I did not mean to pick on the Poles in particular. There are antisemites everywhere, but I think it is fair to say that central & eastern Europe, historically, have been worse infected than western Europe & America. Few people, tho, were as obsessed with Jew-hating as Hitler was; it tended to simmer along, coming to a boil mainly when some wicked politician found it convenient as a distraction.

In that connection (obSongs) it is instructive to read F. J. Child's notes on the blood-libel song "Hugh of Lincoln", in which he does a thoro job of tracing that myth across Europe (while not concealing his disgust). Britain, it seems, had only the one song, and in America Child happened on a version (coming from Ireland) in which all mention of Jews is missing! There was an actual trial based on the blood libel in Russia so late as 1911 (the Beilis case). Somewhat earlier (1895) there was a notorious antisemitic frame-up in France (the Dreyfus case), but it was not nearly as blatant and nasty as that.