The Working Class and Politics 1929-1945: Poland (original) (raw)
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IN AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED in 1986 and provocatively titled "Interwar Poland: Good for the Jews or Bad for the Jews?" Ezra Mendel sohn observed that in the historiography of interwar Polish Jewry there are two camps, one "optimistic," the other "pessimistic." He continued: The attitude of most Jewish scholars has been, and continues to be, that interwar Poland was an extremely antisemitic country, perhaps even uniquely antisemitic. They claim that Polish Jewry during the 1920s and 1930s was in a state of constant and alarm ing decline, and that by the 1930s both the Polish regime and Polish society were waging a bitter and increasingly successful war against the Jewish population.' This was the point of view of the surviving prewar Polish-Jewish scholars, such as Raphael Mahler, Jacob Lestchinsky, and Isaiah Trunk.^ Similar views have been expressed by a postwar Polish-Jewish historian, PawefKorzec, and by a number of Israeli historians, includ ing Moshe Landau, Shlomo Netzer, and Emanuel Meltzer.^ This ap proach is most clearly manifested in Celia Heller's book, On the Edge of Destruction (New York: Schocken, 1977). In Heller's view, the peri od between the two world wars was a rehearsal for the Holocaust. By 1939 Polish actions had pushed the Jews to "the edge of destruction," and it only remained for the Nazis to complete what the Poles had be gun. This "pessimistic" evaluation of the situation of Jews in interwar Poland has been challenged by non-Jewish (mostly Polish) historians, and by some Jewish historians as well. The most eloquent of the Jewish "optimists" is Joseph Marcus. Marcus, a supporter of the Orthodox Agudas Yisroel Party, reserves his greatest condemnation for those he refers to as the "reformers" of Jewish life in Poland. Blinded by their Zionist and socialist obsessions, he says, they had a great deal to do with the economic decline of Polish Jewry. According to Marcus, Jews in Poland were able to hold their own economically and were, in fact, better off than the majority of the population; they were more than ca pable of withstanding the assaults to which they were subjected in the
Scripta Judaica Cracoviensia, 2019
In the Second Polish Republic, from the mid-1930s, manifestations of antisemitism became more and more pronounced, and were met with protest from Jewish people. The Union of Jews Participants of Combat for Polish Independence, functioning in 1929–1939, was one of the organizations that fiercely opposed antisemitism. It was the only combatant organization in Poland that represented a national minority. While intensely fighting against the manifestations of antisemitism that encompassed various aspects of life, they condemned antisemitic riots in cities, towns and in universities, while also declaring and manifesting their loyalty and commitment to
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