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Aleksander Smolar - How my children are returning to their Jewish roots (15/201)

234 views · Published 17 December 2018 · 2:09 · Indexed 21 October 2026

Channel: Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People · 2018 · News & Politics

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To listen to more of Aleksander Smolar’s stories, go to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFwlxPLurqAOCrabBgGrqLA7

Aleksander Smolar (b. 1940) is a Polish writer, political activist and adviser, vice-president of the Institute for Human Sciences and president of the Stefan Batory Foundation. [Listener: Vitek Tracz]

TRANSCRIPT: My daughter, who’s had quite a few theatrical premieres has been interviewed here several times where, among other things, she was asked about her family. It was very interesting because what she said about the family didn’t always coincide with how I saw it. In one of her interviews she said that we’d created a home for them which was entirely Polish and it was our passionate desire that they should grow into this Polish culture. It’s true that I brought home a Hanukkah lamp, or a yarmulke to wear on my head, but that was all. The Jewish issue was very relevant to me, but it’s true that I didn’t discuss it with them. Not because I wanted to protect them. Simply, out of respect for them, I knew that they wanted to be someone else. In some sense, they have returned, Ania through her plays which have included Jewish topics – the Jewish Theatre suggested she direct a play about Jewish actors. The next one was 'Dybuk', now there’s the one about ’68 and paradoxically, in this way, the Jewish issue has become passionately interesting. My son probably as well through his time in Israel where he’s a correspondent although to be honest, I don’t really know. In any case, both of them are now more interested in the family. So these are different worlds that we inhabit. Will it be possible, apart from the difficulty in communicating just verbally but also because of different cultures, different religions, atmosphere – will it be possible to maintain any sort of unity, any sense of community within this family?

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