List of Polish Jews

Graves of Polish Jews among the fallen soldiers of the Polish Defensive War of 1939; Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw

From the Middle Ages until the Holocaust, Jews comprised a significant part of the Polish population. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, known as a "Jewish paradise" for its religious tolerance, attracted tens of thousands of Jews who fled persecution from other European countries, even though, at times, discrimination against Jews surfaced in Poland just as it did elsewhere in Europe. Poland was a major spiritual and cultural center for Ashkenazi Jews and Ashkenazi Jewry. At the start of the Second World War, Poland had the largest Jewish population in the world (over 3.3 million), but the vast majority of them were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during the German occupation of Poland, particularly through the implementation of the "Final Solution" mass extermination program. Only 369,000 (11%) survived. After massive postwar emigration, the current Polish Jewish population stands at somewhere between 50,000 and 200,000.

The below list includes people of Jewish faith or ancestry.

Historical figures

Politicians

• Menachem Begin (1913–1992), Israeli prime minister, Nobel Laureate, 1978 (born in Poland)
• David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973), Israeli prime minister (born in Poland)
• 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
• Ludwik Dorn (b. 1954), Polish politician, a speaker of the Sejm
• Bronisław Geremek, Polish social historian, politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Barry Goldwater, American politician and businessman
• Shlomo Goren (1917 – 1994), Chief Rabbi of the Military Rabbinate of the IDF
• Julian Klaczko (1825–1906), Polish politician
• Herman Lieberman, Polish lawyer, politician and former Minister of Justice
• Stefan Meller, Polish diplomat, academician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• David Miliband (b. 1965), British foreign affairs minister
• 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
• Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, whose father was from Warsaw.
• Shimon Peres (1923-2016), Israeli prime minister and president, Nobel Prize laureate (1994)
• Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish researcher, diplomat, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Yitzhak Shamir (1915-2012), Israeli prime minister (born in Poland)
• Stanisław Stroński (1882–1955), Polish politician (of Jewish descent)
• Jerzy Urban, politician, journalist, editor-in-chief of the weekly NIE
• Samuel A. Weiss (1902–1977), American politician
• 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
• Morris Cohen (adventurer), 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
• Israel Epstein, naturalized Chinese journalist and author
• Anatol Fejgin, commander of the Stalinist political police
• Paweł Finder, leader Polish Workers' Party (1943-1944)
• Gaspar da Gama (1444-ca.1510), traveler, interpreter
• Bolesław Gebert, Soviet agent in USA
• 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
• John Monash, Australian general
• Meyer Lansky, American organized crime figure
• Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, British judge
• Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919), Marxist revolutionary
• Rachel Ochab, wife of Edward Ochab
• Walenty Potocki, the Polish count who converted to Judaism
• Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic
• Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer
• Józef Światło, Stalinist interrogator
• 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
• Leopold Unger, journalist, columnist, and essayist
• Kyle Broflovski, fictional American character in South Park

Religious figures

• Jacob Ben Wolf Kranz, Famous preacher (meggid) from Dubno
• Philip Ferdinand, Professor of Hebrew
• Christian David Ginsburg (1831–1914), Hebraist, converted to Christianity
• Aaron Hart (1670–1756), rabbi
• Ridley Haim Herschell (1807-1864), missionary; moved to England
• Romuald Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel (b. 1943), Catholic priest
• Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm (1550-1583), co-signer of the Agunah laws; chief rabbi of Chelm.

Academics

Economists

• Włodzimierz Brus
• Roman Frydman
• Henryk Grossman
• Leonid Hurwicz, Nobel Prize winner (2007)
• Michał Kalecki
• Oskar R. Lange
• Paul Rosenstein-Rodan

Mathematicians

• Nachman Aronszajn
• Herman Auerbach
• Salomon Bochner
• Samuel Dickstein (mathematician)
• Salo Finkelstein
• Samuel Eilenberg
• Mark Kac
• Kazimierz Kuratowski
• Leon Lichtenstein
• Adolf Lindenbaum
• Szolem Mandelbrojt
• Benoit Mandelbrot
• Edward Marczewski
• Emil Leon Post
• Mojżesz Presburger
• Stanislaw Saks
• Juliusz Schauder
• Hayyim Selig Slonimski
• Hugo Steinhaus
• Alfred Tarski
• Stanislaw Ulam

