Konstanty Gebert - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Konstanty Gebert
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Feb 18, 2010
Nordisk judaistik, May 18, 2020
Wall was possible. And in that balagan, a number of actors were Jewish: the names of Marek Edelma... more Wall was possible. And in that balagan, a number of actors were Jewish: the names of Marek Edelman and Bronisław Geremek of blessed memory and that of Adam Michnik come to mind.
Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, Aug 2, 2023
Index on Censorship, Jun 1, 2014
The Jewish Quarterly, May 28, 2013
Index on Censorship, Aug 1, 2009
Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, Jul 1, 1990
On December 13, 1981, after sixteen months of an uneasy coexistence between the communist state a... more On December 13, 1981, after sixteen months of an uneasy coexistence between the communist state and the Eastern bloc's firstever independent trade union, Solidarity, General Jaruzelski, as head of a self-appointed Military Council of National Salvation, imposed martial law ,on Poland. Thousands of militants and intellectuals were placed in administrative detention without a warrant; and thousands more were to be interned, arrested, and sentenced. All trade unions-and almost all student and professional associations-were suspended and later banned, newspapers were seized, and military censorship was imposedl A curfew was enforced, telephones switched off, and the borders sealed. Protest was met with violence and the first dead (although the coup itself was bIoodless) fell several days later. In all, martial law was to claim over the years a hundred dead and thousands wounded, over ten thousand jailed and a yet-undetermined number harassed, fired, and forced into emigration. For the Poles, martial law meant a brutal reimposition of the communist system the country had been resisting ever since the outcome of World War I1 had brought it under Soviet control. I shall relate the story of Polish civil resistance to military rule. Political opposition, under conditions of martial law, was not an option; and armed opposition had never been one. On these grounds, the authorities had presumably surmised that, .once their rule was firmly reestablished, the Poles would have no alternative but submission-and official propaganda said as much. What happened, in fact, was the exact opposite to their expectations: an entire society tried to go underground, as it were, there to continue its activity not so much against the regime as in spite of its presence and goals. One could see in this the realization of a slogan invented by leading oppositionist Jacek Kurd, who, mindful of the final defeat of the bloody riots of 1970, warned resistors, "Do not burn down [party] committees: set up your own." "
The Jewish Quarterly, May 28, 2013
Cuadernos judaicos, Dec 12, 2012
El artículo analiza los puntos de vistas conflictivos de judíos y polacos sobre la Shoah y el imp... more El artículo analiza los puntos de vistas conflictivos de judíos y polacos sobre la Shoah y el impacto de la "Marcha por la Vida" desdc esas perspectivas. Sc comparan' los amargos debates históricos entre polacos y los judíos sobre las relaciones polaco-judías con las polémicas internas en Polonia después de la guerra; describe las erróneas percepciones mutuas comprometidas en ellas y postula una intensificación del debate. PALABRAS CLAVE: Polonia, Shoah (Holocausto), "Marcha por la vida". ABSTRAeT The article analyzes conflicting Polish and Jewish perspectives on the Shoah, and the impact of the March of the Living on ¡hese perspectives. It compares the bitter historical debates between Poles and Jews on Polish-Jewish relations to intemal Polish polemics on postwar Polish history, describes mutual misperceptions involved, and postulatcs an intensification of the debate
Index on Censorship, Nov 1, 1994
Whatever happened to Rabbi Weiss? A member of Poland's tiny surviving community of Orthodox Jews ... more Whatever happened to Rabbi Weiss? A member of Poland's tiny surviving community of Orthodox Jews examines the catalyst that unleashed a long pent-up debate on anti-Semitism U ntil World War II, the Jewish community in Poland had been the world's largest, best organised and culturally and politically most active. Almost all Israel's founding fathers came originally from Polish lands. At the same time, anti-Semitism, always rife in Polish society, was more and more explicitly endorsed by the state. The Church was unambiguously anti-Semitic; it took another half century for this to be denounced from the top. All this, plus a continuing economic crisis, led to a steady exodus of Jews throughout the years following the end of the war. They carried with them-and left-few fond memories. Approximately three million Polish Jews, over 90 per cent of the community (and 50 per cent of Poland's total loss) were exterminated during the Nazi occupation of the country from 1939-1945. The Polish population, itself suffering tremendously, was unable or unwilling, to succour its Jewish compatriots. Hundreds of thousands of Poles moved into premises 'vacated' by murdered Jews, and took over their belongings. Some actively participated in the murder of Jews, others saved Jews at the risk of their own lives. In subsequent polemics each group would be cited as representative of the entire community. In the general climate of postwar lawlessness, exacerbated by a bitter civil war against the Soviet-imposed Communist regime, Jews were an
