Antony Polonsky
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906764395
- eISBN:
- 9781800340763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906764395.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter assesses the position of Jews in Poland between the two world wars, which differed considerably in the various partitions. Polish Jews were largely urban. In 1931, over three-quarters ...
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This chapter assesses the position of Jews in Poland between the two world wars, which differed considerably in the various partitions. Polish Jews were largely urban. In 1931, over three-quarters lived in towns and less than a quarter in villages and in the country. As one would expect, therefore, Jews were found mainly in urban occupations. In Galicia, however, where the granting of civil rights had enabled Jews to buy land, a class of Jewish land-owners grew up. Jews also formed a significant part of the Polish intelligentsia. Meanwhile, Jewish political life was highly factionalized. There was a multiplicity of Jewish political parties, reflecting deep divisions within the community over religion and class, and attitudes to the Polish state and to the Jewish national movement. Indeed, Jewish political life was characterized by a threefold division between Zionism, Orthodoxy, and socialism, although within each of these ideological camps there was a plethora of subgroups.Less
This chapter assesses the position of Jews in Poland between the two world wars, which differed considerably in the various partitions. Polish Jews were largely urban. In 1931, over three-quarters lived in towns and less than a quarter in villages and in the country. As one would expect, therefore, Jews were found mainly in urban occupations. In Galicia, however, where the granting of civil rights had enabled Jews to buy land, a class of Jewish land-owners grew up. Jews also formed a significant part of the Polish intelligentsia. Meanwhile, Jewish political life was highly factionalized. There was a multiplicity of Jewish political parties, reflecting deep divisions within the community over religion and class, and attitudes to the Polish state and to the Jewish national movement. Indeed, Jewish political life was characterized by a threefold division between Zionism, Orthodoxy, and socialism, although within each of these ideological camps there was a plethora of subgroups.
Daniel Stone
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774310
- eISBN:
- 9781800340671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774310.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter addresses the knowledge of foreign language among eighteenth-century Jews. Polish Jews were not isolated in the eighteenth century or in previous centuries. They inhabited an ...
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This chapter addresses the knowledge of foreign language among eighteenth-century Jews. Polish Jews were not isolated in the eighteenth century or in previous centuries. They inhabited an international society of business, medicine, politics, and scholarship. Jews published their works in Hebrew and circulated them across the European continent. Jews also took a major part in international business networks, which carried Jewish merchants to other lands with their Jewish servants and labourers. Within Poland, Jewish occupations demanded extensive contact with the non-Jewish world, as did the political requirements of maintaining a Jewish communal identity. As such, the chapter suggests that there were many individual cases of Jews who had learned the language of their neighbours. It then assesses the degree to which Polish Jews knew Polish and European languages such as German, French, and Latin, as well as east European languages such as Russian and Hungarian.Less
This chapter addresses the knowledge of foreign language among eighteenth-century Jews. Polish Jews were not isolated in the eighteenth century or in previous centuries. They inhabited an international society of business, medicine, politics, and scholarship. Jews published their works in Hebrew and circulated them across the European continent. Jews also took a major part in international business networks, which carried Jewish merchants to other lands with their Jewish servants and labourers. Within Poland, Jewish occupations demanded extensive contact with the non-Jewish world, as did the political requirements of maintaining a Jewish communal identity. As such, the chapter suggests that there were many individual cases of Jews who had learned the language of their neighbours. It then assesses the degree to which Polish Jews knew Polish and European languages such as German, French, and Latin, as well as east European languages such as Russian and Hungarian.
Marcin Wodziński
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113737
- eISBN:
- 9781800341012
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113737.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter provides a general introduction to the issues that shaped Polish policy towards Jews. It emphasizes the most general policy objectives and their implementation, as well as on the way the ...
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This chapter provides a general introduction to the issues that shaped Polish policy towards Jews. It emphasizes the most general policy objectives and their implementation, as well as on the way the Jewish community was perceived. Many Polish reformers envisaged that Polish Jews should become “civil Christians”, that is distinct from their Polish Christian neighbors only in their private religious beliefs. The chapter also talks about the proposed new “Mosaic” religion that was essentially devoid of religious ritual and with a minimum of institutional structures. It explains the Mosaic religion as a state-sponsored campaign to purge Judaism of its content so as to facilitate the reform of Jewish society.Less
This chapter provides a general introduction to the issues that shaped Polish policy towards Jews. It emphasizes the most general policy objectives and their implementation, as well as on the way the Jewish community was perceived. Many Polish reformers envisaged that Polish Jews should become “civil Christians”, that is distinct from their Polish Christian neighbors only in their private religious beliefs. The chapter also talks about the proposed new “Mosaic” religion that was essentially devoid of religious ritual and with a minimum of institutional structures. It explains the Mosaic religion as a state-sponsored campaign to purge Judaism of its content so as to facilitate the reform of Jewish society.
