a town of ‘22,000 people with nothing to do’ there is a shortage of skilled workers and resentment at suggestions Poles in UK are benefit scroungers Read moreOne hundred and ninety miles down the road in Warsaw, on Wednesday evening David Cameron was asking the Polish government to back his four EU opt-out clauses including a proposal to cut benefit entitlements for people who have arrived in the UK in the past four years “Net migration in the UK is running at well over 300,000 a year and that is not sustainable,” the prime minister said in Bucharest “So we do need to find ways to allow member states to make changes to their social security systems that will help them to deal with this issue.” would mean extreme upheaval for up to 1.3 million Poles in the UK who might have to go home to places like Grajewo with its 17.8% unemployment rate and minimum monthly wage of 1,750 złoty (£350) “There might be work for those who come back the situation would worsen for the unskilled people who are here now,” said Krystyna Gorska Katarzyna Górecka in her shop Photograph: Alex Duval Smith/The GuardianPolish monthly unemployment benefits range from 522 złoty (£104) to 997 złoty depending on the jobseeker’s circumstances one from the Mlekpol dairy for a machine operator “We may be able to find a machine operator for Mlekpol but we will not be able to fill the farm job which requires a graduate from an agriculture college,” she said “There is no shortage of unskilled workers in this town but those with skills have left.” Among them is Gorska’s 34-year-old cousin, who works as a factory supervisor in a town in the UK, the name of which she cannot remember. “She went on a visit seven years ago and stayed. She quickly learned English. Now she has a baby. She would easily find a job in Poland now But she is better off staying over there.” Gorska said it was not true that Poles in Britain draw excessive social benefits People are people; there are lazy people everywhere But my cousin and the other Poles I know of work really hard and pay taxes in the UK.” It is situated on a fork in the road where long-distance lorries turn left for Kaliningrad or right for Lithuania the Pfleiderer chipboard factory and an animal feed plant The Białystok train service stops four times a day at a platform adjacent to a boarded-up station building The town’s population is “22,000 people with nothing to do” Malicka has an aunt in New York and a friend in Sheffield but she wants to give Warsaw a try before leaving the country “I would like to go to university in Warsaw to see what it’s like If I am disappointed I might get in touch with my friends and relatives abroad and go and join them,” she said But there is little to keep her in Grajewo What the young people here need is somewhere to just chill her classmate Bartek Partyka mostly plays Iron Maiden songs and video games in his room His dad is driving him to Gdańsk this week to see Judas Priest Grajewo looks like Chernobyl,” said Partyka He said he was likely to leave next year to go to university Magda Jagielska Photograph: Alex Duval Smith/The Guardian“We have low self-esteem in this town,” said Magda Jagielska “Every family has someone who has emigrated to the United States or Canada or the UK over the past 30 years It is as though we all assume it is better to leave The brave ones leave and the others just stay here feeling inferior.” Jagielska is annoyed by suggestions that Poles are benefit scroungers in the UK British people should know that they are getting back more than the Poles are costing them pay taxes and assimilate in the countries they move to They also have old-fashioned family values that Britain perhaps could do with more of.” Whether or not they take their values to Britain, there is an increasing trend towards entire families migrating to western Europe from towns like Grajewo, according to Anne White a professor of Polish studies at University College London the migrants were mainly people migrating without children going away for shorter periods,” said White “Now whole families more often migrate abroad One reason seems to be that people feel things are not improving fast enough in Poland “The possibilities for transnational lifestyles mean that migration has changed but thanks to Skype and other technology they keep in touch with Poland.” In my first years in New York in the 1990s I would wander through the Lower East Side the faded signs on the sides of buildings recalling the Jewish past I had no clue that I had any familial connection to the landscape Growing up celebrating Christmas in Virginia I discovered that my great-great-grandfather had played a crucial role in building the Jewish Lower East Side his son — my great-grandfather — helped lead it to financial devastation and I would visit my great aunt Dorle Jarmel Soria as if the family had spontaneously generated with Dorle’s birth in 1900 But one afternoon in 1994, while walking down Canal Street, Angela chanced across the insignia S. Jarmulowsky’s Bank emblazoned upon a grand neo-classical former bank building The AIA Guide to New York revealed the initial S Angela and I wondered if this Sender Jarmulowsky might somehow be connected to the Jarmels in our family This helped me uncover the shocking story of my great-great-grandfather and his family Sender was born to an impoverished family in the shtetl of Grajewo (“Grayve,” in Yiddish) Both a Talmudic scholar and a nascent businessman and started brokering the steerage class boat tickets to New York so essential