David Miliband

Polish Roots

Most foreign trips evoke a range of emotions.  Tuesday's trip to Poland brought sharper feelings than usual.

Britain has a great historic alliance with Poland.  100s of 1000s of Poles fought with the Allies in the Second World War.  But my link is more personal.  My mother was born in Poland before emigrating to the UK after the War.  My father's grandparents were born in Warsaw before leaving for Belgium after the First World War.  But the history of Poland's Jewish community, at its height some three million strong, turned to tragedy during the Holocaust. Only 300,000 survived the War.

The deepest questions of responsibility and victimisation are raised by this history.  On Tuesday I found a modern Poland defining a new and confident place for itself.  Interestingly the Museum of the History of Polish Jews for which building starts on the 30th June is a symbol of this, looking at 1000 years of Polish/Jewish history and to occupy a building funded by the Polish government.  I wish it every success.

Posted at 16:17 25 June 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[2]