Marion A. Kaplan
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195130928
- eISBN:
- 9780199854486
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195130928.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The chapter discusses the implementation of the pogrom by the Nazis and the destruction it brought upon the Jews. In early 1938, the Nazi government intensified its campaign of discrimination against ...
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The chapter discusses the implementation of the pogrom by the Nazis and the destruction it brought upon the Jews. In early 1938, the Nazi government intensified its campaign of discrimination against the Jews through the enactment of several laws that essentially stripped them of any social, economic, or political rights. The series of events leading up to the violent pogrom of November 1938 are related, beginning with the expulsion of “foreign” Jews — including Soviet and Polish Jews — until the fateful shooting of a German diplomat by one Herschel Grynszpan. Instances of brutality and violence towards all Jews, regardless of age or sex, are recounted. A section is also devoted to the reactions of the Germans, which seemed to be contradictory due to stories of random acts of kindness amidst the violence and persecution. The actions and reactions of Jewish women are also presented, along with the obstacles to emigration.Less
The chapter discusses the implementation of the pogrom by the Nazis and the destruction it brought upon the Jews. In early 1938, the Nazi government intensified its campaign of discrimination against the Jews through the enactment of several laws that essentially stripped them of any social, economic, or political rights. The series of events leading up to the violent pogrom of November 1938 are related, beginning with the expulsion of “foreign” Jews — including Soviet and Polish Jews — until the fateful shooting of a German diplomat by one Herschel Grynszpan. Instances of brutality and violence towards all Jews, regardless of age or sex, are recounted. A section is also devoted to the reactions of the Germans, which seemed to be contradictory due to stories of random acts of kindness amidst the violence and persecution. The actions and reactions of Jewish women are also presented, along with the obstacles to emigration.
Michael Stenton
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208433
- eISBN:
- 9780191678004
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208433.003.0025
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Political History
In July 1941 Moscow acknowledged a vested British interest in Poland. If Polish soldiers were not pressed into Soviet service or placed under Soviet political discipline, Moscow would feel the lack ...
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In July 1941 Moscow acknowledged a vested British interest in Poland. If Polish soldiers were not pressed into Soviet service or placed under Soviet political discipline, Moscow would feel the lack of Polish tools. The Polish Embassy threw a social security net across the USSR to catch tens of thousands of Poles who were released from camps and prisons in Siberia and Kazakhstan. The Anders army was indiscreet, anti-Soviet, and immune to political reorientation; the soldiers had been drawn back from a lost world, and they were difficult to intimidate; their Polish nonchalance was flourished under the noses of the NKVD. Stalin's attitude to the London Poles was at best ambiguous. The Polish Embassy was never allowed contact with Jewish citizens from eastern Poland, but the Russians sent a surprising number of Polish Jews to Polish army recruitment centres.Less
In July 1941 Moscow acknowledged a vested British interest in Poland. If Polish soldiers were not pressed into Soviet service or placed under Soviet political discipline, Moscow would feel the lack of Polish tools. The Polish Embassy threw a social security net across the USSR to catch tens of thousands of Poles who were released from camps and prisons in Siberia and Kazakhstan. The Anders army was indiscreet, anti-Soviet, and immune to political reorientation; the soldiers had been drawn back from a lost world, and they were difficult to intimidate; their Polish nonchalance was flourished under the noses of the NKVD. Stalin's attitude to the London Poles was at best ambiguous. The Polish Embassy was never allowed contact with Jewish citizens from eastern Poland, but the Russians sent a surprising number of Polish Jews to Polish army recruitment centres.
Adam Teller
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691161747
- eISBN:
- 9780691199863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161747.003.0023
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter assesses the meetings of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews on the ground in the communities of the Holy Roman Empire. It begins by examining the chapbook Di bashraybung fun ...
