Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname/Family Name : Ticher Given Name/s : Michael Peter Abbreviation for degree as give in the University calendar : MRes Faculty : Arts and Social Sciences School : Humanities and Languages Thesis Title : Borderline Germans: the Jews of Upper Silesia, 1914-1923 Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) The thesis investigates the history of the Jewish communities in the industrial towns of the former German province of Upper Silesia in the years during and immediately after the First World War. It examines their responses to questions of national identity thrown up by the war, the plebiscite of March 1921 to decide whether Upper Silesia should belong to Germany or Poland, the partition of the province, the rise of Zionism and outbreaks of violent antisemitism among both German and Polish nationalists. Using sources only recently made available in digital format, such as personal memoirs and local newspapers, it paints a picture of the communities before 1914, outlining their main political, economic, religious and social characteristics. It then shows how their worldview was challenged by the turbulent events of the following decade. The study argues that the position of the Upper Silesian Jews on the border with Poland fostered an extreme version of the situation facing the majority of Jews in the rest of Germany in the Weimar years. They shared with non-Jewish Germans a strong belief in the superiority of German civilisation in comparison with “the east”, which was intensified by their conscious rejection of the values and practices of Jews living in very different circumstances on the eastern side of the border. The eruption of violent antisemitism in the early 1920s, given a sharper edge in Upper Silesia as a result of armed conflict during the plebiscite campaign, threw their assumptions about the essential nature of German culture into question. The study shows that at the height of the crisis in 1923, the political challenge to the mainstream community leaders posed by the emerging force of Zionism developed into a bitter struggle within the Upper Silesian community, primarily over attitudes towards the eastern Jews. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… ……….……………………...…….… Signature Witness Signature Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: Borderline Germans The Jews of Upper Silesia, 1914-1923 Michael Ticher A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters by Research School of Humanities and Languages Arts and Social Sciences June 2019 Originality statement “I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.” Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….............. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... INCLUSION OF PUBLICATIONS STATEMENT UNSW is supportive of candidates publishing their research results during their candidature as detailed in the UNSW Thesis Examination Procedure. Publications can be used in their thesis in lieu of a Chapter if: The student contributed greater than 50% of the content in the publication and is the “primary author”, ie. the student was responsible primarily for the planning, execution and preparation of the work for publication The student has approval to include the publication in their thesis in lieu of a Chapter from their supervisor and Postgraduate Coordinator. The publication is not subject to any obligations or contractual agreements with a third party that would constrain its inclusion in the thesis Please indicate whether this thesis contains published material or not. This thesis contains no publications, either published or submitted for publication ☒ (if this box is checked, you may delete all the material on page 2) Some of the work described in this thesis has been published and it has been documented in the relevant Chapters with acknowledgement (if this box is ☐ checked, you may delete all the material on page 2) This thesis has publications (either published or submitted for publication) incorporated into it in lieu of a chapter and the details are presented below ☐ CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION I declare that: I have complied with the Thesis Examination Procedure where I have used a publication in lieu of a Chapter, the listed publication(s) below meet(s) the requirements to be included in the thesis. Name Signature Date (dd/mm/yy) Michael Ticher 9/6/2019 Postgraduate Coordinator’s Declaration (to be filled in where publications are used in lieu of Chapters) I declare that: the information below is accurate where listed publication(s) have been used in lieu of Chapter(s), their use complies with the Thesis Examination Procedure the minimum requirements for the format of the thesis have been met. PGC’s Name PGC’s Signature Date (dd/mm/yy) Acknowledgments Many people have helped in large or small ways with this project. I would like to thank above all my supervisors, Jan Lánicek and Ruth Balint, who were unfailingly patient and helpful throughout the process. I owe a huge debt to the staff at many archives – particularly those mentioned below in the Note on Sources – who have opened up new research possibilities by their largely anonymous work in making often obscure material available online. Staff at Heidelberg’s Zentralarchiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland (Central Archive for Research into the History of the Jews in Germany) and at the Wiener Library in London went out of their way to provide helpful advice in person. Peter Fraenkel, Ernest Kochmann and Arturo Porzecanski generously shared information about their relatives. The Association of Jewish Refugees in London helped put me in touch with many members of the diaspora in the UK who provided links back to Upper Silesia. Svetlana Stankovic kindly cast a native speaker’s eye on some translations, though of course any errors that remain are mine. My successive bosses, Emily Wilson and Lenore Taylor, generously gave me time off for a project with no conceivable bearing on my work for them. I am indebted to the University of New South Wales for the approval of a higher degree research grant, which allowed me to extend my research to German archives. I am extremely grateful to my immediate family, Therese, Brendan and Frances, who were constantly forgiving of the amount of time I spent on this work. I would also like to acknowledge the members of my family from more distant generations, who left Upper Silesia in the nineteenth century only to be returned, in some cases, in the worst possible circumstances in the twentieth. Finally I would like to mention one organisation not referred to in the sources, but which provided important background material and inspiration. The Verband Ehemaliger Breslauer und Schlesier (Association of Former Residents of Breslau and Silesia) in Israel produced a remarkable newsletter from 1961 until 2011, when the remaining members became too few to sustain publication. Its last editor, Mordechai Hauschner, wrote in the final issue of his hope that historians would continue to study the Jews of Silesia and “bring what was previously unknown to public light”.