taken into the care of the state. These are vital issues that need action ‘today’ - and local Polonian organisations are fully engaged in addressing them. Within resource constraints it is difficult to expect these same organisations to also address the more general matter of ‘defending Poland’s good name’ as their top priority.

The UK situation is different. When the 1944/46 uproar against recent allies - now called ‘Polish fascists’ - subsided, the British establishment on the surface ignored these embarrassing reminders of betrayal - yet discrimination was real but covert. Organisations that once reminded the world about Poland’s right to freedom, now offer support to the influx of Poles seeking work in the UK. ‘Defending Poland’s good name’ is perhaps lower priority against these urgent practical demands.

And then, some might contend, there are anti-Polish elements in Poland itself. Is the German Historical Institute simply a tool of German policy to enmesh Poles in 'joint responsibility' for the holocaust? Paradoxically, why do some people see the activities of the Jewish Historical Institute as having a similar effect? Why are some publications of the IPN (Institute of National Remembrance) thought to be motivated more by political expediency and less by the search for impartially verifiable facts? If this is the reality who, other than the authorities in Poland, can possibly deal with it?

Against this background, Bieganski the blog recommends that we must become activists. But, who are 'we' precisely? Outside North America, apart from well-known exceptions, the Polish diaspora consists of several waves of migration from 1939 onwards. For each new wave, the 'patriotic' basis has been weaker and the 'material incentive' greater, such that latest arrivals have little appetite for 'political activity'. In any case, even those with more 'patriotic' leanings found that securing basic needs took most of their time and energy - few had the means to be 'politically active'. In my view 'we' - who now have the means - are now aged 50 to 60+ (possibly 40 to 50). This is a narrow and thinly spread group.

The vision of Bieganski the blog then recommends that activists must 'organise'. Indeed, we have the example of 'organiczna praca' of the 19^th century positivist movement as our inspiration. But are we really suffering from a lack of 'organisation'? It is sufficient to access the website of Wspolnota Polska to see there is no shortage - every major country has at least one, and the list does not include more 'informal' or 'specialist' networks or internet communities. For interest, the "Rada Polonii Świata" (World Polish Council, domiciled in Chicago) appears to be defunct; the "Europejska Unia Wspólnot Polonijnych" (Union of Polish Communities in Europe, domiciled in London – has anyone ever heard of them?) has a 'Commission to Defend Poland's Standing' (it also has Commissions for Education, Media etc). So, perhaps the issue is that some need waking up from their slumbers or others need to convert from being a 'talking shop' into a spearhead for action? Bieganski the blog has the answer - an umbrella organisation of paid specialists to make 'the case for Poland' on the world stage. But excuse me for my presumption in suggesting it exists already - it is the Polish government with its worldwide network of embassies and consulates, whose staff might tackle anti-Polish issues … but then they do that already, albeit in a more limited manner than some of us may prefer.

Then here I am, faced with: a multiplicity of disconnected anti-Polish phenomena across the world; nationally based Polonian organisations that have vital matters needing their attention, including their Polonia's continued existence; some Polonian umbrella organisations that need to be strengthened by more dynamic leadership from the Polish government. I do what any activist should do - along with like minded people, select and 'freeze' an issue and work on it until it 'disappears'. So please don't berate or lecture me on seeking correction of 'Polish concentration camps' - it is one of the issues that requires focus. And, as an aside, it is not a 'chauvinistic' activity but a straightforward defence of the truth against a creeping tide of disinformation.

I am aware that my analysis is incomplete - it is impossible to comment on every country where Poles reside, even if I knew their situation. In particular I have avoided saying anything about North America. Why? Because it is a context in a category of its own due to its history and ethnic mix. I especially do not wish to challenge Danusha's Bieganski analysis, since there is no reason to doubt it. But I do suggest that the analysis and solutions put forward in the blog are more relevant to North America than elsewhere.