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This chapter assesses the meetings of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews on the ground in the communities of the Holy Roman Empire. It begins by examining the chapbook Di bashraybung fun Ashkenaz un Polak (The Description of a German and a Polish Jew). Published in Prague sometime in the second half of the seventeenth century, it provides a satirical look at the interaction of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews they met on their travels in the empire. The satirical poem presents this in two large blocks: the first gives the point of view of the Polish Jew and his complaints about his reception in the empire; the second brings the perspective of the German Jew and his opinions of the indigent refugees with whom he is faced. The chapter then determines the extent to which the chapbook was an accurate portrayal of the mid-seventeenth-century reality, considering the Jewish refugees in Frankfurt a.M. and Hamburg, as well as in Vienna.Less
This chapter assesses the meetings of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews on the ground in the communities of the Holy Roman Empire. It begins by examining the chapbook Di bashraybung fun Ashkenaz un Polak (The Description of a German and a Polish Jew). Published in Prague sometime in the second half of the seventeenth century, it provides a satirical look at the interaction of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews they met on their travels in the empire. The satirical poem presents this in two large blocks: the first gives the point of view of the Polish Jew and his complaints about his reception in the empire; the second brings the perspective of the German Jew and his opinions of the indigent refugees with whom he is faced. The chapter then determines the extent to which the chapbook was an accurate portrayal of the mid-seventeenth-century reality, considering the Jewish refugees in Frankfurt a.M. and Hamburg, as well as in Vienna.
Daniel Blatman
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774716
- eISBN:
- 9781800340725
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774716.003.0022
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines several aspects of the lives and experiences of the survivor community in Poland. Much has been written about relations between the new regime in Poland and the Jewish ...
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This chapter examines several aspects of the lives and experiences of the survivor community in Poland. Much has been written about relations between the new regime in Poland and the Jewish survivors, the formation of the relief committees, the political entities, the beriḥah (‘flight’) apparatus, and the revitalization of youth and political movements. The main characteristic in any historical analysis of a collectivity’s daily life is an examination of long-term processes taking place within the society in question. Such a perspective, however, does not apply to the situation of the Jewish survivors in Poland. The most consistent factor in their lives was instability; theirs was a life of reconstruction and entrenchment within a reality of deconstruction and departure.Less
This chapter examines several aspects of the lives and experiences of the survivor community in Poland. Much has been written about relations between the new regime in Poland and the Jewish survivors, the formation of the relief committees, the political entities, the beriḥah (‘flight’) apparatus, and the revitalization of youth and political movements. The main characteristic in any historical analysis of a collectivity’s daily life is an examination of long-term processes taking place within the society in question. Such a perspective, however, does not apply to the situation of the Jewish survivors in Poland. The most consistent factor in their lives was instability; theirs was a life of reconstruction and entrenchment within a reality of deconstruction and departure.
Jacob Goldberg
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774310
- eISBN:
- 9781800340671
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774310.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter discusses Jewish marriage in eighteenth-century Poland. Jews, as well as many non-Jews, acknowledged that Jewish marriages embodied a good, stable model and praised them as examples to ...
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This chapter discusses Jewish marriage in eighteenth-century Poland. Jews, as well as many non-Jews, acknowledged that Jewish marriages embodied a good, stable model and praised them as examples to be emulated in an era when immorality and marital breakdown seemed to threaten the institution. Even in much earlier times, Jewish marriages, particularly those of Polish Jews, were recognized as embodying all desirable matrimonial attributes. In the course of the eighteenth century, Jewish marital practices attracted the attention of all levels of Polish society, as well as of leading maskilim in other countries. It was during the period of the Polish Enlightenment that the model of Jewish marriage was promoted on a wider scale because it conformed to popular ideas based on contemporary mercantilist and cameralist principles. The chapter then considers the convergence of opinion between Jewish and Christian Enlightenment representatives on some aspects of marriage in Jewish society, and looks at the incidence of early marriage in the Jewish population and the vicissitudes in the practice of young couples living in the home of their parents.Less
This chapter discusses Jewish marriage in eighteenth-century Poland. Jews, as well as many non-Jews, acknowledged that Jewish marriages embodied a good, stable model and praised them as examples to be emulated in an era when immorality and marital breakdown seemed to threaten the institution. Even in much earlier times, Jewish marriages, particularly those of Polish Jews, were recognized as embodying all desirable matrimonial attributes. In the course of the eighteenth century, Jewish marital practices attracted the attention of all levels of Polish society, as well as of leading maskilim in other countries. It was during the period of the Polish Enlightenment that the model of Jewish marriage was promoted on a wider scale because it conformed to popular ideas based on contemporary mercantilist and cameralist principles. The chapter then considers the convergence of opinion between Jewish and Christian Enlightenment representatives on some aspects of marriage in Jewish society, and looks at the incidence of early marriage in the Jewish population and the vicissitudes in the practice of young couples living in the home of their parents.
