B'nai B'rith International - The Global Voice of the Jewish Community

After 70 Years of Dormancy, B'nai B'rith Poland is Reborn
By Hiram M. Reisner

WARSAW, Poland - It was on the eve of the Holocaust in Poland that the president of the republic released a decree forcing B'nai B'rith to shutter its 10 lodges there, which had flourished since the late 1880s.

The decision had less to do with the antisemitism that bred World War II's upcoming horrors than with the Polish government's designation of B'nai B'rith as a Masonic group. Poland had targeted the Masons in 1938 and, despite efforts of B'nai B'rith's leadership to prove the organization was not a Masonic movement, the decision stood-and a strong voice of the Jewish community was silenced.

Nearly 70 years after the closings, in an event 10 years in the planning, B'nai B'rith International revived its lodge in Warsaw, Poland, with a moving ceremony on September 9.

"Once again, we are leading the way and helping the proud Jewish community in Poland to deliver service in the tradition of B'nai B'rith, as it has been doing for more than 164 years around the world," says B'nai B'rith International President Moishe Smith, who attended the packed lodge installation ceremony in Warsaw. "That a group of committed Jews, in Poland of all places, are so delighted to associate themselves with B'nai B'rith is a tribute to both our legacy and our future."

Dr. Andrej Friedman, the new president of B'nai B'rith Poland, outlined the objectives of the revived lodge, noting the long history of the organization in the Eastern European country.

"Although we are a new lodge of B'nai B'rith, in fact, our tradition in Poland is quite long. We will try to act according to BB philosophy," Friedman says. "Our main goals will include defense of human rights wherever they are violated; actions against antisemitism and against unjustified anti-Israeli attacks; support for development of Jewish culture and science in Poland, and help for Jews in Eastern European countries, such as Bieolorussia and Moldavia."

Friedman, B'nai B'rith Poland's Secretary - General Malka Kafka, and others in Poland, Europe, and worldwide planned long and hard to revive the lodge - and their delight in reaching that goal was contagious to those attending the installation ceremony, including the 37 new members.

"The pride emanating from the crowd of 37 new brothers and sisters as they became part of our worldwide family was exhilarating," says Smith. "It was a proud and honorable moment for me personally, and for all of B'nai B'rith."

Leaders and members of B'nai B'rith Europe and B'nai B'rith International, including Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin, and invited guests, attended the installation and reception that followed. Mariaschin emphasizes how crucial it is to the organization-and to the world Jewish community on the whole-that B'nai B'rith is reviving its Polish presence.

"The launch of our new lodge in Warsaw carries great significance," Mariaschin says. "Given B'nai B'rith's long, but interrupted, history in Poland, the country's relationship to both the U.S. and Israel bilaterally, and as a member of the European Union-and the revival of Jewish life there, the new lodge can act as an important participant in a wide range of issues on the B'nai B'rith and broader Jewish agenda."

Noting the import of the occasion, Polish President Lech Kaczynski sent a message welcoming B'nai B'rith's return through his representative, Undersecretary of State Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka, who attended the reception that followed the installation ceremony (see accompanying letter).

"Nearly 70 years ago, in 1938, a decree of the president of the Republic of Poland, as a result of absurd fears, misunderstandings, and misleading correlations, declared illegal the Polish section of B'nai B'rith," said Junczyk-Ziomcka. "It should therefore be considered as a symbolic gesture that I am now here in front of you, as representative of the president of the Republic, in order to welcome you and your organization that opens for the second time its activities in Poland."

Junczyk-Ziomecka spoke of the importance of B'nai B'rith's mission, and how the organization has "become today one of the most important international organizations fighting racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia."

"At a time when the relations between Poland and Israel are among the best in Europe we should strive at a constant and mutual development of Polish-Jewish relations," she says. "This requires a continuous effort and readiness for compromise. This is not easy, but I believe that it is precisely your commitment that will have a significant influence on the mutual understanding of Poles and of Jews."

Historical Roots

B'nai Brith's history in Poland has early organizational roots.

The first B'nai B'rith lodges on Polish territory were created toward the end of the 19th century, in areas then belonging to Prussia and to Austria. These lodges were part of Germany or Austria-Hungary. In the territories which, before the First World War, were a part of Russia, lodges were created only after Poland recovered its independence (Warsaw 1922, 1926). A separate Polish district was created in 1924 in Krakow.

