For those who wish to debate whether Palestine (recognised by most countries of the world as a country) really is one or not, please read the instructions first! That answer is included here on the basis of (a) its declaration of independence and statehood, (b) 139 (71%) countries of the world recognising it, and (c) its observer status at the UN, similar to Vatican City and (until 1992) Switzerland. This topic has been debated extensively, and for years, elsewhere on this website, to the point of tiresomeness, so please give it a rest!
also pretty hilarious more people guess the USA than Israel. I know all the fools of the world believe the United States is controlled by Jews but come on...
There actually was a pretty massive Jewish population in Russia... most of them left because of virulent racism there and they or their descendants are now living in Israel, the United States, Canada, the UK etc. Mostly Israel and the United States.
I know, right? After the thinned the herd to make them stronger, they even gave them their own oblast. In a remote part of Siberia. With almost no infrastructure. Really great country.
Not really. No one refers to the USA as Texas and no one ever has. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this!) Holland is used for the Netherlands widely, even if it's incorrect, including by plenty of Dutch people in certain contexts. It's also the correct name for the Netherlands in many languages (or variations of it). Regardless, the point is that it's accepted by jetpunk on most quizzes, so people here get used to typing it just because it's quicker.
Speaking as someone with both Polish and Russian ancestors...Polish Jews had a 1%-1.5% survival chance during the Holocaust. (This is as low as it gets. The prewar population was 3 million). There are lots of reasons for this, but to get you started. Killing camps like Auschwitz were nearby, in Poland. And in Poland's 'Generalgouvernment', murders of Jews were regularly a public spectacle, sadly featuring silence, complicity and even sometimes the voluntary and enthusiastic participation of many locals (e.g. Jedwabne and Tykocin pogroms). In fact, there were spontaneous massacres of Jews without Nazis on the scene (like the Szczuczyn and Wąsosz pogroms). This has all been well-documented. While there were definitely non-Jewish Poles who helped their Jewish neighbours, risking their own lives in the process (Jan Karski is one amazing example), the majority did not, and indeed chose to do just the opposite.
Even after the war ended, there were pogroms against Jews who tried to return to their homes after managing to survive death camps (e.g. Kielce pogrom in 1946, where Polish police, soldiers and regular folks killed 42 Jewish survivors and injured 40 more). An estimated 1000 - 2000 Polish Jews were murdered upon returning home. After Kielce, almost all Polish Jews left the country, understandably I think.
It probbly does not help contemporary Jewish communities in Poland that the government has now made it illegal to discuss Polish state complicity in Holocaust-era murders of Jews. This makes not only historical research difficult, but may well lessen reckoning and trust building.
There are lots of excellent books out there but I'd suggest a few...Jan Grabowski's 'Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland After Auschwitz' or 'Hunt for the Jews: Betrayal and Murder in German-Occupied Poland' are recent and thorough. Here's audio of a talk he gave a few years ago.
Doris Bergen's 'War & Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust' is an excellent overview, and gets into Soviet-Polish-Nazi interregna.
And to read about some of the incredible resistance efforts, especially in Eastern Europe, along with a detailed profile of Jan Karski, I highly recommend Nechama Tec's 'Resistance: Jews and Christians Who Defied the Nazi Terror'.
The analysis is flawless. If you want to take issue with any of the three stated criteria by which Palestine qualifies as a country, then we'd love to hear your analysis.
The official JetPunk stance on Palestine is that it is not a “country,” because it does not have full sovereign control over its claimed land. Some people, like this quiz’s creator, disagree with this decision and instead consider it to be a country by whether its status as an independent nation is recognized by the majority of the world or not.
Official declarations are ones made by governments and NGOs. Quiz websites don't get to do that. As much as I respect Dan and this fantastic website, I don't agree with the call he has made on his own quizzes here. If "control over ones borders" is to be the sole condition for nationhood then Cyprus, Georgia, Somalia and Morocco wouldn't qualify as countries either, alongside several others with outlying regions outside of government control like Niger and DR Congo. They all have control over some of their territory, just as is the case with Palestine.
You're truly the invasive parasite of this website and we all wish you to leave
I missed Netherlands. I typed "Holland" (as the other quizzes admit also the use of this "alternative" name), but this quiz doesn't consider it valid.
It probbly does not help contemporary Jewish communities in Poland that the government has now made it illegal to discuss Polish state complicity in Holocaust-era murders of Jews. This makes not only historical research difficult, but may well lessen reckoning and trust building.
Doris Bergen's 'War & Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust' is an excellent overview, and gets into Soviet-Polish-Nazi interregna.
And to read about some of the incredible resistance efforts, especially in Eastern Europe, along with a detailed profile of Jan Karski, I highly recommend Nechama Tec's 'Resistance: Jews and Christians Who Defied the Nazi Terror'.
Even if a lot of people avoid reading the caveats through habit or laziness.