Adam Teller
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691161747
- eISBN:
- 9780691199863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161747.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter studies the role of Italian Jewry in ransoming Polish Jewish captives. In truth, the most important use for the pidyon shevuyim money as far as Italian Jewry was concerned had nothing to ...
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This chapter studies the role of Italian Jewry in ransoming Polish Jewish captives. In truth, the most important use for the pidyon shevuyim money as far as Italian Jewry was concerned had nothing to do with Polish Jews and their problems. Instead, ransom money was used primarily to redeem Jewish maritime merchants and travelers who were preyed on by pirates, particularly the Knights of St. John on Malta. This desire to prioritize the needs of the captives on Malta did not mean, however, that Venice totally ignored all other causes. Moreover, the Italian communities in general, though they seem to have understood the benefits of having Venice manage the ransoming on Malta, were not willing entirely to give up their autonomy in how they used their philanthropic funds. This was good news for Polish Jews because it improved their chances of receiving financial support from Italian Jewry. Their requests for that can be divided into two main groups. The first were made by individuals, asking for help with their personal issues. The second were requests for larger groups, most often communities in Poland–Lithuania that were struggling with the costs of recovering from the war or communities outside eastern Europe that were dealing with an influx of Polish Jewish refugees.Less
This chapter studies the role of Italian Jewry in ransoming Polish Jewish captives. In truth, the most important use for the pidyon shevuyim money as far as Italian Jewry was concerned had nothing to do with Polish Jews and their problems. Instead, ransom money was used primarily to redeem Jewish maritime merchants and travelers who were preyed on by pirates, particularly the Knights of St. John on Malta. This desire to prioritize the needs of the captives on Malta did not mean, however, that Venice totally ignored all other causes. Moreover, the Italian communities in general, though they seem to have understood the benefits of having Venice manage the ransoming on Malta, were not willing entirely to give up their autonomy in how they used their philanthropic funds. This was good news for Polish Jews because it improved their chances of receiving financial support from Italian Jewry. Their requests for that can be divided into two main groups. The first were made by individuals, asking for help with their personal issues. The second were requests for larger groups, most often communities in Poland–Lithuania that were struggling with the costs of recovering from the war or communities outside eastern Europe that were dealing with an influx of Polish Jewish refugees.
Adam Teller
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691161747
- eISBN:
- 9780691199863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161747.003.0019
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter presents a background of the relationship between German Jews and Polish Jews before 1648. Polish Jews were well aware that their ancestors had originated in the German lands and, long ...
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This chapter presents a background of the relationship between German Jews and Polish Jews before 1648. Polish Jews were well aware that their ancestors had originated in the German lands and, long before the refugee crisis brought large numbers of them back there, knew a great deal about Jewish society in the empire. Much of what they knew came from meetings with German Jews, often in pursuit of trade, or from the stories of those who had traveled the relatively short distance to the German lands. Though there was much that separated them, both groups understood that they also had a great deal in common in cultural and religious terms. The meeting of Polish and German Jews in the mid-seventeenth century, for all its economic, social, and religious difficulties, was undoubtedly colored by this sense of kinship and belonging. To understand its significance, the chapter looks at the history of the connections between the two groups of Jews and the ways in which those connections were perceived by each side. In the years after 1648, this history of the connection between German and Polish Jews seems to have created a range of expectations on the part not only of the refugees but also of those in the empire who were to take them in.Less
This chapter presents a background of the relationship between German Jews and Polish Jews before 1648. Polish Jews were well aware that their ancestors had originated in the German lands and, long before the refugee crisis brought large numbers of them back there, knew a great deal about Jewish society in the empire. Much of what they knew came from meetings with German Jews, often in pursuit of trade, or from the stories of those who had traveled the relatively short distance to the German lands. Though there was much that separated them, both groups understood that they also had a great deal in common in cultural and religious terms. The meeting of Polish and German Jews in the mid-seventeenth century, for all its economic, social, and religious difficulties, was undoubtedly colored by this sense of kinship and belonging. To understand its significance, the chapter looks at the history of the connections between the two groups of Jews and the ways in which those connections were perceived by each side. In the years after 1648, this history of the connection between German and Polish Jews seems to have created a range of expectations on the part not only of the refugees but also of those in the empire who were to take them in.
