Prince Charles meets with Polish Jews in Krakow

Ha'aretz ^ | Last update - 16:15 13/06/2002 | By DPA

[Cinnamon Girl]

Prince Charles walking in the Jewish district of Krakow during his visit Thursday. (Photo: AP)

WARSAW - British heir to the throne Prince Charles met with members of Poland's tiny Jewish community in Krakow on Thursday, on the second and final day of his first visit to Poland in nine years.

The Prince talked with Holocaust survivors in a cafe in Kazimierz, Krakow's historic Jewish quarter made famous by Steven Spielberg as the setting for his 1993 Oscar-winning Holocaust drama, Schindler's List.

While Jewish life in Kazimierz reaches as far back as the 14th Century, WWII saw the deportation of virtually all its Jews to the nearby Auschwitz and Birkenau Nazi death camps.

Prior to the Holocaust, Kazimierz was home to a vibrant Jewish community of 64,000. Today there are fewer than 200 Jews living in the area.

While in Kazimierz, the Prince of Wales also visited two restored synagogues and a 16th Century Jewish cemetery.

[Cinnamon Girl]

I didn't know Prince Charles was doing the diplomacy stuff lately. This is an interesting visit to make.

[Miss Marple]

Very interesting. If I remember a comment by Clive, the injection of the Royals into an appearance like this is only done at the behest of the PM. Normally they stay out of controversial stuff.

Maybe Clive or MadIvan could shed further light on this. (Or any other Commonwealth folks.)

[hoosierboy]

Yeah I read somewhere that blair was mad b/c bush met sharon in washington and he wanted them to all meet in britian. Blair was upset that he is cast into the same label as the anti Israel eurogeeks.

[Mo1]

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[Thinkin' Gal]

[Cinnamon Girl]

Is that a real picture? Yikes.

[Thinkin' Gal]

It's real.

[dighton]

Recommended reading.

[LarryLied]

The Holocaust in Poland is only part of the story. Two essays from a discussion in Houston on the subject:

The Two Saddest Nations on Earth: Poles, Jews, and Memory

The Disabling Mode: Poles in Jewish Discourse

[Clemenza]

Let us not forget that over four million Polish gentiles were killed from 1939-45. Some of us hope they did not die to be slandered...

[dighton]

What is the Subject?

A Jewish girl in Poland, inspired by what she believes to be the voice of her dead grandmother, converts to Christianity. Of course that's hardly the end of it. I won't spoil the story for you, should you decide to read it.

See the photo in #5.

[LarryLied]

I was glad to find those two links and see that some Jews and Christians are willing to discuss the entire issue. 1.5 million Poles, nearly all Christian, were deported to the Soviet Union during the Hitler/Stalin pact. Poland under the virtual dictatorship of Jakub Berman (1945-1953) was a time of terror also.

[dighton]

Fiction. Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote mostly short stories.

[MadIvan]

Very interesting. If I remember a comment by Clive, the injection of the Royals into an appearance like this is only done at the behest of the PM. Normally they stay out of controversial stuff.

Charles is something of a maverick. He refused to meet with Jiang Xemin because of his involvement with human rights abuses and Tianamen Square. Blair had nothing to do with that. We can assume that this was on his own initiative, I believe.

Regards, Ivan

[Miss Marple]

So, does this appearance mean that Prince Charles is throwing his weight behind Israel and by example criticizing the EU?

[elcaudillo]

Charles is also something of a twit.

[Johnny Gage]

Caption:

Prince Charles looks on in disbelief as his Limo is towed from the "NO PARKING - FIRE LANE"
while touring visiting Krakow Poland.

Time out: 16:15
KMG-365