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 30, 2019
Self and society, Jul 1, 1979
A detailed look at Jewish life in Poland based on interviews with a broad range of Polish Jewish ... more A detailed look at Jewish life in Poland based on interviews with a broad range of Polish Jewish leaders. It highlights the 'multiplier effect' of Jewish heritage programming, and explores the impact of the post-communist Jewish revival on Polish society as a whole. Part of a four-paper series looking at Jewish life in east-central Europe since the collapse of communism, the authors of the Poland report testify to the rebirth of a small community that has a disproportionate impact on world Jewry, not least because of the importance of Polish Jewish history and heritage. The research was conducted by local experts working in partnership with JPR, and was funded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe. An English language version is also available.
Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs
Political Studies Review, 2012
How may democracy manifest itself? Miguel Abensour replies that the manifestation/combination of ... more How may democracy manifest itself? Miguel Abensour replies that the manifestation/combination of the demos as well as of its political self-concretisation is and should remain one 'particular moment'-towards which the life of any democratic people tends. Marx turns not the state but just democracy into the moment and telos, 'toward which all modern political forms are tending', as Abensour further demonstrates (p. 49). Whereas Hegel would have treated democracy as one among several forms of power, each of which develops into the state and into its independence and unity, Marx refuses to believe that democratic power could ever bind itself to this state's 'abstract logic' of selfunification. The power of the demos, instead, appears to Marx as a concrete medium. This power appears while conjuring away 'political alienation'-through the people's 'threefold status of principle, subject and end' (pp. 56-8).
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Feb 18, 2010
Nordisk judaistik, May 18, 2020
Wall was possible. And in that balagan, a number of actors were Jewish: the names of Marek Edelma... more Wall was possible. And in that balagan, a number of actors were Jewish: the names of Marek Edelman and Bronisław Geremek of blessed memory and that of Adam Michnik come to mind.
Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, Aug 2, 2023
Index on Censorship, Jun 1, 2014
The Jewish Quarterly, May 28, 2013
Index on Censorship, Aug 1, 2009
Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, Jul 1, 1990
On December 13, 1981, after sixteen months of an uneasy coexistence between the communist state a... more On December 13, 1981, after sixteen months of an uneasy coexistence between the communist state and the Eastern bloc's firstever independent trade union, Solidarity, General Jaruzelski, as head of a self-appointed Military Council of National Salvation, imposed martial law ,on Poland. Thousands of militants and intellectuals were placed in administrative detention without a warrant; and thousands more were to be interned, arrested, and sentenced. All trade unions-and almost all student and professional associations-were suspended and later banned, newspapers were seized, and military censorship was imposedl A curfew was enforced, telephones switched off, and the borders sealed. Protest was met with violence and the first dead (although the coup itself was bIoodless) fell several days later. In all, martial law was to claim over the years a hundred dead and thousands wounded, over ten thousand jailed and a yet-undetermined number harassed, fired, and forced into emigration. For the Poles, martial law meant a brutal reimposition of the communist system the country had been resisting ever since the outcome of World War I1 had brought it under Soviet control. I shall relate the story of Polish civil resistance to military rule. Political opposition, under conditions of martial law, was not an option; and armed opposition had never been one. On these grounds, the authorities had presumably surmised that, .once their rule was firmly reestablished, the Poles would have no alternative but submission-and official propaganda said as much. What happened, in fact, was the exact opposite to their expectations: an entire society tried to go underground, as it were, there to continue its activity not so much against the regime as in spite of its presence and goals. One could see in this the realization of a slogan invented by leading oppositionist Jacek Kurd, who, mindful of the final defeat of the bloody riots of 1970, warned resistors, "Do not burn down [party] committees: set up your own." "