Joanna Michlic-coren
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774600
- eISBN:
- 9781800340701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774600.003.0019
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines the Kielce pogrom. On July 4, 1946, the most horrifying outbreak of anti-Jewish violence in post-war Poland took place in Kielce. On that day, ordinary citizens of this central ...
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This chapter examines the Kielce pogrom. On July 4, 1946, the most horrifying outbreak of anti-Jewish violence in post-war Poland took place in Kielce. On that day, ordinary citizens of this central Polish town, together with soldiers and militiamen, murdered forty Polish Jews and injured more than a hundred. This was not an isolated act of anti-Jewish violence in this early post-war period, but one of many such events which took place between 1945 and 1947. Nevertheless, it was striking because of its dimensions, because of the brutality with which it was accompanied, and because of the participation of local forces representing the new communist authority. The Kielce pogrom was the most powerful indicator that Jews were not to be welcomed to restore their lives among the ethnic Polish population. The chapter then assesses the extent to which anti-Jewish attitudes were prevalent among Polish society during and after the Kielce pogrom.Less
This chapter examines the Kielce pogrom. On July 4, 1946, the most horrifying outbreak of anti-Jewish violence in post-war Poland took place in Kielce. On that day, ordinary citizens of this central Polish town, together with soldiers and militiamen, murdered forty Polish Jews and injured more than a hundred. This was not an isolated act of anti-Jewish violence in this early post-war period, but one of many such events which took place between 1945 and 1947. Nevertheless, it was striking because of its dimensions, because of the brutality with which it was accompanied, and because of the participation of local forces representing the new communist authority. The Kielce pogrom was the most powerful indicator that Jews were not to be welcomed to restore their lives among the ethnic Polish population. The chapter then assesses the extent to which anti-Jewish attitudes were prevalent among Polish society during and after the Kielce pogrom.
Janina Katarzyna Rogozik
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774594
- eISBN:
- 9781800340695
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774594.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter discusses Bernard Singer. The works of Bernard Singer belong to the Polish–Jewish cultural border, and enriched both cultures. He wrote articles for Jewish periodicals in Polish, ...
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This chapter discusses Bernard Singer. The works of Bernard Singer belong to the Polish–Jewish cultural border, and enriched both cultures. He wrote articles for Jewish periodicals in Polish, informing the Jewish reader about Polish political affairs, aware that Poles also read his work. Like other great Polish Jews, he bore the ‘stamp of Polish noble culture’, but although he wrote mainly on Polish matters, he never renounced his Jewishness. He was, as this chapter shows, an ace reporter. Bernard Singer's reputation derives principally from his career as the political, economic, and cultural commentator of Nasz Przegląd. Published in Warsaw from 1923 to 1939, Nasz Przegląd was a newspaper addressed to well-to-do and ‘enlightened’ assimilated Polish Jews. Its mission was to reclaim these Jews and bring them back to the nationalist idea.Less
This chapter discusses Bernard Singer. The works of Bernard Singer belong to the Polish–Jewish cultural border, and enriched both cultures. He wrote articles for Jewish periodicals in Polish, informing the Jewish reader about Polish political affairs, aware that Poles also read his work. Like other great Polish Jews, he bore the ‘stamp of Polish noble culture’, but although he wrote mainly on Polish matters, he never renounced his Jewishness. He was, as this chapter shows, an ace reporter. Bernard Singer's reputation derives principally from his career as the political, economic, and cultural commentator of Nasz Przegląd. Published in Warsaw from 1923 to 1939, Nasz Przegląd was a newspaper addressed to well-to-do and ‘enlightened’ assimilated Polish Jews. Its mission was to reclaim these Jews and bring them back to the nationalist idea.
Jerzy Tomaszewski
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113171
- eISBN:
- 9781800340589
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113171.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter identifies some methodological problems of the study of Jewish history in Poland between the two World Wars. The growing public interest in the history of Polish Jews between the wars ...
