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No. 2 (2021)
„Polish-Jewish Studies”, t. 2, Warszawa 2021, 880 s., ISSN: 2719-4086
Dwujęzyczny (polsko-angielski) rocznik jest poświęcony historii społeczności żydowskiej na ziemiach polskich w XX wieku, utrwalaniu pamięci o polskich Żydach oraz wzajemnym i skomplikowanym relacjom polsko-żydowskim. W zamierzeniu redaktorów periodyk został przygotowany jako forum wymiany aktualnych ustaleń badawczych w obszarze „Jewish Studies” przez badaczy z różnych ośrodków naukowych.
Treść drugiego numeru obejmuje przede wszystkim artykuły odnoszące się do szerokiego spektrum relacji polsko-żydowskich. Edycję zamykają polemiki i recenzje opracowań badawczych z ostatnich lat, a także sprawozdania z konferencji naukowych.
Drugi numer periodyku został opublikowany poniżej. Będzie dostępny w wersji elektronicznej także w Bibliotece Cyfrowej IPN na portalu przystanekhistoria.pl.
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Introduction
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 9-11
PDF PL (Język Polski)
Studies 
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Relations Between Zionists and Supporters of Jewish Assimilation on the Polish Lands at the End of the Nineteenth and in the Early Twentieth Centuries: an Outline of the Issue.
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 15-40
The article deals with the poorly studied problem of the conflict between the Zionists and supporters of Jewish assimilation at the turn of the twentieth century. It attempts to describe the clash between two completely different views on the situation of Jews in Europe and two completely different visions for the future of this nation. These theoretical political and social disputes set the tone for Jewish life before the outbreak of the First World War. In this way, the author indicates the issues that developed and took new forms in the years 1918–39.This sketch summarises the changes taking place on the Jewish political scene, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. These changes were characterised by the growing strength and popularity of Zionism – an idea outlined by Theodor Herzl at the end of the nineteenth century – together with the simultaneous weakening and subsequent marginalisation of the hitherto predominant concept of the assimilation of the Jews.
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‘Di Ershte Daych’n’. A Picture of the German Occupation of 1915–18 in the Memories of the Polesie Jews
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 41-81
The article concerns the experiences of the Jewish population under the occupying forces of the Central Powers in western Polesie in the period from August 1915 to the beginning of 1919. It is based on reports published both before 1939 and after 1945. According to the analysis of the source material, Jewish memories of their first contact with the German occupation forces in the twentieth century were ambiguous. Apart from the hardships, changes that were perceived as positive were also remembered.
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Jews in the Communist Movement in the Second Polish Republic 1918–38: An Outline of the Issue
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 82-120
The article describes the participation of Jews in the revolutionary movement in Russia (especially in Poland) before World War I; the social structure of the Jewish population in Poland; the path of the splinter groups from Jewish left-wing parties to the Communist Workers’ Party of Poland (KPP); the attitude of Jewish radicals towards the Bolshevik aggression against Poland in 1920; the number of Jews in the Polish Communist movement, their identity, and their motives for joining the Communist movement.The share of Jews in the Polish Communist movement was several times higher than the share of the Jewish population in the society of the Second Polish Republic. Jews made up about 30 per cent of all KPP members, and in the party youth group the figure reached as high as 50 per cent. Activists of Jewish origin made up about 40 per cent of the party elite, and they even came to predominate in the middle ranks.The reasons for the significant participation of Jews in the Communist movement cannot
be explained (which is often done) solely by their difficult social situation and discrimination. Rather, it was a combination of many factors of a different nature, both universal and specifically Jewish. -
Jews in Partisan Units in the Home Army’s Radom-Kielce District (A Contribution to the Research)
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 121-246
During the Second World War, a few of the Jews who survived extermination found refuge in the ranks of the Home Army. The article presents the fate of those Jews who served in partisan units organised and operating in the Radom–Kielce AK District in the years 1943–44. Due to the modest source base, their motivations, the circumstances in which they joined the ranks of the Polish Armed Forces, the course of their service, and sometimes their further fates have been presented from a peripheral perspective. The profiles of the soldiers and their testimonies confirm the fact that the Jews could and did serve in the structures of the Home Army.
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The Origin and Military Activity of the ‘Lions’, a Partisan Unit of the Communist People’s Guard, 1942–43. A Contribution to the History of the Jews in the People’s Guard and People’s Army During the Second World War, and the Fate of Jewish Ghetto Fugitives in the Provincial Areas of Poland
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 147-178
The article discusses the activity of the ‘Lions’, a partisan unit of the Communist People’s Guard, from the beginning of its formation in September 1942 until July 1943, when it was liquidated by the National Armed Forces. Its establishment was closely connected with the Communists’ concept of immediate action. Like many other units of the People’s Guard, the ‘Lions’, which were based in the Radom area, consisted mainly of Jewish fugitives from nearby ghettos. The unit was commanded by Izrael Ajzenman (Julian Kaniewski, noms de guerre ‘Lew’, ‘Chytry’, ‘Julek’), a man who, before the war, had been convicted of ordinary crimes. From the beginning, its members only rarely carried out operations against the Germans. Instead, they often indulged in looting, murder, and other crimes against the local Polish population, including a raid on the town of Drzewica. The article also studies the relations within the unit itself and the way in which it was commanded, clearly demonstrating that the ‘Lions’ were perhaps more reminiscent of a gang of criminals than of a self-disciplined group of partisans whose code of conduct would be based on a set of regulations and procedures.
