List of Polish Jews

From the Middle Ages until the Holocaust, Polish Jews comprised an appreciable part of Poland's population. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, known for its religious tolerance^[1] and described as Paradisus Judaeorum (Latin for "Paradise of the Jews"),^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] had attracted tens of thousands of Jews who fled persecution from other European countries. Poland was a major spiritual and cultural center for Ashkenazi Jews.

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At the start of the Second World War, Poland had the largest Jewish population in the world (over 3.3 million, some 10% of the general Polish population).^[7] The vast majority were murdered under the Nazi "Final Solution" mass-extermination program in the Holocaust in Poland during the German occupation; only 369,000 (11%) of Poland's Jews survived the War.

The list below includes persons of Jewish faith or ancestry.

Historical figures

Politicians

Menachem Begin (1913–1992), Israeli prime minister, Nobel Laureate, 1978 (born in Poland)^[8]
David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973), Israeli prime minister (born in Poland)^[9]
Naftali Bennett, Israeli prime minister and former software entrepreneur
Jakub Berman (1901–1984), Polish communist, Secretary of PUWP (Polish United Workers' Party), in charge of State Security Services (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, UB), the largest and the most notorious secret police force in the history of the People's Republic of Poland,
Sala Burton (1925–1987), American politician^[10]
Adam Czerniaków (1880–1942), member of Warsaw Municipal Council; Polish Senator; head of the Jewish Council under the Nazi Germans; committed suicide when the Germans requested that the children will be deported
Ludwik Dorn (b. 1954), Polish politician, a speaker of the Sejm^[11]
Bronisław Geremek, Polish social historian, politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Shlomo Goren (1917–1994), Chief Rabbi of the Military Rabbinate of the IDF
Anna Komorowska, First Lady of Poland between 2010 and 2015
Julian Klaczko (1825–1906), Polish politician^[12]
Agata Kornhauser-Duda, First Lady of Poland from 2015, Jewish grandfather, not Jewish in faith
Herman Lieberman, Polish lawyer, politician and former Minister of Justice
Stefan Meller, Polish diplomat, academician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Adam Michnik, Polish historian, essayist
David Miliband (b. 1965), British foreign affairs minister^[13]
Ed Miliband, British politician, Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2010 and 2015
Lewis Bernstein Namier (1888–1960), British politician^[14]
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel; father was from Warsaw
Shimon Peres (1923–2016), Israeli prime minister and president, Nobel Prize laureate (1994)^[15]
Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish researcher, diplomat, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2012), Israeli prime minister (born in Poland)^[16]
Zalman Shazar, Israeli President 1963 to 1973
Stanisław Stroński (1882–1955), Polish politician^[17] (of Jewish descent)
Jerzy Urban, politician, journalist, editor-in-chief of the weekly NIE
Samuel A. Weiss (1902–1977), American politician^[18]
Shevah Weiss, political scientist, former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian politician, founder and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

Others

Mordechai Anielewicz, leader of Jewish Combat Organization in World War II
Chajka, mistress of Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski
Morris Cohen, aide to Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen
Icchak Cukierman, leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and fighter of Warsaw Uprising
Dora Diamant (1898–1952), lover of Franz Kafka^[19]
Israel Epstein, naturalized Chinese journalist and author
Anatol Fejgin, commander of the Stalinist political police
Paweł Finder, leader of the Polish Workers' Party (1943-1944)
Gaspar da Gama (1444–ca.1510), traveler, interpreter^[20]
Bolesław Gebert, Soviet agent in the United States
Konstanty Gebert, Polish journalist
Zofia Gomułkowa, wife of Władysław Gomułka
Adam Humer, Stalinist official
Berek Joselewicz, commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history
Marion Kozak, political activist and human rights campaigner (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Independent Jewish Voices), mother of David and Ed Miliband.
Meyer Lansky, American organized crime figure
Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, British judge^[21]
Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919), Marxist revolutionary^[22]
John Monash, Australian general
Walenty Potocki, Polish count who converted to Judaism
Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic
Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer
Józef Światło, Stalinist interrogator
Leopold Unger, journalist, columnist, and essayist
Ben Weider, Canadian businessman
Joe Weider, Canadian bodybuilder and entrepreneur
Janusz Weiss, journalist and television personality
Helena Wolińska-Brus, Stalinist prosecutor, wife of Włodzimierz Brus
L. L. Zamenhof, physician, inventor, and writer; creator of Esperanto