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This chapter identifies some methodological problems of the study of Jewish history in Poland between the two World Wars. The growing public interest in the history of Polish Jews between the wars has been the reason for the publication of many books and articles. Some are based on only a superficial survey, others present a deep and penetrating analysis of specific problems. This body of literature deserves methodological consideration, together with a critical review of the most important sources, so that some queries, doubts and suggestions can be raised. During at least the past hundred years, a tradition developed in some Jewish and Polish political circles of treating the Jews as a kind of alien body within Polish society. This attitude can also often be observed in contemporary historical studies, despite the authors' declared intentions. This can partly be explained in terms of the distant past, when Jews constituted a distinctly different class of people with its own legal status and institutions, but there is no reason to maintain such an approach when investigating the history of the 20th century.Less
This chapter identifies some methodological problems of the study of Jewish history in Poland between the two World Wars. The growing public interest in the history of Polish Jews between the wars has been the reason for the publication of many books and articles. Some are based on only a superficial survey, others present a deep and penetrating analysis of specific problems. This body of literature deserves methodological consideration, together with a critical review of the most important sources, so that some queries, doubts and suggestions can be raised. During at least the past hundred years, a tradition developed in some Jewish and Polish political circles of treating the Jews as a kind of alien body within Polish society. This attitude can also often be observed in contemporary historical studies, despite the authors' declared intentions. This can partly be explained in terms of the distant past, when Jews constituted a distinctly different class of people with its own legal status and institutions, but there is no reason to maintain such an approach when investigating the history of the 20th century.
Anna Clarke
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774051
- eISBN:
- 9781800340688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774051.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter studies Jehiel Isaiah Trunk's Poyln and its place in Jewish Polish history. Trunk's Poyln is more than just an autobiography. In the words of Trunk's nephew, the historian Isaiah Trunk, ...
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This chapter studies Jehiel Isaiah Trunk's Poyln and its place in Jewish Polish history. Trunk's Poyln is more than just an autobiography. In the words of Trunk's nephew, the historian Isaiah Trunk, it is an artistic description of the life of Polish Jewry: ‘the Trunk saga became an epos of Polish Jews’. To call a work an ‘epos’ or ‘epic poem’ implies that it has many parts and cuts a broad swathe through history. It may also be written and rewritten over long periods of time. The chapter adds to the knowledge of the history of Polish Jews, based on the epos of Poyln and other writings by J. I. Trunk.Less
This chapter studies Jehiel Isaiah Trunk's Poyln and its place in Jewish Polish history. Trunk's Poyln is more than just an autobiography. In the words of Trunk's nephew, the historian Isaiah Trunk, it is an artistic description of the life of Polish Jewry: ‘the Trunk saga became an epos of Polish Jews’. To call a work an ‘epos’ or ‘epic poem’ implies that it has many parts and cuts a broad swathe through history. It may also be written and rewritten over long periods of time. The chapter adds to the knowledge of the history of Polish Jews, based on the epos of Poyln and other writings by J. I. Trunk.
M. J. Rosman
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113171
- eISBN:
- 9781800340589
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113171.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines the fundamental security and the economic and political power which the Jews possessed in 16th–18th century Poland. While many Polish Jews recognized that they were essentially ...
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This chapter examines the fundamental security and the economic and political power which the Jews possessed in 16th–18th century Poland. While many Polish Jews recognized that they were essentially secure in fact and behaved accordingly, at least some of the rabbinic and lay leadership felt that this security was a precarious one, threatened from many quarters, not to be taken for granted. Ultimate power belonged to someone else — the king who decreed, the nobility who enforced, the mob who attacked. These elements had to be pleased or placated; otherwise, seeming Jewish security might quickly evaporate. The feelings of powerlessness that some Jews felt can be detected in many of the stories about the founder of Hasidism, Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, and his successors, which show that part of the Hasidic leader's popular appeal was his ability to avert Jewish falls from the graces of the ruling authorities or his knack for outsmarting non-Jewish opponents.Less
This chapter examines the fundamental security and the economic and political power which the Jews possessed in 16th–18th century Poland. While many Polish Jews recognized that they were essentially secure in fact and behaved accordingly, at least some of the rabbinic and lay leadership felt that this security was a precarious one, threatened from many quarters, not to be taken for granted. Ultimate power belonged to someone else — the king who decreed, the nobility who enforced, the mob who attacked. These elements had to be pleased or placated; otherwise, seeming Jewish security might quickly evaporate. The feelings of powerlessness that some Jews felt can be detected in many of the stories about the founder of Hasidism, Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, and his successors, which show that part of the Hasidic leader's popular appeal was his ability to avert Jewish falls from the graces of the ruling authorities or his knack for outsmarting non-Jewish opponents.
John T. Pawlikowski
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774716
- eISBN:
- 9781800340725
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774716.003.0038
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter presents a volume examining the role of Jews in Polish consciousness during the critical period of the 1930s. In this new volume, Landau-Czajka attempts to further understanding of the ...
