"The Road to Przytyk": Agitation and the sociotechnique of violence in the Kielce region, 1931-1936 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Polish-Jewish Studies, 2023
This article attempts to compare the course of two acts of collective anti-Jewish violence that occurred in post-war Poland, first in Rzeszów on 11–12 June 1945 and two months later on 11 August in Cracow, and criminal proceedings launched in relation thereto. Actions by law enforcement agencies and the administration of justice, taken in the 1940s and after 1989, are discussed. In the latter period, the Rzeszów and Cracow tumults were investigated by the District Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against the Polish Nation and later by the Branch Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes Against the Polish Nation.
East European Politics and Societies, 2011
although the starting point for all the Polish postwar pogroms (save for one) was a blood libel, this particular motif did not attract the historians' attention until recently. Theories on plots devised by "Soviet advisors" or "Zionists" enjoyed an incomparably greater popularity. This article, based upon the documentation of the Rzeszów and Kielce pogroms, the most recent ethnographic resources (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009), the documentation used in Marcel Łoziński's documentary Świadkowie (The Witnesses; made in 1980s), and an intensive search at the National Remembrance Institute (IPN), reveals a uniform social-mental formation of those partaking in the pogroms-the attackers and militiamen disciplining them, public prosecutors, and judges. all of them-including militiamen and Security Service officers-were subject to a blood libel suggestion. Traces of this thread have survived till this day in some segments of Polish society-not only in the countryside population, despite any appearances. This article aims at showing how an anti-Jewish alliance was getting formed in the first years after the liberation, on the grounds of a gradually strengthening "Polish national socialism," and along with it, a synthesis of religious anti-Semitism (Jew as a "kidnapper/bloodsucker") and a modern anti-Semitism (Jew as a "capitalist/bloodsucker" and "Judeo-communists" contaminating a sound national/party organism).
Journal of Genocide Research, vol. 22, Issue 2, 2020
The goal of Jeffrey S. Kopstein and Jason Wittenberg's book, Intimate Violence, is to provide a new and more profound explanation for the wave of anti-Jewish violence that erupted in the eastern borderlands (kresy) of prewar Poland in the summer of 1941. The authors take up the task of answering the question of why Christian neighbours, sometimes inspired by German occupation forces but without any direct coercion, had attacked and killed their Jewish neighbours. This question is a very important one. Answers should certainly continue to be sought by other scholars who at the same time should remain sensitive to all the cardinal mistakes and unfounded assertions on display in Intimate Violence.
Anti-Jewish Violence of Polish Troops, 1918-1920: The Case of Bobruisk
East European Jewish Affairs, 2023
An examination of anti-Jewish violence on the part of Polish troops stationed in Bobruisk (Bel: Babruısk; Pol: Bobrujsk) between 1919 and 1920 puts into relief the interconnectedness of antisemitism and Polish nationalist discourse at the time of the consolidation of the Polish state. The relationship between Polish forces and the town's majority-Jewsreflects both Poland's colonial ambitions in the East and the emerging political vision of the future Polish state, in which ethnic minorities were to be secondclass citizens. This article analyzes Jewish, Soviet, and Polish sources from the period, discussing both symbolic and actual violence against the Jews. Placing the events in Bobruisk in the wider perspective of the wave of pogroms that accompanied the advance of Polish troops in the so-called Kresy, Poland's eastern borderlands, it uses the micro-scale of one town to shed light on the factors that triggered the antisemitic violence.
Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946
2017
All organizations, individuals or national groups, who have harmed the Polish Nation, must be justly punished" (WiN 10, c� 33, 3278)� Considering the context of declarations that justify collective responsibility in advance, the conditions imposed on the Jewish Poles for entering the Polish nation, could have proved difficult to meet� A. Fear of Communism personified by Jews The reports compiled by WiN in 1945 describe Jews as a homogeneous group: "The society's attitude towards the Government of National Unity is unanimous� We all share the opinion that the people in charge of the government have been sent mostly by Russia and obey orders from Moscow� No one, except for the Polish Worker's Party [Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR] recognizes the Government of National Unity� All Poles know that this country is ruled by Jews and the NKWD 18 " (WiN 7, c� 42, 3558)� 11 August 1945 (WiN 42, c� 27, 5240)� We do not know what form the "provocative behavior" of the Jewish officer took, although we do know that the reports mention several incidents of that kind� E. Fear of "racial pollution" The author of one report describes undefined Jewish Poles as "well-fed, welldressed, crowding holiday and entertainment sites, doing their best to thrive, all of which makes a striking comparison with the very tough life led by the Polish peasants and workers" (WiN 9, c� 73, 5228)� The author is also anxious about the effects of mixed marriages in which "typical Jewish features in no way disappear": "according to opinion of Jews themselves, interbreeding of the Jewish race with Poles, even with an acceptance of Christianity, does not result in a loss of the features of the Jewish race" (WiN 8, c� 73, 3799)� Considering the above statement, it becomes difficult to ignore a concealed fear of "race pollution"� The same fear was apparent in Springfield, Illinois, in 1908, and was expressed in a parallel question: "Can we assimilate the negro? The very question is pollution"� 25 In this context there are several reports of underground segregation initiatives relating to Jewish and non-Jewish Poles� One dating from the summer of 1945 states: "In Łódź, the anti-Jewish action assumed a clearly defined character� Jews received written warnings saying they should leave Poland or otherwise would be shot� The security authorities cannot identify the source of these warnings but, despite assurances saying they are safe, the Jews are selling their workshops, buying foreign currency and going West� (…) Captain Lec, a writer and director of the CDŻ 26 in Łódź is currently investigating a death threat received by Ryszarda Łatowa, a CDŻ employee� The letter contains notification that 'as a result of keeping in with Jews, she is sentenced to death' � It is signed by 'Colonel Ząb' , and marked with a death's head� Similar letters have been received by all the Jews� Łatowa does not only keep in with the Jews, but also collaborates with the NKWD" (WiN 42, c� 208a, 5221)� 25 Senechal de la Roche, In Lincoln's Shadow, 25� 26 Despite my efforts, I could not decipher the abbreviation CDŻ� 27 Marcin Zaremba, "The myth of ritual murder in postwar Poland and hypotheses", in
Primed for Violence: Murder, Antisemitism, and Democratic Politics in Interwar Poland
In 1922, the new Republic of Poland democratically elected its first president, Gabriel Narutowicz. Because his supporters included a Jewish political party, an opposing faction of antisemites demanded his resignation. Within hours, bloody riots erupted in Warsaw, and less than a week later the president was assassinated. In the wake of these events, the radical right asserted that only “ethnic Poles” should rule the country, while the left silently capitulated to this demand. As Paul Brykczynski tells this gripping story, he explores the complex role of antisemitism, nationalism, and violence in Polish politics between the two World Wars. Though focusing on Poland, the book sheds light on the rise of the antisemitic right in Europe and beyond, and on the impact of violence on political culture and discourse.
Violence as Political Experience Among Jewish Youth in Interwar Poland
From Europe's East to the Middle East: Israel's, eds. Kenneth Moss, Taro Tsurumi, Benjamin Nathans, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021
Kto ma dzisiaj mocne pięsci / Temu w życiu się poszczęsci (Who has strong fists today / Will have a lucky life some day)-Ad for choco lates in the Polish Jewish daily Nasz Przegląd,
Bombs in Vilnius: Radicalization of Antisemitic Attitudes and Practices Before World War II
Sprawy Narodowościowe
Bombs in Vilnius: Radicalization of Antisemitic Attitudes and Practices Before World War IIOn the eve of the Holocaust Poland saw enormous acts of antisemitic violence in every aspect of everyday life. This article proposes an analysis of antisemitic acts and actions that under Polish rule took place in Vilnius. In early 1937, the city witnessed a wave of antisemitic bomb attacks. Vilnius violence is set in the context of pogroms in other cities, but it remains an example and a specific model of unconditional radicalization of both nationalist attitudes and practices among Poles from different classes and social strata. The study focuses on the participation of students, prospective or actual members of the intelligentsia, in this “festival of violence”, and analyzes those events within the concepts of pogrom and Victor Turner’s social drama. Bomby w Wilnie. Radykalizacja postaw i praktyk antysemickich przed II wojną światowąW przededniu Zagłady przez Polskę przetacza się fala przem...
Śląski Kwartalnik Historyczny Sobótka, 2024
The article presents the fate of the Jewish population settled in Lower Silesia, Poland, during the anti-Semitic campaign of 1967-1968, focusing on two towns: Dzierżoniów and Bielawa. Through an analysis of archival sources, the text reconstructs the fate of individual members of this community, including its leaders, beginning in 1967 (during the Six-Day War) and continuing through the following months, till the events of March 1968. The paper takes a special interest in the attitudes of Jews towards Poland, as well as in the government anti-Semitic campaign and accusations of disloyalty to Poland. It also presents the experiences of hostility, as well as the consequences of stigmatization by anti-Semitism. The analysis exemplifies the impact of the anti-Semitic campaign on a small, provincial Jewish community, living far from Warsaw and the student protests in 1968 or the centre of communist authority.