Sovereign Polish Armed Forces

Berek Joselewicz, Polish-Jewish Colonel in the Polish Legions of Napoleon's armies
Bernard Mond, member of the Austrio—Hungarian Army, 1914–1918; Polish soldier and officer, 1918–1939; sent to POW camp by the Germans; finished his career in the rank of Brigade General and, in command of the 6th Infantry Division (Poland), fought against the Germans in 1939
Poldek Pfefferberg, Polish soldier in 1939 saved from death by his sergeant major; Holocaust survivor; a man who inspired the book that the film Schindler's List was based on
Baruch Steinberg, Chief Rabbi of the Polish Armed Forces, murdered by the Soviet NKVD

Religious figures

Philip Ferdinand, professor of Hebrew^[23]
Christian David Ginsburg (1831–1914), Hebraist, converted to Christianity^[24]
Ridley Haim Herschell (1807–1864), missionary; moved to England^[25]

Rabbis

Rabbi Jacob ben Wolf Kranz, preacher (meggid) from Dubno
Rabbi Aaron Hart (1670–1756), rabbi^[26]
Rabbi Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm^[27] (1550–1583), co-signer of the Agunah laws; chief rabbi of Chelm
Rabbi Menachem Ziemba, Warsaw Rabbinate
Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira
Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter (1798 – March 10, 1866), also known as the Chiddushei HaRim. First Gerrer Rebbe
Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905), also known as the Sfas Emes. Gerrer Rebbe from 1870 to 1905.
Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter (December 25, 1866 – June 3, 1948), also known as the Imrei Emes. Gerrer Rebbe from 1905 to 1948.
Rabbi Yisrael Alter (October 12, 1895 – February 20, 1977), also known as the Beis Yisroel. Gerrer Rebbe from 1948 to 1977.
Rabbi Simchah Bunim Alter (April 6, 1898 – August 6, 1992), also known as the Lev Simcha. Gerrer Rebbe from 1977 to 1992.
Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter (June 9, 1926 – March 7, 1996), also known as the Pnei Menachem. Gerrer Rebbe from 1992 to 1996.
Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter (b. 1939), Gerrer Rebbe from 1996 to the present
Rabbi Chanoch Heynekh HaKohen Levin of Aleksander (1798 – March 21, 1870)
Rabbi Meir Shapiro (March 3, 1887 – October 27, 1933), rabbi of Lublin, founder of Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin, and creator of Daf Yomi

Academics

Economists

Włodzimierz Brus
Roman Frydman
Henryk Grossman
Leonid Hurwicz, Nobel Prize winner (2007)
Michał Kalecki
Ludwik Landau
Hilary Minc (1905–1974)
Paul Rosenstein-Rodan

Mathematicians

Philosophers

Sciences

Zygmunt Bauman, sociologist
Leslie Brent, immunologist
Georges Charpak, physicist, Nobel Prize winner (1992)
Kasimir Fajans, physicist
Jan T. Gross, (Christian mother, Jewish father) sociologist and historian
Ludwik Hirszfeld, microbiologist and scientist
Roald Hoffmann (b. 1937), chemist and writer; Nobel Prize winner (1981)
Leopold Infeld, physicist
Hilary Koprowski, immunologist
Abraham Lempel, computer scientist
Albert Abraham Michelson^[29] (1852–1931), physicist; Nobel Prize winner (1907)
Itzhak Nener, jurist
Moshe Prywes (1914–1998), Israeli physician and educator; first President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Isidor Isaac Rabi, physicist, Nobel Prize winner (1944)
Ludwik Rajchman, Polish bacteriologist; first Chairman of UNICEF
Tadeus Reichstein, chemist, Nobel Prize winner (1950)
Józef Rotblat, physicist, nuclear disarmament activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (1995)
Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral polio vaccine
Paweł Śpiewak, sociologist, historian, politician and director of the Jewish Historical Institute
Ary Sternfeld, founder of astronautics

Historians

Szymon Askenazy
Artur Eisenbach
Emanuel Ringelblum
Jacob Talmon (1916–1980), historian; made aliyah to Israel^[30]
Adam Ulam

