Scottsdale, AZ – The name of a Polish champion horse that surfaced in coverage of the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show has caused a dustup because his moniker is associated with attacks on Jewish people.
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*Pogrom, a 3-year-old colt on lease from the Polish government to Scottsdale’s Midwest Training Centre and Sloan Arabians, is an offensive name to those who associate it with anti-Jewish mob attacks.
Scottsdale resident Nettie Sacks, 79, read that *Pogrom was an up-and-comer and already a Polish champion in a recent Scottsdale Republic article. The word was like a lightning strike.
“To me, the word means when the Polish peasants formed a group and they called it a pogrom and they went to all the little villages to find the Jews and kill them all,” Sacks said.
Her grandfather’s family, including her mother, then a teenager, left Poland in 1916 for America after a pogrom.
The stallion was named by staff at one of the stud farms owned by the Polish government, known for its top-notch breeding.
*Pogrom holds the recent title of 2011 Polish National Champion.
“They did not intend to choose a name that would be offensive, especially to people with whom they share historic tragedies,” said Sue Adams, spokeswoman for Midwest Training Centre.
“They did not intend to choose a name that would be offensive, especially to people with whom they share historic tragedies,” …give me a break. The degree of audacious relativism in this world is ludicrous.
The word probably means something innocuous like “riot” or something like that.
Maybe Israel should enter a horse whose name refers to the generally accepted notions of the relative intelligence of the Polish people.
I always thought the word pogrom just meant “ghetto” in Polish. *shrug*
Having said that however… I have NEVER heard the word used in a positive or non, anti-Jewish way. It always seems to be referring to the Jewish people, when it gets used. At least here in this country!
But I don’t know how harmless the word could be in the Polish language…