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This chapter presents a volume examining the role of Jews in Polish consciousness during the critical period of the 1930s. In this new volume, Landau-Czajka attempts to further understanding of the Jewish presence in Poland by taking the reader, quite systematically, through the prevailing attitudes of the 1930s. Sponsored by the important Instytut Historii Polski Akademia Nauk (Historical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, PAN), the volume works from the basic assumption that Jews belonged in Poland. As the title implies, Polish Jews shared the nation as a common homeland. It examines a host of publications that struggled positively and negatively with the ‘Jewish question’ in Poland from 1933 to 1939. Included in Landau-Czajka’s study are over fifty periodicals (secular and religious) of vastly different orientations such as Słowo, Polityka, Kultura, Mały Dziennik, Czas, and Narodowy Socjalista.Less
This chapter presents a volume examining the role of Jews in Polish consciousness during the critical period of the 1930s. In this new volume, Landau-Czajka attempts to further understanding of the Jewish presence in Poland by taking the reader, quite systematically, through the prevailing attitudes of the 1930s. Sponsored by the important Instytut Historii Polski Akademia Nauk (Historical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, PAN), the volume works from the basic assumption that Jews belonged in Poland. As the title implies, Polish Jews shared the nation as a common homeland. It examines a host of publications that struggled positively and negatively with the ‘Jewish question’ in Poland from 1933 to 1939. Included in Landau-Czajka’s study are over fifty periodicals (secular and religious) of vastly different orientations such as Słowo, Polityka, Kultura, Mały Dziennik, Czas, and Narodowy Socjalista.
Władysław Bartoszewski
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113171
- eISBN:
- 9781800340589
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113171.003.0051
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter examines Karin Wolff's invaluable and successful anthology of poetry and prose, entitled Hiob 1943. A Requiem for the Warsaw ghetto. The anthology contains 50 literary texts and accounts ...
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This chapter examines Karin Wolff's invaluable and successful anthology of poetry and prose, entitled Hiob 1943. A Requiem for the Warsaw ghetto. The anthology contains 50 literary texts and accounts by authors of all ages, Poles and Polish Jews, including texts by people who did not manage to survive the war. There are also prominent pieces by universally acclaimed writers of the older and middle generation. Karin Wolff, a translator of great merit of Polish literature into German, a German in her middle age living in the German Democratic Republic, has contributed greatly to familiarizing East German readers with Polish writing on the experiences of Poles and Jews during the war and the occupation of 1939–1945. Her work was recognized and rewarded in 1981 when she was given the Polish Pen Club annual award for the most outstanding translator of works from Polish into another language.Less
This chapter examines Karin Wolff's invaluable and successful anthology of poetry and prose, entitled Hiob 1943. A Requiem for the Warsaw ghetto. The anthology contains 50 literary texts and accounts by authors of all ages, Poles and Polish Jews, including texts by people who did not manage to survive the war. There are also prominent pieces by universally acclaimed writers of the older and middle generation. Karin Wolff, a translator of great merit of Polish literature into German, a German in her middle age living in the German Democratic Republic, has contributed greatly to familiarizing East German readers with Polish writing on the experiences of Poles and Jews during the war and the occupation of 1939–1945. Her work was recognized and rewarded in 1981 when she was given the Polish Pen Club annual award for the most outstanding translator of works from Polish into another language.
Adam Teller
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691161747
- eISBN:
- 9780691199863
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161747.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter investigates how the events of the second round of wars caused further waves of Jewish refugees, this time not just within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth but across Europe and Asia. ...
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This chapter investigates how the events of the second round of wars caused further waves of Jewish refugees, this time not just within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth but across Europe and Asia. On one level, it could be said that Poland–Lithuania successfully weathered the storm that began with Khmelnytsky in 1648 and ended in the Peace of Andrusów some nineteen years later. However, the price it had paid for the years of war was incredibly high, so getting the country back on its feet was a very complex operation. Poland–Lithuania's Jews, too, had suffered huge losses during the wars, not the least of which was the number of Jews who had been uprooted from their homes and forced to start new lives elsewhere, often in difficult—not to say traumatic—conditions. Beyond that, many of the refugees displaced by this second wave of wars left the Commonwealth never to come back. The chapter then details the experience of these people. It looks first at the refugees in the parts of Lithuania under Russian occupation, then at those in the westerly regions where the Swedish and Polish armies fought it out in the second half of the 1650s.Less
This chapter investigates how the events of the second round of wars caused further waves of Jewish refugees, this time not just within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth but across Europe and Asia. On one level, it could be said that Poland–Lithuania successfully weathered the storm that began with Khmelnytsky in 1648 and ended in the Peace of Andrusów some nineteen years later. However, the price it had paid for the years of war was incredibly high, so getting the country back on its feet was a very complex operation. Poland–Lithuania's Jews, too, had suffered huge losses during the wars, not the least of which was the number of Jews who had been uprooted from their homes and forced to start new lives elsewhere, often in difficult—not to say traumatic—conditions. Beyond that, many of the refugees displaced by this second wave of wars left the Commonwealth never to come back. The chapter then details the experience of these people. It looks first at the refugees in the parts of Lithuania under Russian occupation, then at those in the westerly regions where the Swedish and Polish armies fought it out in the second half of the 1650s.