Philosophers

• Casimir Lewy
• Morris Lazerowitz

Sciences

• Zygmunt Bauman, sociologist
• Leslie Brent, immunologist
• Georges Charpak, physicist, Nobel Prize winner (1992)
• Kasimir Fajans, physicist
• Ludwik Hirszfeld, microbiologist and scientist
• Roald Hoffmann (born 1937), chemist and writer; Nobel Prize winner (1981)
• Leopold Infeld, physicist
• Hilary Koprowski, immunologist
• Abraham Lempel, computer scientist
• Albert Abraham Michelson (1852-1931), physicist; Nobel Prize winner (1907)
• Jakub Natanson, chemist
• Isidor Isaac Rabi, physicist, Nobel Prize winner (1944)
• Ludwik Rajchman, Polish bacteriologist; first Chairman of UNICEF
• Tadeus Reichstein, chemist, Nobel Prize winner (1950)
• Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral Polio vaccine
• Joseph Slawny, physicist (especially Statistical Mechanics)
• Abraham Sztern (1762-1842), inventor
• Ary Sternfeld, founder of astronautics
• Paweł Śpiewak, sociologist, historian, politician and director of the Jewish Historical Institute

Historians

• Jacob Talmon (1916-1980), historian; made aliyah to Israel
• Szymon Askenazy
• Artur Eisenbach
• Emanuel Ringelblum
• Christopher Szpilman
• Adam Ulam

Cultural figures

Artists

• Adolf Behrman, Polish-Jewish painter
• Henryk Berlewi
• Alexander Bogen, painter, sculptor, stage designer, book illustrator and a commander partisan during World War II.
• Aniela Cukier, Polish-Jewish painter
• 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 (b. 1925), painter; immigrated to Israel
• Mayer Kirshenblatt (b. 1916), artist
• 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
• Alfred Wolmark (1887-1961), painter; immigrated to England

Musicians

• George Henschel (1850-1934), musician; immigrated to England
• Jan Kiepura (1902-1966), actor and singer; immigrated to the United States (Jewish mother)
• Arthur Rubinstein, award winning pianist
• Paul Kletzki (1900 - 1973), composer and conductor
• Henryk Szeryng (1918-1988), violinist; immigrated to Mexico
• Henryk Wars (1902-1977), composer; immigrated to the United States
• Isaac Stern, violinist
• Władysław Szpilman, pianist and subject of the Roman Polanski film The Pianist.
• Mieczysław Horszowski, pianist, born in Lwow.
• Moriz Rosenthal, pianist, born in Lwow.
• Szymon Goldberg, conductor and violinist born in Włocławek, Congress Poland.
• Arthur Balsam, violinist and pedagogue born in Warsaw and trained in Łódź.
• Mike Brant, was an Israeli pop star, mother was Bronia Rosenberg, originally from Łódź in Poland, father was Fishel Brand, from Biłgoraj in Poland.
• Grzezgorz Fitelberg. composer and conductor born in Dvinsk, Latvia.
• Jerzy Fitelberg award-winning composer born in Warsaw, Poland. Immigrated to USA.

Screen and stage

• Aleksander Ford (1908-1980) film director
• Joseph Green (1900-1996) Polish-American film actor and director
• Jerzy Hoffman (born 1932) film director and screenwriter
• Agnieszka Holland (born 1948), Film director and writer (Jewish father)
• Boris Kaufman (1887-1980), cinematographer; immigrated to the United States; brother of Mikhail Kaufman and Dziga Vertov
• Mikhail Kaufman (1897-1980), cinematographer & photographer; immigrated to the Soviet Union; brother of Boris Kaufman and Dziga Vertov
• Marcel Łoziński
• Paweł Łoziński
• Roman Polanski (born 1933), Polish - French film director
• Marie Rambert (1888-1982), ballet dancer and teacher; immigrated to England
• Piotr Skrzynecki, cabaret director (Jewish mother)
• Jerzy Toeplitz (1909-1995) film educator, director, writer
• Konrad Tom (1887–1957) actor, writer, singer and director working in theater and film
• Dziga Vertov, film director; immigrated to the Soviet Union; brother of Boris Kaufman and Mikhail Kaufman
• Michał Waszyński (1904-1965) film and theater director and film producer