One of the many points where Bieganski the blog and I meet is on the need for a dynamic 'worldwide' organisation. I suggest that Danusha and colleagues should summarise the "Bieganski concept" in a booklet on four sides of A4 in Polish, for every member of the Polish Sejm and Senate to get a copy, and then to be lobbied incessantly until they take full responsibility for the mission to inject leadership and funds to tackle the particular issue(s) pertinent to different countries.

Mietek de Woldan

***

I'm very grateful for the above guest blog post.

I will politely and briefly disagree with a few points.

My own work, such as it is, is focused on the Bieganski, Brute Polak stereotype. Many readers won't know what that is, because many blog readers have yet to purchase and read "Bieganski."

Again and again, I see posts on internet sites devoted to negative stereotyping of Poles. These posts all say the same thing. "Golly, gee, where did this stereotype of Poles come from? Why does it exist? Why do people engage in it? What can we do about it?"

In the absence of answers, posters are encouraged -- and yes I see these posts repeatedly -- to blame the Jews. I even recently saw a post in which a poster said she was reading The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in an effort to better understand stereotyping.

Polonians frequently write to me to complain about the cost of "Bieganski." The most recent Polonian to do so was a journalist with a Polish publication. What does it say about our priorities that even a Polish journalist for a Polish publication resists the purchase of a book on a Polish topic?

I ask you -- how much MORE expensive is it to fill one's mind with the poison of a book like the Protocols?

After blaming the Jews, posters are encouraged to feel powerless. "That lobby is so powerful. We can't do anything. We can just write our little emails to this or that publication that says something we don't like."

Yes. I see these posts repeatedly. It is only my own discretion that prevents me from giving names, dates, and websites where Polonians repeat these canards over and over.

It is not to Polonia's benefit to continue re-asking the same questions over and over, and never to avail itself of the one scholarly book that addresses those questions.

It is not to Polonia's benefit to, in its own self-imposed ignorance, blame an ethnic group that is not responsible for the problem.

It is not to Polonia's benefit to tell itself it is powerless.

It is not to Polonia's benefit to stumble in the dark.

Our guest poster inadvertently trivializes the work of this blog in the phrase, "Defending Poland’s good name." Such a narcissistic, chauvinist, and trivial enterprise has ever been what this blog is about. One would have only to read it to discover that.

Our guest poster writes, "Bieganski the blog recommends that we must become activists. But, who are 'we' precisely? Outside North America, apart from well-known exceptions, the Polish diaspora consists of several waves of migration from 1939 [sic] onwards."

EVERY group faces the exact same diversity. There is no monolithic group of Blacks or Jews or Italians or Women or Homosexuals. And yet Blacks and Jews and Italians and Women and Homosexuals manage to organize effectively across generations, borders, and incomes. I know because I've been involved in groups focused around all these identities and more.

It's time for Polonia to stop making excuses like this, to stop blaming others (primarily Jews, but, lately, as in a couple of recent books, Jews and Leftists). It's time for Polonia to overcome its own resistance to organization and effective action.

But all of this has been said before. The best response to the above guest blog entry is the three-part blog post, "The Crisis in Polonian Leadership, Organization, and Vision."

"Not Once on the Verge of Losing My Cool ... " Guest Post by Joanna Pietruszewski

By Joanna Pietruszewski

My personal general observation: when I read some Polish responses to vile writings of Debbie Schlussel and the likes, I am wondering whether many Poles think.

Some of the respondents seem to be swept by emotions to such a degree that their responses sound as vile if not more than the original offensive posts of the anti-Polonistic writers. Sometimes insults thrown by Poles are so violent, I am ashamed.

In the result, people who we address use our rage against us. Again. We come across as thugs, not as victims.

Perhaps we need to come to a collective Polish agreement to take a deep collective breath.

Many of those insults against our history and our dignity are primitive provocations. We don't need to react to every single idiocy thrown at us. If we decide to respond it should be with reason and class. I think perhaps we should cool down a bit. I am the first one in line to do this because, despite efforts, not once was I on the verge of losing my cool.

