History of the Jews in Poland

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The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy which ended after the Partitions of Poland in the 18th century. During the Occupation of Poland (1939–1945) there was a nearly complete genocidal destruction of the Polish Jewish community, as the Holocaust was extended into German-occupied Poland, with many notorious concentration camps built on occupied soil. Since the fall of communism in Poland, there has been a renewed interest in Jewish culture, featuring an annual Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, new study programs at Polish secondary schools and universities, and the opening of Warsaw's Museum of the History of Polish Jews. From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in 1025 until the early years of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth created...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Rafal Zambrzycki / Sejm RP from Polska, CC BY 2.0