Constructing Jewish identity in post‐communist Poland part 1 : 'deassimilation without depolonization' (original) (raw)

AI-generated Abstract

This paper explores the construction of Jewish identity in post-communist Poland, examining the interplay of Polishness and Jewishness. It argues that the process of identifying as Jewish is deeply interconnected with complex national narratives and memories, reflecting ongoing tensions in Polish-Jewish relations. The study highlights a paradox where individuals strengthen their identification as Jews by distinguishing themselves from other Jews, all while negotiating their Polish identity.

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

References (28)

  1. thesis, 1994).
  2. In France, for example, following the Revolution, state schools were charged with the responsibility of indoctrinating the young with the concept of citizenship. The current French word for primary school teacher, 'instituteur' (formerly 'régent'), attests to their essential role of instituting the 'nation' in the political sense of Article 3 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. See Dominique Schnapper, Qu'est-ce que la citoyenneté? (Paris: Gallimard, 2000), 154.
  3. This second aspect of the legacy of Polish Romanticism with respect to Jewish identity will be discussed in the second part of this article in the forthcoming edition of East European Jewish Affairs.
  4. Roman Dmowski-Wybór Pism (Roman Dmowski: Selected Writings) (Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1990), 287.
  5. 9 Jan Prokop, 'Les Piasts contre les Jagelions, Combat Mythique', in Alain van Crugten and Jan Rubès (eds.), Mythologie Polonaise (Bruxelles: Complexe, 1998), 21.
  6. Lukasz Hirszowicz, 'The Jewish Issue in Post-war Polish Politics', in Ch. Abramsky, M. Jachimczyk and A. Polonsky (eds.), The Jews in Poland (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986).
  7. Michel Wieviorka, Les Juifs, La Pologne & Solidarność (Paris: Denoël, 1984), 163.
  8. Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, 'Attitudes of Young Poles towards Jews in Post-1989 Poland', East European Politics and Societies, Vol. 14, No. 3, 2000, 578.
  9. Marcin Frybes and Patrick Michel, Après le communisme. Mythes et légendes de la Pologne contemporaine (Paris: Bayard, 1996).
  10. Eva Zamojska, K'ultura tozsamości młodzierzy (The Culture of Youth Identity) (Poznań-Toruń, 1998), 53.
  11. The decision to name a primary school in the small town of Dmosin after the children's author, Jan Brzechwa, was met with protests from some parents and former pupils on the grounds that he was Jewish. See Gazeta Wyborcza, 11 and 12 April 2000.
  12. Reprinted in Werner Sollors (ed.), Theories of Ethnicity, A Classical Reader (London: Macmillan, 1996).
  13. Ewa Nowicka, 'Jak być Polakiem' (How To Be Polish), Więz, November 1998, 55.
  14. For biographical notes on Ania Z. and other interviewees quoted, see appendix.
  15. Past Public Opinion Research Centre national opinion polls show a general decline in the proportion of regular church-goers from 81 per cent in 1985 to 58 per cent in 1999. For these and other results of a study on Polish religiosity, see Tadeusz Szawiel, 'Wiara, Kościół, Pluralism' (Faith, Church, Pluralism), Tygodnik Powszechny, No. 24, 13 June 1999.
  16. Bogna Pawlisz, 'Dojrzala pamięć' (Mature Memory), Polis, Vol. 21, No. 3, 1997, 37.
  17. Jacques Le Goff, Histoire et mémoire (Paris: Gallimard, 1988), 174. For more information on how a group builds its identity on collective memory, see Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Les Juifs, la mémoire et le présent (Paris: La Découverte, 1991).
  18. Diana Pinto, 'Fifty Years After the Holocaust: Building a New Jewish and Polish Memory', East European Jewish Affairs, Vol. 26, No. 2, 1996, 81.
  19. Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, 573.
  20. Jan Bloński, 'Biedni Polacy patrzą na ghetto' (The Poor Poles Look at the Ghetto), Tygodnik Powszechny, 11 January 1987.
  21. For a comprehensive study of the treatment of the Holocaust in Polish textbooks, see Feliks Tych, 'Obraz zaglady Żydów w potocznej świadomości historycznej w Polsce' (The Image of the Extermination of the Jews in Popular Historical Consciousness in Poland), Biuletyn Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego, Vol. 189, No. 1, 1999.
  22. In the order mentioned: 'The Machinery of Extermination', Polityka, 1 May 1999, 69-72; 'Foreign Element', Polityka, 18 March 2000, 86-88; 'March and the Polish', Gazeta Wyborcza, 28-29 March 1998, 10-12; 'Anti-Semitism Without Anti-Semites', Wprost, 27 February 2000, 38-39.
  23. Rzeczpospolita, 26 January 2001.
  24. Yad Vashem, a memorial to the Holocaust established in Jerusalem in 1957, includes a research centre and a museum. The title 'Righteous among the Nations' is conferred on those who saved the lives of Jews during the Second World War. Of the 18,262 recipients recorded on 1 January 2001, 5,503 are from Poland (the largest number from any single country), 4,289 from the Netherlands and 1,913 from France.
  25. Marcin Kula, 'Polacy i Żydzi: stereotypy jak zaraza' (Poles and Jews: Stereotypes Like An Epidemic), Więż, April 2000, 92.
  26. Stefanie Field, 'Becoming Irish: Personal Identity Construction among First-Generation Irish Immigrants', Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 17, No. 4, 1994.
  27. Maykel Verkuyten, 'Discourses of Ethnic Minority Identity', British Journal of Social Psychology, No. 36, 1997, 572-3.
  28. Szoszana Ronen, 'Jak być w Polsce Żydem' (How to Be a Jew in Poland), Gazeta Wyborcza, 8 September 1999; Konstanty Gebert, 'Proszę nie urządzać nam życia' (Please Do Not Organize Our Lives), Gazeta Wyborcza, 23 September 1999.