10% of what the jewish population from before the war. overwhelming majority left from the 25 years after world war ii. between 45 and 69. polish communism was nasty to jews. it was perceived that under polish communism that if you said out loud, i am a jew, that you weren t going to get advanced in your job, you may not get into a better university. it was an eliminating factor. events like 1946. terrible thing. 42 jews killed for being jews. if you wanted to live a jewish life by the late 50s, almost certainly would have left. those few who remain remain with experience that is simply not safe to be jewish.
translator: what was difficult was when i was coming home with the documents. i didn t know how to tell him. i loved him even he was a skin head. if he beat people up or not. it was a time in poland when this movement was very intense. as impossible as that conversation was to imagine, the biggest challenge, the most unwelcome surprise for the couple was still to come. translator: well, who practiced that in poland? no one in poland practiced after what happened. i don t know anyone who practiced. i don t know anyone and i know a lot of jews. i think they cut themselves off after what happened here. before the war, the jews of poland where that jews, period. this was that world center of jewish life, of jewish thought.
susan candiotti, cnn, new york. coming up, the incredible story of a couple who went from neo nazi skin heads to orthodox jews. and then later, what caused thousands of birds to literally fall from the sky in arkansas? we ll take you to the area where it happened. ket. just breathe. we know it s intimidating. instant torque. top speed of 100 miles an hour. that s one serious machine. but you can do this. any socket can. the volt only needs about a buck fifty worth of charge a day. and for longer trips, it can use gas. so get psyched. this is a big step up from the leafblower. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it s more car than electric.
more of our story of the couple who made a remarkable transformation from skin heads to orthodox jews. it was 1980s communist poland. police were worn here in the concrete tower projects where he lived as a teenager. translator: people were scared because he was a walking legend. pavel and his brother. they were known as there were stories about them that went around the neighborhood. for example, at a party, pavel beat someone up so badly that he could barely walk away with his life. married to pavel, mother to his two young children, ola had just combed through records arriving at her chilling
this is the time of year when many people decide to rededicate themselves to change. that means a new year s resolution, perhaps exercising, working harder at our jobs cht but we heard an incredible story of what one couple went far beyond. they went from neo nazis to orthodox jews. we traveled to warsaw, poland to figure out how such change a possible. this is a story about peeling away the layers of our past. we think we are today is not necessarily who we ll be tomorrow. human experience is unpredictable, so too, is our capacity to change.