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Jews in the Mińsk Mazowiecki Poviat During the German Occupation, 1939–44*. The State of Research, Research Postulates, Source Base
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 174-201
The article discusses the state of research, research postulates and sources which could be used for research into Jewish issues in the Mińsk poviat (Warsaw district) during the German occupation in this area in 1939–44.The author presents this article in the form of a review. It cites the results of research conducted in this area, referring to the academic literature that has been published as of the time when this article was submitted for further editorial work. In submitting a critical analysis of the known academic items, the author turns to as yet unarticulated issues in relation to the study of Polish-Jewish relations in the area under discussion, i.e. the Mińsk poviat.The issue of the source base is discussed in the last part of the text. The author focuses on presenting the available sources, both printed and archival, including central archives (such as the Archives of New Records and the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance), local ones (e.g. the State Archives in Warsaw and its branch in Otwock), as well as foreign ones (the Yad Vashem and the Bundesarchiv Branch in Ludwigsburg).
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CONVERSIONS OF JEWS TO CATHOLICISM IN THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT: THE EXAMPLE OF THE DIOCESE OF KIELCE
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 202-219
This article presents the phenomenon of the conversion of Jews to Catholicism during the German occupation. The research conducted proved that conversions attracted little interest among the Jews living in Kielce diocese. For the period from September 1939 to October 1942, we found a total of 25 applications (concerning 44 people), sent from various parishes of the Kielce diocese to the curia with requests for baptism. At the same time, the German authorities treated the baptism of Jews as an obvious form of assistance. During the period analysed, pressure on priests not to baptise was gradually increased. Finally, on 10 October 1942, the German occupying authorities introduced a total ban on the baptism of Jews in all Christian rites on the territory of the General Government.
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OUTLINE OF THE ISSUE OF THE AID PROVIDED TO JEWS DURING THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF POLAND IN THE FILES OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS INITIATED ON THE BASIS OF THE POLISH COMMITTEE OF NATIONAL LIBERATION DECREE OF 31 AUGUST 1944 IN THE POST-WAR CRACOW VOIVODESHIP*
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 220-250
The aim of this article was to present the significance of criminal proceedings files initiated on the basis of the Lublin Committee decree of 31 August 1944 (the so-called ‘Augustówka’ or August Decrees) in the post-war Cracow voivodeship as a source for research on aid provided to the Jewish population during the period of the German occupation of Poland. The materials subject to analysis have so far been widely used mainly in relation to research on negative behaviours of the Polish population during the German occupation. The work carried out here has shown that these files are also a useful source for research into the issue of aid. The information they contain is all the more important because the testimonies were given relatively soon after the crimes described in the decree had been committed, when many direct witnesses of these dramatic events were still alive. In some case files we find both detailed and well-documented instances of activities providing aid (especially the testimonies of survivors), as well as brief mentions of the subject and statements by defendants that are difficult to verify. For this reason, many records concerning aid need to be critically evaluated and verified based on other types of sources.
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The War for the Stage. The Fate of the Jewish Theatre in Wrocław, 1949–68
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 251-293
The fate of the Jewish theatre building was very turbulent. From the very beginning, its existence depended on the authorities’ nationality policy and the current interests of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The building – which was reconstructed on the ruins of a former German cinema in the late 1940s, thanks to the efforts of Jewish political and social organisations, as well as Jewish financial resources – not only served to maintain Jewish culture. At the same time, it was treated as a meeting place for acquaintances and friends, so in a sense it maintained a communal, Jewish identity. This does not mean that the Jews treated it as a bastion or as proof of their separateness. On the contrary, Poles also used this centre. As a result, it fulfilled universal functions: it was intended to unite, not divide. However, in the second half of the 1960s, during the deepening socio-political and economic crisis, the case of the Jewish theatre building was used as a pretext to fight for the interests of Poles against an imaginary enemy – the assimilated Jewish population. The authorities wanted to show their strength and distract society from real problems. They took away the theatre – but the crisis continued.
Reviews/Polemics
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Joshua D. Zimmerman, Polskie Państwo Podziemne I Żydzi W Czasie II Wojny Światowej, by Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN SA, Warszawa 2018, ISBN: 9788301196868, pp. 623*
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 297-320
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Sara Bender, Pogrom w Grajewie latem 1941 r. and Jeffrey Kopstein, Pogrom w Szczuczynie 27 Czerwca 1941 r., or, How Not to Write History
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 321-335
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Martyna Rusiniak-Karwat, Nowe życie na zgliszczach. Bund w Polsce w latach 1944–1949, Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, Warszawa 2016, pp. 296, ISBN: 9788364091834
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 413-419
Chronicles
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Report on the International Research Conference ‘The Beginnings of the Nazi Occupation. Continuity and Change in Polish and Jewish Life 1939–41’, Warsaw, 18–19 November 2019
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 430-443
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Still Reading the Ashes – in the Footsteps of Dąbrowa Białostocka's Jews
Polish-Jewish Studies, No. 2 (2021), pages: 444-455
Recently published
40 Evaluation points allocated by MInistry of Education and Science
40 (2023) (20 - in the list in force in 2021)
Fields: history, archival studies
Disciplines: history, security studies, political and administration studies, international studies
Editor-in-Chief: Grzegorz Berendt PhD habil.
- INSTYTUT PAMIĘCI NARODOWEJ
Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu
ul. Janusza Kurtyki 1
02-676 Warszawa
NIP: 525-21-80-487
- tel.: +48 22 581-87-78/77/76
e-mail: wydawnictwo@ipn.gov.pl
