The age of tolerancePoland has never been a scene of religious wars. Even though the majority of Poles are Roman-Catholics, all Poles have always peacefully shared their country with the followers of other religions. Protestants have lived in Poland for hundreds of years and contributed greatly to the nation’s culture. A good testimony to such peaceful coexistence is the memorial to Martin Luther in Bielsko-Biala or the cemetery at Wschowa, with tombstones of Lutherans and Calvinists. Today, many Evangelical centres are in southern and western Poland. In the 13th century, Jews came to live in Poland. Until the Second World War they constituted the largest Jewish community in Europe. From such families as Rubinstein, Natanson, Kronenberg and Epstein came many eminent Jewish personalities in the fields of art, science and economy. The wealth of the Jewish culture and tradition in Poland can be seen from Tykocin and Warsaw to and Lublin, from Cracow and Lesko to Bobowa. One of the major religious communities in Poland are the followers of the Eastern Orthodox faith, for centuries living in south-eastern Poland. Tartars have lived in Poland for the last 600 years, preserving their cultural autonomy and Muslim faith, enjoying all rights and privileges as Polish subjects. |
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