Polish minority in Romania

[Genovefa]

I'm not saying there are no tall and blonde Jews with blue eyes, but these types are not common among them at all.

Just ask user Meerkat, she is our resident expert on Jewish phenotypes.

I thought Ashkenazi Jews at least were lighter?
I'll try summoning her then

quote

[Genovefa]

Throw those treacherous Polaks out of Romania for betraying Stephen the great.

Everyone makes mistakes

[Valu]

Are they fully assimilated?

[Meerkat]

Why was I called here?

[Genovefa]

Well, pan means Sir, which originates from a Medieval title for nobles. But later, this custom spread over entire population. So if people called someone pan in 1940, it just meant he was a male, nothing more. But the origin of this term is indeed related to nobility.

We can also say for example "pan na tym zamku" and it means "lord of this castle".

Pan has several meanings. From Polish Wiktionary:

https://pl.wiktionary.org/wiki/pan

(1.1) a salutation, equivalent of English Mr.; when directly addressing a male person, equivalent of pronoun "you"
(1.2) [basically another variant of 1.1 so I'm not translating it]
(1.3) feudal lord or landowner, also a magnate or a ruler
(1.4) employer for servants
(1.5) owner of slaves
(1.6) owner of a dog

Could've been 1.3 then I guess (and as mentioned, he had quite a bit of land).
By the way, I find it amusing how it got from "owner of slaves" to "owner of a dog"

[Genovefa]

Why was I called here?

Hello, thanks for coming! Peterski told me you know very much about Jewish phenotypes. I wanted to know how much of a chance my great-great-grandfather had at being Jewish, as he was a tall blonde man with blue eyes?

[Peterski]

Back in the 1400s you would say "panie" ("Sir") only to a nobleman. And "kmiocie" ("yokel") to a peasant.

But in the 1900s everyone would be addressed "panie", so it doesn't prove noble origins for this time period.

If he was of noble origin, there should be a Coat of Arms associated with his surname and his extended family.

[Meerkat]

Hello, thanks for coming! Peterski told me you know very much about Jewish phenotypes. I wanted to know how much of a chance my great-great-grandfather had at being Jewish, as he was a tall blonde man with blue eyes?

Do you have a photo of him?

[Peterski]

Could've been 1.3 then I guess (and as mentioned, he had quite a bit of land).

But owning land in the 20th century doesn't make you a noble. Rockefeller was not a noble, for example.

As I said there should be a Coat of Arms and it should be possible to confirm noble origins.

But during the 19th century most of Polish nobility lost their status under Russian/Austrian/Prussian rules.

[Genovefa]

Are they fully assimilated?

I haven't met any other Romanians who claimed to have Polish origins beside my family, no real Poles either. If you want to know about my case, my family members held great pride in having Polish ancestry, and were maybe interested about it as I am. However, most of my relatives who are alive are dismissing it, my aunt says we are fully Romanian and have nothing to do with Poles. Her daughter is ok with it but doesn't really care, and the rest of my close relatives don't even know about it.