List of Polish Jews


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, 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. The vast majority were murdered under the Nazi "Final Solution" mass-extermination program in the Holocaust in Poland during the German occupation; only 369,000 of Poland's Jews survived the War.
The list below includes persons of Jewish faith or ancestry.

Historical figures

Politicians

Others

Sovereign Polish Armed Forces

  • Berek Joselewicz, Polish-Jewish Colonel in the Polish Legions of Napoleon's armies
  • Bernard Mond, 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, 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, Chief Rabbi of the Polish Armed Forces, murdered by the Soviet NKVD

Religious figures

Rabbis

Academics

Economists

Mathematicians

Philosophers

Sciences

Historians

Cultural figures

Artists

Musicians

Screen and stage

Writers and poets

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Business figures

Sports

Baseball

Chess

Fencing

Football

Professional wrestling

Swimming

Track and field

Weightlifting