History and Politics in Polish Jewish Israeli Relation 1989–1995

After 1989 Poland decided to re-establish diplomatic relations to the State of Israel that were severed in 1967. Poland also opted for the dialogue between Poles and Jews that was very limited during communist period. Lech Wałęsa as President was keen on opening new contacts with the Jewish diaspora and Israel. Wałęsa visited Israel as first ever Polish President and Chaim Herzog visited Poland as well. In the 1990s key anniversary ceremonies were organized commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the liberation of the Nazi German camp Auschwitz. In those years the issues of anti-Semitism and complexity of Polish-Jewish relations, particularly during the Holocaust, were addressed.