Jew Good Luck Charm for Sale in Poland to Help ‘Keep the Money Safe’
by Shiryn Ghermezian
A paraphernalia shop near the mountain resort town of Zakopane, Poland, is selling lucky charms, supposedly to protect ones money, that embody the classical anti-Semitic Jewish stereotype that associates Jews with money.
Propped up in the store’s window display are figurines of Orthodox Jews in long black coats sporting dollar signs on their garments and cupping their palms around gold coins. The Jew figures are wearing traditional chasidic hats and are sporting long beards and sidelocks.
Rhyming Polish text runs across the bottom of the amulets saying, “A Jew in the coffer. So there used to be a coffer at home and never was it empty. One should always have a Jew at hand to keep the money safe.”
Kalman Schnur, whose brother-in-law discovered the amulets on Monday while traveling with his daughter on a one-week trip to Poland, told The Algemeiner that they were displayed next to small wooden sculptures of Jews with beards, yarmulkes and bibles.
Schnur, who is Jewish, said that he took offense to the good luck charm.
“The whole thing is probably meant to make one smile. Not me,” he said. “It seems that basic anti-Semitic concepts (such as ‘Jews and money’) are so deeply rooted into the Polish popular culture that they seem natural to them.”