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,Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, From Counter-Reformation to Glorious Revolution, University of Chicago Press 1992, page 51. Quote: "Poland, at that time, was the most tolerant country in Europe." Also in Britain and the Netherlands by S. Groenveld, Michael J. Wintle; and in The exchange of ideas (Walburg Instituut, 1994). 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.
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). The vast majority were murdered by Nazi Germany under the "Final Solution" mass-extermination program in the Holocaust in Poland during the occupation of Poland; 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)Menachem Begin – Biography David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973), Israeli prime minister (born in Poland)David Ben-Gurion The First Prime Minister 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 politicianThe Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Burton 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 (1954–2022), Polish politician, a speaker of the SejmPRZEKRÓJ - Trzeci Kaczyński Bronisław Geremek (1932–2008), 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 (b. 1953), First Lady of Poland between 2010 and 2015 Julian Klaczko (1825–1906), Polish politicianCatholic Encyclopedia: Julian Klaczko Agata Kornhauser-Duda (b. 1972), First Lady of Poland from 2015, Jewish grandfather, not Jewish in faith Herman Lieberman (1870–1941), Polish lawyer, politician and former Minister of Justice Stefan Meller (1942–2008), Polish diplomat, academician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Adam Michnik, Polish historian, essayist David Miliband (b. 1965), British foreign affairs ministerRP.pl: David Miliband Ed Miliband (b. 1969), British politician, Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2010 and 2015 Lewis Bernstein Namier (1888–1960), British politicianFactmonster: Namier Benjamin Netanyahu (b. 1949), Prime Minister of Israel; father was from Warsaw Shimon Peres (1923–2016), Israeli prime minister and president, Nobel Prize laureate (1994)Shimon Peres – Biography Adam Daniel Rotfeld (b. 1938), Polish researcher, diplomat, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2012), Israeli prime minister (born in Poland)Yitzhak Shamir – Britannica Online Encyclopedia Zalman Shazar (1889–1974), Israeli President 1963 to 1973 Stanisław Stroński (1882–1955), Polish politician (of Jewish descent) Jerzy Urban (1933–2022), politician, journalist, editor-in-chief of the weekly NIE Samuel A. Weiss (1902–1977), American politicianLooking for The Political Graveyard? Shevah Weiss (1935–2023), political scientist, former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Vladimir Zhirinovsky (1946–2022), Russian politician, founder and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
Others
Mordechai Anielewicz (1919–1943), leader of Jewish Combat Organization in World War II Chajka (??–1871), mistress of Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski Morris Cohen (1887–1970), aide to Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen Icchak Cukierman (1915–1981), leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and fighter of Warsaw Uprising Dora Diamant (1898–1952), lover of Franz KafkaCanadian Jewish News Israel Epstein (1915–2005), 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, interpreterGaspar da Gama 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 judgeTributes to Sir Hersch Lauterpacht Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919), Marxist revolutionary 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 (1764–1809), Polish-Jewish Colonel in the Polish Legions of Napoleon's armies Bernard Mond (1887–1957), 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 (1913–2001), 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 (1897–1940), Chief Rabbi of the Polish Armed Forces, murdered by the Soviet NKVD
Religious figures Philip Ferdinand, professor of HebrewConcise Dictionary of National Biography: born in Poland of Jewish parents Christian David Ginsburg (1831–1914), Hebraist, converted to ChristianityBritish Dictionary of National Biography Ridley Haim Herschell (1807–1864), missionary; moved to EnglandConcise Dictionary of National Biography
Rabbis Rabbi Jacob ben Wolf Kranz, preacher (meggid) from Dubno Rabbi Aaron Hart (1670–1756), rabbiJewish Encyclopedia Rabbi Elijah Ba'al Shem of ChelmJewish Encyclopedia: Elijah Ba'al Shem (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 Nachman Aronszajn Herman Auerbach Salomon Bochner Samuel Dickstein Samuel Eilenberg Siemion Fajtlowicz Salo Finkelstein Mark Kac Bronisław Knaster Włodzimierz Kuperberg Kazimierz Kuratowski Leon Lichtenstein Adolf Lindenbaum Szolem Mandelbrojt Benoit Mandelbrot Edward Marczewski Andrzej Mostowski Emil Leon Post Mojżesz Presburger Stanislaw Saks Juliusz Schauder Hayyim Selig Slonimski Hugo Steinhaus Alfred Tarski Henryk Toruńczyk Stanislaw Ulam
Philosophers Henri Bergson Alain Finkielkraut Jan Hartman Morris Lazerowitz Casimir Lewy Mieczysław Maneli Émile Meyerson Ralph Miliband Adam Schaff
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 MichelsonJewish Nobel Prize Winners (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 Benzion Netanyahu Artur Eisenbach Emanuel Ringelblum Jacob Talmon (1916–1980), historian; made aliyah to IsraelEncyclopaedia Judaica, Jacob Talmon Adam Ulam
Cultural figures
Artists Jankel Adler, Polish-Jewish painter Adolf Behrman, Polish-Jewish painter Henryk Berlewi, Polish-Jewish painterThe Mendele Review: Yiddish Literature and Language 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 IsraelRichard McBee, “Itshak Holtz: Jewish Genre Painting,” The Jewish Press, July 4, 2003. Mayer Kirshenblatt (1916-2009), artistKirshenblatt, Mayer and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. They called me Mayer July: Painted memories of a Jewish childhood in Poland before the Holocaust. University of California Press. Los Angeles:2007. 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 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