***

Thank you to Joanna Pietruszewski for allowing me to post this here.

Regular readers will know exactly how I will respond to Joanna's eloquent, timely and important post, above.

I beg of you, Polonia. Read, and act on, the blog post entitled "The Crisis in Polonian Leadership, Organization, and Vision."

Brits Bombing Warsaw? Info Sought, Please!

Loran diagram. source

Otto Gross, who contributed two previous guest posts to this blog, one about his Nazi father, one about Enigma, writes in with a question. Can one of the many highly intelligent and informed Bieganski-the-Blog readers help? Please post any information or leads you may have on this question to the comments section of the blog. Thanks!

Otto writes:

I'm reading a book called "Scientists Against Time," published in 1946, about the NDRC/OSRD. In the chapter on radar and the development of the navigation tool called LORAN, the author has a line that puzzled me.

Talking about the creation and use of the Sky Synchronized (SS) type of LORAN. "A modification, using the reflected sky wave at night to synchronize the master and slave stations, proved so accurate that the British used it for blind bombing as far east as Warsaw."

It goes on to mention it being used for 22,000 bombing missions, though I'm sure that's throughout the theater and not just Poland.

The time reference would have been somewhere between October 1942 and 1944.

I was unfamiliar with the Brits bombing Warsaw. Ever hear of this or know a Polish historian who might know details or point me to a reliable source?

Thanks.

Bieganski at Nova Southeastern University

Nova Southeastern University. Source

In 2006 I read "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism" a then-new book by the then-Salon writer Michelle Goldberg. The book is a paranoid, hate-mongering lie. I posted a one-star review on Amazon. The full text of that review is below.

Goldberg fans responded negatively, posting nasty messages under my review accusing me of being exactly the kind of scary, evil Christian Michelle Goldberg was warning her readers against.

On August 9, 2010, an Amazon poster identifying himself as Alan Altman responded to my review. His response, cut and pasted, in full:

"Ah yes, Eastern European ( am I guessing correctly, Danusha?), anti semitism is still alive and well in the heartland."

In his Amazon bio, this poster identifies himself as Dr. Alan S. Altman, "Professor of Music, Fine Art, in the Interdisciplinary Arts Program of the Graduate School of Education @ Nova Southeastern University. Former Trumpet student of: Eugene E. Blee, Armando Ghitalla, Gilbert Johnson, Leon Rapier. Former conducting student of: Max Rudolf Professor of Film and Aesthetics."

There's nothing anti-Semitic in my review. The full text is below.

But I have an obviously "Eastern European" name.

So I am an anti-Semite.

Dr. Alan S. Altman is a professor.

Do you think Dr. Altman treated applications to his program from applicants with "Eastern European" names in the same manner as he treated applications from prospective students who did not have "Eastern European" names?

Do you think Dr. Altman treated applications for funding from scholars with "Eastern European" names in the same manner as he treated applicants seeking funding who were not burdened by "Eastern European" names?

How did Dr. Altman decide what constituted an "Eastern European" name? Too many consonants? S-k-i endings?

***

I'm mentioning Dr. Altman's sick bigotry because it came to mind after the July Fourth post. I googled the man with whom I had that encounter. It turns out he is a prominent lawyer employed by the state. His work has been covered in the New York Times.

"Ray" decided that I was an anti-Semite after five seconds. All he knew about me was my name, which I told him when we met at a Fourth of July picnic.

Do you think that "Ray" treats defendants whose "Eastern European" names indicate that their "grandparents beat up" Jews the same as defendants not saddled with "Eastern European" names?

I would not feel comfortable revealing Ray's real name here. I invited him to visit the blog, read the post, and respond to feedback. I have not heard back. But Dr. Altman did reveal his real name. It's sobering. A university professor who uses the presumed ethnicity of last names to decide to judge people he does not know.