Writers and poets

Polish-language

• Roman Brandstaetter, writer and poet
• Kazimierz Brandys (1916-2000), writer
• Marian Brandys, writer and screenwriter
• Jan Brzechwa
• Agnieszka Graff, writer and feminist
• Marian Hemar
• Janusz Korczak, writer
• Bolesław Leśmian (1877-1937), poet (Jewish ancestry)
• Teodor Parnicki (1908-1988), writer (Jewish mother)
• Antoni Slonimski
• Anatol Stern (1899-1968), poet
• Leopold Tyrmand (1920-1985), writer
• Bruno Schulz, writer
• Julian Tuwim (1984-1953). poet
• Aleksander Wat (1900-1967), poet
• Józef Wittlin, poet

Yiddish-language

• Solomon Ettinger (1802-1856), playwright and poet
• Sholem Asch (1880-1957), novelist and essayist
• Isaac Leib Peretz (1852-1915), author and playwright
• Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902-1991), author
• Abraham Sutzkever (1913-2010), poet, immigrated to Israel
• Aleksander Zederbaum (1816-1893), journalist

Business figures

• Majer Bersohn, banker, philanthropist
• André Citroën, industrialist, engineer and founder of Citroën
• John Factor, gangster, businessman and owner Stardust Resort and Casino
• Max Factor, Sr., founder of Max Factor
• Helal Hassenfeld, co-founder of Hasbro
• Henry Hassenfeld, co-founder of Hasbro
• Leopold Kronenberg (1849-1937), banker
• Henry Orenstein (born 1925), American poker player and entrepreneur
• Maurice Orgelbrand (1826-1904), publisher
• Samuel Orgelbrand (1810-1896), printer and publisher
• Jack Tramiel (1928-2012), businessman and founder Commodore International
• Szmul Zbytkower (1727-1801), banker

Sports

Chess

• Izaak Appel
• Abram Blass
• Moshe Czerniak
• Henryk Friedman
• Paulin Frydman
• Miguel Najdorf
• Dawid Przepiórka
• Gersz Rotlewi
• Akiba Rubinstein
• Gersz Salwe
• Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956)
• Szymon Winawer
• Daniel Yanofsky
• Johannes Zukertort

Fencing

• Roman Kantor, épée, Nordic champion & Soviet champion; killed by the Nazis
• Myer Prinstein, Olympic long-jumper from Szczuczyn, Poland

Football

• Ludwik Gintel, Poland national team
• Józef Klotz, Poland national team; killed by the Nazis
• Józef Lustgarten, 17 years in the Gulag
• Leon Sperling, left wing, Polish national team; killed by the Nazis in the Lemberg Ghetto
• Zygmunt Steuermann, centre forward, Polish national team (2 matches 4 goals); died in December 1941 in the Lemberg Ghetto.

Swimming

• Lejzor Ilja Szrajbman, Olympic 4×200-m freestyle relay; killed by the Nazis in Majdanek concentration camp

Track and field

• Irena Szewińska, sprinter and long jumper; world records in 100-m, 200-m, and 400-m; 3x Olympic champion, plus 4 medals (for a total of 7 olympic medals)
• Jadwiga Wajs, 2 world records (discus); Olympic silver & bronze (discus)

Weightlifting

• Ben Helfgott, Polish-born, 3x British champion (lightweight), 3x Maccabiah champion; survived Buchenwald and Theresienstadt; all but one family member was killed by the Nazis

Holocaust Survivors

• Benjamin Dickenstein
• Yaakov Avigdor
• Nelly Ben-Or
• Tauba Biterman
• Yehiel De-Nur
• David Faber
• Leon Feldhendler
• Tuviah Friedman
• Roman Frister
• Rena Kornreich Gelissen
• Ben-Zion Gold
• Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam
• Anna Heilman
• Alicia Appleman-Jurman
• Natalia Karp
• Gerda Weissmann Klein
• Jerzy Kosinski
• Yisrael Lau
• Zvia Lubetkin
• Henryk Mandelbaum
• Jack Mandelbaum
• Kitty Hart-Moxon
• David Olère
• Philip Riteman
• Josef Rosensaft
• Leopold Pfefferberg
• Israel Shahak
• Mike Staner
• Alina Szapocznikow
• Władysław Szpilman
• Emanuel Tanay
• Menachem Mendel Taub
• Jack Tramiel
• Ernst Wiechert
• Meir Wilchek
• Sol Rosenberg
• Tola Barron Rosenberg

See also

• History of the Jews in Poland
• List of Jews
• List of Poles
• List of Galician Jews
• List of people from Galicia (modern period)