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For the Poles and the Ukrainians, Captain”—he laid the stress gently on the nationalities—“the Jews were easy to dislike. Throughout history Jews have always been welcomed by sophisticated nations. We were philosophers, healers, traders, mathematicians—even, in our own land, warriors. We lived quietly, bothered no one. But in the end we were always kicked out. You know why? We were too independent. We never cared to rule. Worse, we would never convert. Usually we blended in, if it was allowed, but we always remained Jews. We had survived so long, while other great empires collapsed and died. That was almost unnatural. We were not only easy to dislike. We were easy to hate.” “To
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