Making a submission. Feedback welcome.
Hi Everyone. I’ve been invited to make a submission to a Royal Commission into antisemitism in my country. I’m going to post my submission below and I welcome any feedback you’re prepared to give. There is a possibility I may be called in to give evidence, so any relevant thoughts you have would be welcome as they may add to my presentation. Herewith, my submission with some slight redactions for privacy reasons as requested by the Commission who may choose to publish with some similar redactions. I realise the document is long but if you choose to read it and have comments to offer, they will be most welcome. My father and his family left Poland in 1927, well before WWII. They left because the writing was on the wall long before the nazis. Like most European Jews, they were the subject of pogroms; attacks aimed at Jews and Jewish property that were inadequately dealt with by European authorities. These attacks were overlooked, excused, inadequately policed and even encouraged by official policies. My great-grandfather was sponsored to America around 1912. It was part of a long and arduous process towards citizenship for Jews. My great-grandfather took advantage of a small window of opportunity and with his two sons as dependents, left for a better life in America. The family knew he would send for them once he had achieved his citizenship and could sponsor them in turn. He left behind his wife (my great-grandmother), his daughter and his future son-in-law because the sponsorship limited the family members he could take. My great-grandmother knew that as soon as her daughter married, she and her children would no longer be considered dependents, so she stayed behind to help with the grandchildren who would surely come with the marriage. When my father was about three years old, he was outside playing with his friends when a Pole rode up on horseback. As the Pole approached from behind, my father did not see him at first. He remembered only the horrified face of his friend who fled in terror. When he turned, he saw the rider atop his horse, whip in hand. Dad was beaten mercilessly. A three year old whipped for simply being a Jew.