why would people assume you are not polish if you are white?
Line up a ginger-haired Scot, a Pole, a Spaniard, a Greek and a Jew of Baltic origin, and you would definitely see the difference in these almost equally-white people.
You guys haven't seen many Germans then ;-)
I'd have said more northern European. I don't think he looks at all Polish or Slavic, but he wouldn't stand out in Poland. An Italian would stand out more.