to the growth of the Lower East Side which would become the largest community of Jews in the world Sender would buy cheaper passages during winter with fake passenger names then sell them at higher prices in the summer because the shipping lines were willing to change the names on the tickets Sender and his family emigrated to New York in 1873 Using the money he had earned brokering ship tickets in Hamburg he built the bank on Canal Street for the same population that bought ship passages during a visit to the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue Angela discovered a plaque dedicated to Sender Jarmulowsky and learned that he had been one of several prominent Jews who had contributed to its founding But after Sender’s death, Kobrin wrote his sons Louis and Meyer irreparably damaged the very community that their father had helped build They used account holder money to buy buildings in Harlem where they were involved in dubious redistricting and when account holders began taking money out at the onset of World War I destroying the lives and livelihoods of the immigrants that Sender had brought over from Europe Dorle and her family escaped an angry mob outside their building by climbing up the fire escape and eventually changed their names and the arc of their lives This dark chapter of American Jewish history was almost ignored for generations perhaps due to what historian Tony Michels has called “Jewish Triumphalism,” a tendency to focus on positive stories have not always been comfortable speaking of the corrupt Jewish bankers in my lineage A pariah in her community but liberated from traditional orthodox female expectations, Dorle embarked on a thrilling series of escapades and accomplishments. Her five simultaneous love affairs in the 1930s are recounted in my memoir Master Lovers In the years following the collapse of the bank the Lower East Side Jews began moving out to Brooklyn the Eldridge Street Synagogue fell into disrepair and Spanish became more common than Yiddish on the streets The Latino community that sprung up after the Lower East Side’s Jews moved to the suburbs in the 1960s has been largely displaced by the gentrification sweeping across lower New York since the 1990s The apex of that gentrification is the swanky hotel and cocktail bar which now occupies the building of the former Jarmulowsky Bank I once visited the hotel and got quite a surprise The troubled history of the bank now appears on placards and brochures throughout the building Although my great-aunt Dorle had kept those details hidden from our family for years I’m glad to see that the story of the bank including the tumultuous story of Sender Jarmulowky and his sons is now seen as an integral part of the Lower East Side’s fascinating history RelatedBehind the swankiest new hotel on the Lower East Side, a swanky Jewish history David Winner is the author of the 2023 book Master Lovers a fiction-nonfiction mashup about his great-aunt Dorle and her love affairs in the 1930s I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning nonprofit journalism during this critical time we have stood together in strength and sorrow Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association your new go-to podcast to spice up your weekday mornings with relevant news and behind-the-scenes from Brussels and beyond From the economy to the climate and the EU's role in world affairs this talk show sheds light on European affairs and the issues that impact on our daily lives as Europeans Tune in to understand the ins and outs of European politics Dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries Deep dive conversations with business leaders Euronews Tech Talks goes beyond discussions to explore the impact of new technologies on our lives the podcast provides valuable insights into the intersection of technology and society Europe's water is under increasing pressure floods are taking their toll on our drinking water Join us on a journey around Europe to see why protecting ecosystems matters and to discover some of the best water solutions an animated explainer series and live debate - find out why Water Matters We give you the latest climate facts from the world’s leading source analyse the trends and explain how our planet is changing We meet the experts on the front line of climate change who explore new strategies to mitigate and adapt Heightened border tensions between Poland and Belarus have led to a dramatic fall in visitor numbers to one of Poland’s traditional tourist attractions The Bialowieza forest is a national park and home to 800 European bison but it is the 100 Russian mercenaries said to be training with the Belarus army over the border that have drawn interest in the region this summer On Saturday the Polish Prime Minister warned the Wagner Group soldiers had moved close to the Suwalki Gap a strategic land corridor between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Poland sees the presence of Wagner forces as the latest in a series of provocations orchestrated by Russia to destabilise the region Wagner arrived in Belarus after its short-lived rebellion earlier in the summer but there have been tensions at the border for two years since large numbers of migrants from the Middle East and Africa began arriving from the East Poland calls this wave of migration a form of hybrid warfare Watch the full Euronews report from Poland in the media player above Renewable energy developer OX2 has agreed to sell two Polish wind farms to a fund managed by DIF