***

What is Polonia doing about this? Nothing.

It's time that we got to work on the tasks described in the blog post on the Crisis in Polonian Leadership, Organization, and Vision.

***

Here is the full text of my review of Michelle Goldberg's book:

Michelle Goldberg does not like Christians. Michelle Goldberg thinks that Christians smell bad. Michelle Goldberg gets an icky feeling when she stands next to a Christian, and, later, Michelle Goldberg is sure that Christian cooties crawl up and down her body. Ew. Michelle Goldberg needs to take a long, hot shower.

All is not lost. Michelle Goldberg is a liberal. A progressive. A multiculturalist. Michelle Goldberg celebrates diversity.

So, Michelle Goldberg met with Christians, and they were nice to her. She realized then that her prejudice was incorrect. Christians confided their deepest concerns. Like her, she discovered, Christians want a healthy, happy, safe America, where children thrive, the truth is proclaimed, and freedom and justice prevail. They may disagree on how to achieve these ends, but Michelle Goldberg realized that we all have to live with people with whom we disagree, and that the challenge is to find that way of coexisting with diverse neighbors that makes America great, and our democracy, not only strong, but possible.

The final paragraph, above, is, of course, wishful thinking.

"Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism," is the most hateful book I've ever read, and I study hate and have read classics in the genre. What makes this book so painful is that when other hate mongers were plying their trade, they had some wound that the reader could understand as exacerbating their hatred. What happened in Goldberg's short, privileged life to make her hate so much?

The book jacket, in its colors, fonts, and design, is meant to evoke a propaganda poster of Nazis giving the "sieg heil" salute. This one, hate-mongering lie alone is cheap and malicious enough to render Goldberg radioactive to any ethical person.

In this case, you *can* tell a book by its cover. Goldberg equates or associates Christianity with Nazism throughout her short, mean, ugly text (eg: pp 10, 22, 33, 54, 73, 153, 179, 188). When Goldberg is not equating Christians with Nazis, she is equating Christians with Muslims - not dimple-cheeked, multiculti Muslim poster children, but, specifically, Islamic terrorists (eg: p 22, 31, 39, 207-210).

For good measure, Goldberg compares American malls to Stalinist architecture. As someone who lived in the Soviet empire, I just have to say, in her architectural criticism, no less than in her hate-mongering, Goldberg comes across as a hyperbolic chucklehead. I can just imagine the kind of restaurant reviews this chick would pump out. They'd be a weight lose bonanza.

Haters must invent their Other of Choice. Otherwise, they'd see that human beings are all brothers and sisters. Goldberg invents her other of choice in a group that she admits, right up front, that she herself made up: "Christian Nationalists." She provides the manifesto for this group, a document that she, as she readily admits, made up (6-8). In this, Goldberg is very like the authors of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a book to which this book, for all the right reasons, is frequently compared. (Do the Google search, and get back to me.)

I know I've got only a thousand words here and should not be repeating myself, but did you get that, Gentle Reader? Goldberg, in a book published by a mainstream publishing house, *invented* a *fictitious* group of Christians, and their fictitious manifesto, which she penned *herself.* By her own admission. Is this bugging you as much as it bugged me? Jeez, I hope so.

Let's cut to the chase here. How would you feel about a book that invented a name and a manifesto for a random collection of otherwise unconnected Jews who supported the war in Iraq? And claimed that they were involved in an unproved and unprovable conspiracy to take over the US? A conspiracy so scary that the sane, decent person's only recourse is, as Goldberg insists is the only recourse to "Christian Nationalism," to "keep your passport handy and your bags packed"? (Where is Goldberg planning to go? She doesn't say.) How would you feel if someone grouped together all Homosexuals or all Jehovah's Witnesses or all musical comedy ticket buyers in the US, persons otherwise unconnected, slapped some spooky moniker on them, made a bunch of cheap comparisons between them and the Nazis or the Stalinists or Boris Badenoff and Natasha, used some cut-and- paste "conspiracy theory central" word processing program to create their manifesto and claimed that they were about to take over the country?