B'nai B'rith membership in pre-war Poland consisted of the elite of Jewish society, composed largely of factory owners, businessmen, bankers, managers of corporations, lawyers, and doctors. Among them, there were also a number of well-known personalities, as well as several senators and deputies to the Polish parliament.

According to entries in the "Address Book" of the B'nai B'rith members, which was published in Krakow in 1937, at that time there were 10 lodges in Poland with some 934 members. There were also women's lodges and youth associations.

When the Polish government closed the lodges in 1938, there was one positive consequence: Municipal authorities confiscated all the files and archives of B'nai B'rith located in Krakow.

The archives are incomplete (the library was never found) and some parts are not in very good condition, but they do exist; today, they are part of the State Archives of Krakow, where they have been compiled and catalogued.

A General Jewish Resurgence

The lodge's installation coincided with a week of Jewish festival activities, which ranged from concerts from an international array of musicians, to Yiddish theater and silent movies to cooking classes. It was the festival's fourth year.

Although there are only an estimated few thousand Jews in Warsaw, and maybe 40,000 in the country as a whole, the "I.B. Singer's Warsaw" festival was well-attended because of what one organizer says was "a new interest in all things Jewish."

Many younger Poles long for a national and cultural history beyond the legacy of the Nazis and communist rule; in many cases, that history surrounds what was once Poland's flourishing Jewish community, and has led to growing interest from non-Jews.

B'nai B'rith Europe (BBE) President Reinhold Smith noted the significance of the timing of the lodge's reopening.

"As president of BBE, I think this event taking place at the same time as the Jewish week celebrations in Warsaw, attracting thousands of visitors, shows, joyfully, that Jewish life in Poland is present and growing," says Simon.

"The presence of a B'nai B'rith lodge is also, for BBE, an important fact," he says. "We in BBE have been working on this for more than 10 years. The new board members are ready to enlarge their presence, and we hope to see in the future new lodges throughout Poland."

A 'Neutral' Jewish Presence

Activities celebrating the revival of B'nai B'rith Poland began Sept. 7 with Friday night services at Nozyk Synagogue, Warsaw's only synagogue to survive the war. The synagogue was named for the man who founded it in 1902, Zalman Nozyk, and his wife Rivka.

The house of worship was used by the Nazis as a stable and as a storehouse for food for their horses. Despite damage during the war, the Nozyk synagogue reopened in 1945. It was restored between 1977 and 1983, and opened again on April 18, 1983.

Friday's services were led by Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Shudrich, a native New Yorker, who has lived and worked in Poland since 1990. He has been rabbi of Warsaw and Lodz since 2000 and since 2004 has also served as chief rabbi of Poland. Schudrich is also recognized by the government as the de facto religious representative of Polish Jewry (see sidebar).

Schudrich noted the special significance of having a B'nai B'rith presence in Poland. "B'nai B'rith is creating in Poland what I call a 'neutral Jewish space' where Jews of all kinds can meet together, and that's a wonderful thing," the rabbi says.

"In other words, if you don't feel that you are somebody who wants to pray, but you still want to have some connection with the community, B'nai B'rith offers this opportunity," Schudrich says. "Obviously, you can always meet in the synagogue, but the creation of a truly neutral Jewish space is what is needed, and it is a very important need, and B'nai B'rith Poland has begun to play, and will blossom and fill, that role."

Witold Zyss, BBI's UNESCO representative and a native Pole, concurs that it is important for Polish Jews to feel part of the Jewish community, both in Poland and worldwide.

"I continue to believe that it is important for the Jews in Poland to feel and to act as members of the worldwide Jewish community, without in any manner jeopardizing their feeling of belonging to the Polish society and their loyalty to Poland," says Zyss, who was instrumental in the revival of B'nai B'rith in Warsaw. "B'nai B'rith seems to be a good mechanism for this purpose. B'nai B'rith is also important as it is one of the links to what the Jewish community was before the war.

"Maybe one of the reasons why I attached such importance to the rebirth of BB in Poland is the fact that Poland is so special in Jewish history."