The Jewish Quarterly, May 28, 2013
Cuadernos judaicos, Dec 12, 2012
El artículo analiza los puntos de vistas conflictivos de judíos y polacos sobre la Shoah y el imp... more El artículo analiza los puntos de vistas conflictivos de judíos y polacos sobre la Shoah y el impacto de la "Marcha por la Vida" desdc esas perspectivas. Sc comparan' los amargos debates históricos entre polacos y los judíos sobre las relaciones polaco-judías con las polémicas internas en Polonia después de la guerra; describe las erróneas percepciones mutuas comprometidas en ellas y postula una intensificación del debate. PALABRAS CLAVE: Polonia, Shoah (Holocausto), "Marcha por la vida". ABSTRAeT The article analyzes conflicting Polish and Jewish perspectives on the Shoah, and the impact of the March of the Living on ¡hese perspectives. It compares the bitter historical debates between Poles and Jews on Polish-Jewish relations to intemal Polish polemics on postwar Polish history, describes mutual misperceptions involved, and postulatcs an intensification of the debate
Index on Censorship, Nov 1, 1994
Whatever happened to Rabbi Weiss? A member of Poland's tiny surviving community of Orthodox Jews ... more Whatever happened to Rabbi Weiss? A member of Poland's tiny surviving community of Orthodox Jews examines the catalyst that unleashed a long pent-up debate on anti-Semitism U ntil World War II, the Jewish community in Poland had been the world's largest, best organised and culturally and politically most active. Almost all Israel's founding fathers came originally from Polish lands. At the same time, anti-Semitism, always rife in Polish society, was more and more explicitly endorsed by the state. The Church was unambiguously anti-Semitic; it took another half century for this to be denounced from the top. All this, plus a continuing economic crisis, led to a steady exodus of Jews throughout the years following the end of the war. They carried with them-and left-few fond memories. Approximately three million Polish Jews, over 90 per cent of the community (and 50 per cent of Poland's total loss) were exterminated during the Nazi occupation of the country from 1939-1945. The Polish population, itself suffering tremendously, was unable or unwilling, to succour its Jewish compatriots. Hundreds of thousands of Poles moved into premises 'vacated' by murdered Jews, and took over their belongings. Some actively participated in the murder of Jews, others saved Jews at the risk of their own lives. In subsequent polemics each group would be cited as representative of the entire community. In the general climate of postwar lawlessness, exacerbated by a bitter civil war against the Soviet-imposed Communist regime, Jews were an
Cambridge University Press eBooks, Sep 30, 2019
Self and society, Jul 1, 1979
A detailed look at Jewish life in Poland based on interviews with a broad range of Polish Jewish ... more A detailed look at Jewish life in Poland based on interviews with a broad range of Polish Jewish leaders. It highlights the 'multiplier effect' of Jewish heritage programming, and explores the impact of the post-communist Jewish revival on Polish society as a whole. Part of a four-paper series looking at Jewish life in east-central Europe since the collapse of communism, the authors of the Poland report testify to the rebirth of a small community that has a disproportionate impact on world Jewry, not least because of the importance of Polish Jewish history and heritage. The research was conducted by local experts working in partnership with JPR, and was funded by the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe. An English language version is also available.
Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs
Political Studies Review, 2012
How may democracy manifest itself? Miguel Abensour replies that the manifestation/combination of ... more How may democracy manifest itself? Miguel Abensour replies that the manifestation/combination of the demos as well as of its political self-concretisation is and should remain one 'particular moment'-towards which the life of any democratic people tends. Marx turns not the state but just democracy into the moment and telos, 'toward which all modern political forms are tending', as Abensour further demonstrates (p. 49). Whereas Hegel would have treated democracy as one among several forms of power, each of which develops into the state and into its independence and unity, Marx refuses to believe that democratic power could ever bind itself to this state's 'abstract logic' of selfunification. The power of the demos, instead, appears to Marx as a concrete medium. This power appears while conjuring away 'political alienation'-through the people's 'threefold status of principle, subject and end' (pp. 56-8).