Yes, there are Christians who do some of the things Goldberg accuses Christians of doing: they lobby government officials; they attend Town Hall meetings; they publish Op Ed pieces; they join the PTA; they learn debate skills. Goldberg wants us to believe that these very behaviors aren't the backbone of a multicultural democracy, but are some noxious virus that threatens your life. Goldberg has no evidence of Christians doing any of the following: stockpiling weapons, planning to blow up buildings, planning, in fact, to harm anyone.

Yes, many Christians, as Goldberg claims, are uncomfortable with promiscuity among schoolchildren, homosexuality, and abortion. To read this book, you'd think that Christians are the only ones who object to these things. Goldberg is wrong. Atheist Bill Maher couldn't get through a stand-up routine without homophobic "jokes." Demonizing Christians does nothing to help gay people. And plenty of non-Christians have a problem with abortion. Demonizing Christians won't advance women's right to choose, or reconcile that right with the vexing questions abortion entails.

On the East Coast, the West, and in the heartland, I've worked on feminist, gay rights, and peace issues. I've marched, canvassed, and broadcast, often shoulder-to-shoulder with Evangelical Christians. In Red State Indiana, my greatest inspirations and support in gay rights struggles were born again Christians. Just thinking of them, right now, within the context of this vile book, I am, frankly, on the verge of tears.

***

Before posting this blog entry, I googled Goldberg to see what she was up to. Comparing Ann Romney to Hitler, apparently. See story here.

Bieganski at the Fourth of July Picnic

Source

Wednesday, July 4^th, 2012, I was invited to a picnic. I was a bit nervous because I knew hardly anyone at the picnic, and it took place in a rather ritzy neighborhood. I've never gotten over my earliest trips to ritzy neighborhoods. My mother, an immigrant, a brilliant woman and a natural writer, cleaned houses. When I got sick as a child and could not go to school, she would sometimes take me with her. These visits saddened me more than I can say.

When I attend social events in ritzy neighborhoods, I always feel as if I am under a microscope, and my social betters are watching for that one mistake that can serve as an excuse to toss me back to where I belong.

I know this isn't a correct assumption. I know that I'll never overcome it.

I also know that it is a widely shared anxiety. I know this because there are so many scenes in movies that dramatize this very scenario.

In the 1990 film, "White Palace," Susan Sarandon, fast food waitress, falls for James Spader, rich boy nerd (his perpetual role). Sarandon shows up at his family's Thanksgiving dinner. The patriarch makes a condescending speech about the working class. Sarandon informs him, "Mister, I am the working class." Ouch.

That's a scene you cheer for. A scene so painful I literally had to stop watching. In the 1959 British film "Room at the Top," working class Joe Lampton visits his rich girlfriend's private club. Her peers are contemptuous of Joe – for some reason they insist that "Lampton" is a funny last name. After they are done with him, Joe is nothing but sliced up ribbons on the floor.

But back to my Fourth of July. 2012. New Jersey, USA.

There was a pool; heaven; I love to swim. There were hot dogs, hamburgers, and buns, none of which I'd eat; too nervous. There was beer which I wouldn't drink; ditto. There was pasta salad and chips. Nibbled but never felt satisfied. Ate after I left, when I got home.

I swam and enjoyed that, but thought I ought to at least try to mingle. I stood, a bit frozen, hoping someone would catch my eye and smile and start up a conversation.

A man approached me. He was wearing a t-shirt that identified him as completing a rigorous athletic event. Aha! A ready-made conversation starter. "Did you really do that?" I asked, gesturing to his t-shirt. Yes, he had, he said. I immediately liked this guy. In my own way, I try to keep fit. Fitness: We could talk about that.

He told me his first name – let's call him "Ray." I told him my first name.

"Danusha? What kind of name is that?"

"Polish."