Capital Partners DIF Capital Partners signed the deal for the Grajewo and Sulmierzyce wind farms through its DIF Infrastructure Fund VI The facilities in the Podlaskie and Łódź regions of Poland have a total capacity of 63MW OX2 CEO Paul Stormoen said: “I am very happy to welcome DIF Capital Partners as a new partner with its extensive experience from long-term investments in renewable energy projects “Our partnership is a significant step in OX2’s ongoing expansion in Poland It quadruples the amount of green energy that will be produced from the wind farms in Poland built by OX2.” The wind farms are currently under construction The Grajewo wind farm will generate 40MW with 12 Vestas wind turbines which have a capacity to generate approximately 131GWh of clean energy annually The 23.1MW Sulmierzyce wind farm in Sulmierzyce It will generate 68GWh of renewable electricity annually Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis OX2 has agreed to build the two projects under a tailored engineering The projects will begin operations by the end of next year OX2 has agreed to provide technical and commercial management for the wind facilities the wind farms will generate 200GWh of energy which is sufficient to power 50,000 households annually while offsetting 70,000t of carbon emissions per year The companies have not disclosed the financial details of the deal Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Bogdan and Elżbieta Kaczmarek together with Innova Capital through an investment vehicle Breticontic Investments have agreed to acquire 100% of Pfleiderer Polska in a corporate carve-out transaction from Pfleiderer Group owned by funds managed by affiliates of Strategic Value Partners The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024 subject to the receipt of the required regulatory approvals as well as other customary closing conditions Pfleiderer Polska produces premium and high-quality wood-based panels, with customer-focused service and a consistent sustainability orientation. The business has three production facilities, including Pfleiderer Grajewo, Pfleiderer MDF Grajewo, and Pfleiderer Wieruszów. Pfleiderer Group is 100% owned by funds managed by Strategic Value Partners, a global investment firm. said: “After a long history as part of the Group today’s announcement formally separates Pfleiderer’s German and Polish panels activities We see the investment from the Kaczmarek Family and Innova Capital as a strong vote of confidence in Pfleiderer Polska’s strategy and business model the recognition of its client relationships and the quality of the management team and broader employee base This divestment will not affect the remaining activities of the Group which include Pfleiderer Deutschland and Silekol in Poland.” who team up with Innova Capital in this transaction are private investors and owners of Central European manufacturers of quality furniture and mattresses The deal is a fourth transaction executed under Innova Capital’s newest Innova/7 fund which has raised over €350m in the last 12 months Complimentary capabilities of the consortium members will enable the new investors in Pfleiderer Polska to benefit from its recognition in the local market and further growth opportunities including those related to green transformation The Company is already a frontrunner in the usage of post-consumer-recycled wood and intends to further develop this sourcing strategy Strategic Value Partners and Pfleiderer Group were advised by Rothschild & Co for financial matters while Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisor Greenberg Traurig acted as legal advisor for Bogdan and Elżbieta Kaczmarek and Innova Capital We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used “We will step up military cooperation [with Poland] look for additional forms for our armed forces to train together and strengthen military mobility,” Nausėda told reporters after a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Vilnius on Sunday Lithuania and Poland last conducted a joint military exercise in Klaipėda in early July 2023 Troops from the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the two neighbouring countries then held a critical infrastructure recapture drill in Lithuania’s port city Polish President Duda also told reporters in Vilnius that the so-called Suwalki Gap is “the region that requires special attention “We know how sensitive the Suwalki Gap is today in terms of European security,” he said The Suwalki Gap is a land strip of around 100 kilometres on the Lithuanian-Polish border that is wedged between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the west and Belarus on the east The planned Lithuanian-Polish military exercise will be held in the Suwalki Gap Nausėda confirmed in an interview with the delfi.lt news website “I’m very happy that the Polish president has responded with enthusiasm to that desire to have a joint exercise in this area of land called the Suwalki Gap We’re already talking about a very specific date it could probably take place in April,” the Lithuanian president said Duda told the delfi.lt that Poland takes the defence of the Suwalki Gap seriously adding that measures have already been taken in this respect we have been restoring Poland’s defence capabilities in the eastern part of our country We are also restoring the capabilities of the units that have been present in Bartoszyce and other places and we are strengthening Poland’s military presence and border protection,” the Polish president said