Catholic Pole unmasked as impostor in Jewish community

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Jewish leader in Poland said Thursday that her community was deceived by a Polish Catholic man who pretended to be an Orthodox Jew, wearing a beard and payots — curly sideburns in front of the ears — and leading prayers in Hebrew.

Alicja Kobus, leader of Poznan's Jewish community, said that the impostor was unmasked recently when people in his hometown saw him on television taking part in ecumenical observances with Catholic and Muslim religious leaders.

Schudrich said that while it's not good that the man misrepresented himself, the incident is indicative of a growing interest in Poland in its once-large Jewish community, which was nearly destroyed by Nazi Germany in the Holocaust during World War II.