Cultural figures

Artists

Jankel Adler, Polish-Jewish painter
Adolf Behrman, Polish-Jewish painter
Henryk Berlewi, Polish-Jewish painter^[31]
Alexander Bogen, painter, sculptor, stage designer, book illustrator and a commander partisan during World War II
Aniela Cukier, Polish-Jewish painter
Karl Duldig, Polish-Jewish sculptor
Jacob Epstein, American-British sculptor
Samuel Finkelstein, Polish-Jewish oil painter
Enrico Glicenstein, Polish-Jewish-American sculptor
Chaim Goldberg, Polish-Jewish artist, painter, sculptor and engraver
René Goscinny, French comics editor and writer
Itshak Holtz (1925-2018), painter; immigrated to Israel^[32]
Mayer Kirshenblatt (1916-2009), artist^[33]
Paul Kor, Israeli painter, graphic designer, author and illustrator
Felix Lembersky (1913-1970), painter and theater stage designer
Arthur Szyk, book illustrator and political artist
Feliks Topolski, painter, illustrator, graphic artist
Alfred Wolmark (1887-1961), painter; immigrated to England^[25]
Maurycy Gottlieb, Polish-Jewish painter and protégé of Jan Matejko

Musicians

Arthur Balsam, violinist and pedagogue born in Warsaw and trained in Łódź
Mike Brant, Israeli pop star; mother was Bronia Rosenberg, originally from Łódź in Poland; father was Fishel Brand, from Biłgoraj in Poland
Grzegorz Fitelberg, composer and conductor; born in Dvinsk, Latvia
Jerzy Fitelberg, composer; born in Warsaw, Poland; immigrated to the United States
Russ Freeman (pianist), bebop jazz pianist and composer; father born in Poland
Szymon Goldberg, conductor and violinist; born in Włocławek, Congress Poland
Benny Goodman, band leader; parents born in Poland
George Henschel (1850-1934), musician; immigrated to England^[34]
Mieczysław Horszowski, pianist, born in Lwow
Jan Kiepura (1902-1966), actor and singer; immigrated to the United States^[35] (Jewish mother)
Paul Kletzki (1900-1973), composer and conductor
Slawomir Kowalinski (born 1965), polish pianist and composer^[36]
Wanda Landowska (5 July 1879 - 16 August 1959), harpsichordist
Geddy Lee vocalist and bassist for Rush (band), (Parents born in Poland)
Jerzy Petersburski (1895-1979)
Moriz Rosenthal, pianist, born in Lwow
Eddie Rosner (26 May 1910 - 8 August 1976)
Arthur Rubinstein, pianist
Isaac Stern, violinist
Henryk Szeryng (1918-1988), violinist; immigrated to Mexico^[37]
Władysław Szpilman, pianist and subject of the Roman Polanski film The Pianist
Maria Szymanowska, pianist and composer
Henryk Wars (1902-1977), composer; immigrated to the United States^[38]
Henryk Wieniawski

Screen and stage

Feliks Falk (born 1941)
Aleksander Ford (1908-1980), film director^[39]
Joseph Green (1900-1996), Polish-American film actor and director^[40]
Jerzy Hoffman (born 1932), film director and screenwriter^[41]
Agnieszka Holland (born 1948), film director and writer (Jewish father)^[42]
Boris Kaufman (1887-1980), cinematographer; immigrated to the United States; brother of Mikhail Kaufman and Dziga Vertov^[43]
Mikhail Kaufman (1897-1980), cinematographer and photographer; immigrated to the Soviet Union; brother of Boris Kaufman and Dziga Vertov^[44]
Lydia Kindermann (1892–1953), opera singer, emigrated to Argentina
Krzysztof Kowalewski (1937-2021), film, television, theatre and radio actor, comedian^[45]
Marcel Łoziński (born 1940)
Andrzej Munk (1921-1961), film director and screenwriter, one of the creators of the Polish Film School
Roman Polanski (born 1933), Polish-French film director (Jewish father, half-Jewish mother)^[46]
Marie Rambert (1888-1982), ballet dancer and teacher; immigrated to England^[47]
Piotr Skrzynecki, cabaret director (Jewish mother)^[48]
Jerzy Toeplitz (1909-1995), film educator, director, writer^[49]
Konrad Tom (1887-1957), actor, writer, singer and director working in theater and film^[40]
Dziga Vertov, film director; immigrated to the Soviet Union; brother of Boris Kaufman and Mikhail Kaufman^[50]
Michał Waszyński (1904-1965), film and theater director; film producer^[51]
Michał Znicz, born Michał Feiertag, (1888-1943), stage and film actor