Jan Gross
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774600
- eISBN:
- 9781800340701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774600.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter describes stereotypes of Polish–Jewish relations after the Second World War. Even though most Polish Jews were killed during the German occupation, the stereotype of Judaeo-communism ...
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This chapter describes stereotypes of Polish–Jewish relations after the Second World War. Even though most Polish Jews were killed during the German occupation, the stereotype of Judaeo-communism survived the war. If anything, it was reinforced by a widespread consensus that Jews assisted the Soviets in the subjugation of the Polish Kresy in 1939–41. The establishment of the Lublin government in the aftermath of the war served to perpetuate this stereotype still further. Popular sentiment attributed a nefarious role to the Jews and portrayed them as particularly zealous collaborators with the security police serving the new regime. Was it indeed the case that the dominant post-war Jewish experience in Poland was imposing scientific socialism on reluctant fellow citizens and persecuting ethnic Poles? The chapter argues that the dominant Jewish experience in Poland after the Second World War was fear. It also considers the Special Commission (Komisja Specjalna) established by the Centralny Komitet Żydów w Polsce (Central Committee of Jews in Poland: CKŻP).Less
This chapter describes stereotypes of Polish–Jewish relations after the Second World War. Even though most Polish Jews were killed during the German occupation, the stereotype of Judaeo-communism survived the war. If anything, it was reinforced by a widespread consensus that Jews assisted the Soviets in the subjugation of the Polish Kresy in 1939–41. The establishment of the Lublin government in the aftermath of the war served to perpetuate this stereotype still further. Popular sentiment attributed a nefarious role to the Jews and portrayed them as particularly zealous collaborators with the security police serving the new regime. Was it indeed the case that the dominant post-war Jewish experience in Poland was imposing scientific socialism on reluctant fellow citizens and persecuting ethnic Poles? The chapter argues that the dominant Jewish experience in Poland after the Second World War was fear. It also considers the Special Commission (Komisja Specjalna) established by the Centralny Komitet Żydów w Polsce (Central Committee of Jews in Poland: CKŻP).
Seth L. Wolitz
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774730
- eISBN:
- 9781800340732
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774730.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter evaluates the Polish Jewish folk motif and figure of Simkhe Plakhte. This topic deserves closer attention because of its wide popularity and extensive literary reworking among Polish ...
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This chapter evaluates the Polish Jewish folk motif and figure of Simkhe Plakhte. This topic deserves closer attention because of its wide popularity and extensive literary reworking among Polish Jews during the twentieth century. The putative folk tale of Simkhe Plakhte projects a character drawn from the shtetl underclass who not only subverts the established social order of the traditional Jewish world, but also earns respect from the non-Jewish ruling class of the old Polish Commonwealth. While the tale contains maskilic elements of anti-hasidic satire, it is also a conscious expression of Jewish fantasy and wish-fulfilment, reflecting a specific Polish Jewish milieu in the nineteenth century. These elements go far towards explaining the wide interest this material has sustained.Less
This chapter evaluates the Polish Jewish folk motif and figure of Simkhe Plakhte. This topic deserves closer attention because of its wide popularity and extensive literary reworking among Polish Jews during the twentieth century. The putative folk tale of Simkhe Plakhte projects a character drawn from the shtetl underclass who not only subverts the established social order of the traditional Jewish world, but also earns respect from the non-Jewish ruling class of the old Polish Commonwealth. While the tale contains maskilic elements of anti-hasidic satire, it is also a conscious expression of Jewish fantasy and wish-fulfilment, reflecting a specific Polish Jewish milieu in the nineteenth century. These elements go far towards explaining the wide interest this material has sustained.