How To Safely Open Mail, Or: Responses and Attitudes Towards Antisemitism in Polish and British Jewish Communities

It should come as no surprise that antisemitism remains a significant issue globally, especially in the wake of the October 2023 Hamas attacks and the subsequent lethal conflict with Gaza. While these events have contributed to an increased frequency of antisemitic incidents they have also, much like any similar events, amplified the insecurity and prejudice experienced by Jews. As an example, Community Security Trust, a British charity that focuses on protecting British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism, recorded over 3,500 antisemitic incidents in 2024 in contrast to the usual 2,000 recorded annually (CST, 2024). My research sets out to explore understanding and perception of contemporary antisemitism among Jewish communities in Poland and the UK, two countries usually construed as, respectively, one of the most and least antisemitic in Europe. A series of expert interviews I conducted as part of this work also sheds light on how these communities react and respond to antisemitism. To further explore this topic and how their responses may have changed after October 2023, I reached out to my interlocutors again, with follow up questions. In this paper I present my findings and discuss how reactions to antisemitism differ between the communities in Poland and the UK and why this might be. I argue that the roots of specific responses at different levels (individual, community, national) can be found in the history of Jews in each country. Furthermore, I also engage with literature on minorities and prejudice to explore how these reactions fit into the broader landscape of minority experiences with and responses to discrimination.