Selected text
I am not in touch with Jewish circles. I know all about my roots and would never deny them. I never concealed them. In 1968 there was no way I could agree with the position of the top people in the party, especially Gomulka, that to feel sympathy for Israel is the same as to be a Zionist, and so on. Nor did I like what happened later – throwing people out of the party. [Gomulka Campaign] 50.
I was working in the party apparatus, and it was taking a real risk, but still, I never condemned anyone for their choices, for their wish to go to Israel. I always said: ‘This is your autonomous choice.’ It was a terrible blow to me, that all these highly valued people, highly qualified, and, for the most part, very loyal to the People’s Poland, that these people were being insulted and forced to leave.
To me this was a terrifying experience. My choice in my youth had been different: I belonged to a Zionist organization, but then I decided that I ought to be even further to the left, and so I got out of it. And their choice was different.
I did not want to leave, and I still do not.
I was working in the party apparatus, and it was taking a real risk, but still, I never condemned anyone for their choices, for their wish to go to Israel. I always said: ‘This is your autonomous choice.’ It was a terrible blow to me, that all these highly valued people, highly qualified, and, for the most part, very loyal to the People’s Poland, that these people were being insulted and forced to leave.
To me this was a terrifying experience. My choice in my youth had been different: I belonged to a Zionist organization, but then I decided that I ought to be even further to the left, and so I got out of it. And their choice was different.
I did not want to leave, and I still do not.
Period
Location
Poland
Interview
Stefan Minc