Writers and poets

Polish-language

Rokhl Auerbakh, writer and essayist
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński
Roman Brandstaetter, writer and poet^[52]
Kazimierz Brandys (1916-2000), writer^[53]
Marian Brandys, writer and screenwriter
Jan Brzechwa
Gusta Dawidson Draenger (1917-1943), journalist, diarist
Zuzanna Ginczanka
Agnieszka Graff, writer and feminist
Marian Hemar
Janusz Korczak, writer
Henryka Łazowertówna
Bolesław Leśmian (1877-1937), poet (Jewish ancestry)^[54]
Teodor Parnicki (1908-1988), writer (Jewish mother)^[55]
Tadeusz Różewicz (Jewish mother)
Bruno Schulz, writer
Antoni Slonimski
Anatol Stern (1899-1968), poet^[56]
Robert Stiller (1928-2016), writer and prolific translator into Polish from English, German and other languages
Władysław Szlengel
Włodzimierz Szymanowicz (Jewish father)
Julian Tuwim (1894-1953), poet
Leopold Tyrmand (1920-1985), writer^[57]
Aleksander Wat (1900-1967), poet^[58]
Józef Wittlin, poet^[59]
Bogdan-Dawid Wojdowski (1930-1994), writer

Yiddish-language

Sholem Asch (1880-1957), novelist and essayist^[60]
Rokhl Auerbakh (1903-1976), writer and essayist
Isaac ben Saul Chmelniker Candia (fl. 19th-century)^[61]
Solomon Ettinger (1802-1856), playwright and poet^[60]
Isaac Leib Peretz (1852-1915), author and playwright^[62]
Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902-1991), author^[60]
Abraham Sutzkever (1913-2010), poet, immigrated to Israel^[60]
Aleksander Zederbaum (1816-1893), journalist^[63]

Business figures

Arthur Belfer, founder of the Belco Petroleum Corporation
Józef Blass
André Citroën, industrialist, engineer and founder of Citroën
Max Factor, Sr. (born Maksymilian Faktorowicz), founder of Max Factor & Company; half-brother of Prohibition-era gangster John Factor (born Iakov Faktorowicz)
Jona Goldrich (born Jona Goldreich), L.A.-based real estate developer
Samuel Goldwyn (1879-1974; born Szmuel Gelbfisz), founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios in Hollywood
Helal Hassenfeld and Henry Hassenfeld, co-founders of Hasbro (originally Hassenfeld Brothers)
Joanna Hoffman, marketing executive, one of the original members of both the Apple Computer Macintosh team and the NeXT team
Leopold Julian Kronenberg (1849-1937), banker^[64]
Henry Lowenfeld, impresario, brewer who emigrated to England
Henry Orenstein (1925-2021), American poker player and entrepreneur^[65]
Samuel Orgelbrand (1810-1896), printer and publisher^[66]
Max Ratner (born Meyer Ratowczer), real estate developer, co-founder of Forest City Enterprises
Helena Rubinstein (born Chaja Rubinstein), cosmetics entrepreneur, founder and eponym of Helena Rubinstein Incorporated cosmetics company
Jack Tramiel (1928-2012), businessman and founder of Commodore International
Warner Bros. (born Wonsal)
- Albert Warner (1884-1967)
- Harry Warner (1881-1958)
- Jack L. Warner (1892-1978)
- Sam Warner (1887-1927)
Sam Zell (Shmuel Zielonka), billionaire businessman Equity International, lawyer and philanthropist

Sports

Baseball

Chess

Fencing

Roman Kantor, épée, Nordic champion and Soviet champion; murdered by the Nazis

Football

Ludwik Gintel, Poland national team^[68]
Abraham "Avram" Grant (born 1955), football manager of various football clubs and national teams (e.g. Chelsea F.C., Israel, Ghana national football team)
Józef Klotz, Poland national team; murdered by the Nazis^[69]
Józef Lustgarten, spent 17 years in the Gulag
Leon Sperling (1900-1941), left wing, Polish national team; murdered by the Nazis in the Lemberg Ghetto
Zygmunt Steuermann, centre forward, Polish national team (two matches, four goals); died in December 1941 in the Lemberg Ghetto
Ben Lederman, American-born, midfield, Raków Częstochowa

Professional wrestling

Chris Mordetzky, American professional wrestler, known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Chris Masters

Swimming

Lejzor Ilja Szrajbman, Olympic 4×200-m freestyle relay; murdered by the Nazis in Majdanek concentration camp^[70]

Track and field

Myer Prinstein, Olympic long-jumper from Szczuczyn, Poland
Irena Szewińska, sprinter and long jumper; world records in 100-m, 200-m, and 400-m; three-time Olympic champion, plus four medals (for a total of seven Olympic medals)
Jadwiga Wajs, two world records (discus); Olympic silver and bronze (discus)

Weightlifting

Ben Helfgott, Polish-born, three-time British champion (lightweight), three-time Maccabiah champion; survived Buchenwald and Theresienstadt; all but one family member was murdered by the Nazis

Holocaust survivors

References

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