"Oh," he said, never missing a beat. "That means that your grandparents beat up my grandparents." He was Jewish, he said. And I'm Polish. I'm a pogromist. He is a victim. That's what our Fourth of July picnic encounter would prove and seal.

It's a good thing I hadn't had any of the beer. It's a good thing that the cutlery was all plastic. Breaking my arm has put a crimp in my fencing.

I had a good time at this party. This moment will be the moment I'll remember.

As "Bieganski" shows, this moment didn't teach me anything that I don't already know.

I just feel like stopping typing right now. I feel like retreating to a cave high in the Himalaya. As I trek off, uphill, I call back over my shoulder, "Talk amongst yourselves. Send a message by runner if you ever sort this all out."

***

After my grandfather immigrated to America, he was put to work in coal mines by racist exploiters who would chant, "Get me a Hunky; I need a donkey."

Clarence Darrow said of coal miners like my grandfather, "I've seen men so bad off you could use their spit for ink."

My grandfather had to pay back the man who smuggled him from Poland to America. My grandfather was physically small, but very strong. You can see that in the one photo I have of him, his wedding picture. I'm certainly taller than my grandfather was. But the hands at the ends of those sleeves – shovels.

The man who invested in my grandfather's trip across the water made my grandfather fight. This man would skim profits from these fights. "See that little Polak there? I bet he could beat you," the man would say to the "Johnny Bulls," the "English, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh."

One night men beaten by the "little Polak" ambushed him. Boards with nails.

My father, an 11-year-old, fatherless, tried to support the family after that. My illiterate peasant grandmother became a moonshiner. Years of hunger, of living in "Skunk Hollow," so called because richer people dumped their waste in that Bohunk enclave. Finally, still underage, under false papers, my dad joined the army and served, first as "Stanley," then as "Tony." He was with MacArthur in the Philippines. Years later, his men would pronounce my father "The best damn first sergeant in the Pacific theater."

Racism. Fascism. My father put his life on the line, for years, fighting against them.

Somehow, in all that, running from czars, from bigoted Americans, liberating the Pacific, cleaning houses, coughing up their lungs … somehow my people managed not to find the time to beat up the grandparents of this man I met at the Fourth of July party.

After talking about the poverty and struggle my parents endured, I am supposed to cap off with an account of how I have made it in America. My siblings have. They cast off the Bohunk identity. Their children, my nominal nieces and nephews, know nothing, and care even less, about the peasants they are separated from by one generation. They don't know any of these stories. Not about the chicken thieves, white witches, dissidents, Red Army rape survivors, fire-breathing communists and devout Catholics in their family tree. They have American identity, and comfort, American names, and money.

Me? Regular blog readers know my story. I'm a Bohunk in the Ivory Tower. Partly because attitudes like those expressed by "Ray" are so pervasive, I'll never get the title, the income, the health insurance, the job security, for which my performance, and my professional evaluations, qualify me.

"Ray." The Fourth of July party. Hot dogs, hamburgers, swimming pool. He was a handsome guy. Nice. We could have been friends.

He was with a woman, also very nice, attractive. When introducing herself, she mentioned that she works for UMDNJ. UMDNJ has been involved in notorious scandals in recent years. One involved misuse of cadaver body parts. I was tempted to ask Ray's date, "So, do you sell human body parts? Like your coworkers?" But I refrained.

***

C'mon. It's not that big of a deal.

You're right. People make these kinds of comments associating some posited Polish essence with atrocity – that is, Bieganski – regularly.

But in typing all this up, I realize it hurt me and angered me more than I at first realized.

I think I need to go for a long walk.

Talk amongst yourselves.

The Kitchen in Which Stereotypes are Prepared

The blog post linked here doesn't talk about Poles at all. It talks about elite Catholics and whom they stereotype and why. As ever, we need to stop blaming the Jews. Catholics are just as ready to stereotype, and to support stereotyping, as are members of any other group, for all the same reasons.