Berek Joselewicz, Commander of the Polish Army’s Jewish Brigade, 1794

Brothers Betrayed: Jews and from 1500 until Today

JUDS 0901

Prof. Adam Teller, Spring 2015

Jews have lived on Polish lands for some nine hundred years. In that time, they and their non-Jewish neighbors have interacted in a wide range of ways, from friendship and co-operation to hatred and violence. In this course, we examine this centuries long relationship, focusing particularly on how peaceful co-existence between Poles and Jews could rapidly change to bitter hostility. Topics include: Jews and the early- modern nobility; the nineteenth-century “Polish-Jewish Brotherhood”; the exclusionary politics of the interwar Polish republic; ’s role in the Holocaust; the post-war Communist regime and the Jews; Polish-Jewish relations following the collapse of communism.

1 Classes will combine a frontal lecture with discussions of the readings and primary sources in English translation. Students will be expected to come to class having done the readings and ready to discuss them in class. Active participation in class discussions will form part of the final grade for the course.

This class is open to all undergraduates. NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY OR JEWISH STUDIES IS REQUIRED. Enrollment in the course is a prerequisite of joining the optional proposed spring-break trip to Poland to be organized by Hillel.

Course Goals and Objectives By introducing students to the basic themes of Polish-Jewish relations in the modern period, this course will: 1. Situate the histories of both Poland and Polish Jews both in relation one with another and also within the broader history of modern Europe 2. Explore the nature of political, social, religious, and cultural boundaries and the ways they have both separated and joined people. 3. Encourage reflection and critical comparison of a range of methodological approaches to historical research – national, social, religious, and cultural.

By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. Understand the course of modern Polish history, particularly in reference to the Jewish minority 2. Identify the key issues in research on Polish-Jewish relations. 3. Read and critically analyze primary historical sources from the period in translation.

Final Grade The final grade, which will be based on a mid-term and final exam, two response papers (1,500-2,000 words) on important texts, as well as active participation in class, will be calculated as follows:

Active Participation 15% Mid-Term Exam 20% (3/10) 2 Papers 20% each Final Exam 25% (5/9)

Students are recommended to buy the textbook: Antony Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia: A Short History, Oxford-Portland Or.: Littman Library, 2013. It is on sale at the Brown Bookstore.

In addition to the weekly readings, students will be expected to read two books of primary source materials and write short response papers (1,500-2000 words) on

2 them during the semester. The books can found in the Brown Bookstore. Library copies are on reserve.

1. Nathan Hannover, Abyss of Despair (ed. Abraham Mesch), New Brunswick 1983 – Due 2/8, 12pm

2. Samuel Kassow, Who Will Write Our History? Rediscovering a Hidden Archive from the Ghetto , New York 2009 – Due 4/3, 12pm

In addition, students will be expected to view two films during the course of the semester and discuss their portrayal of Polish-Jewish relations in class.

On the set of the Yiddish film, “Freiliche Kabtzonim,” Warsaw 1937

3 Weekly Topics

1. Introduction

1/22 Poles and Jews, Meanings and Shadows Reading: - Jan Blonski, “The Poor Poles Look at the Ghetto: Polish-Jewish Relations during the Second World War”, Polin 2 (1987): 321- 336.

2. Beginnings

1/27 Religion and Law in Pre-Modern Poland Readings: Adam Teller, “Telling the Difference: Some Comparative Perspectives on the Jews’ Legal Status in the Eighteenth Century, Polin 22 (2010): 109-141

Primary Source: Statute of Boleslaw the Pious, 1264 Robert Chazan, Church, State, and Jew in the Middle Ages, New York 1980, pp. 88-93

3. The Golden Age?

1/29 Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Reading: - Antony Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, 3-39

2/3 Religious Tolerance and its Limits Reading: - Majer Balaban, “Hugo Grotius and the Blood Libel Trials in Lublin, 1636”, Polin 22 (2010): 47-67

4. Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians in the Seventeenth Century

2/5 Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians in the Seventeenth Century Reading: - Bernard Weinryb, The Jews of Poland: A Social and Economic History of the Jewish Community in Poland from 1100-1800, Philadelphia 1976, pp. 181-203

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2/8 First Response Paper Due, 12 pm

2/10 Discussion of the First Response Paper Reading: - Adam Teller, “The Jewish Literary Responses to the Events of 1648-1649 and the Creation of a Polish-Jewish Consciousness”, in: B. Nathans, G. Safran (eds.), Culture Front: Eastern European Jews and their Culture, University of Pennsylvania Press 2008, pp. 17-45

5. Jews and Other Poles

2/12 Noble Relations Reading: - Moshe Rosman, The Lords’ Jews: Magnate-Jewish Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth During the 18th Century, Cambridge Mass. 1990, pp. 106-142

2/19 Frankism and Hasidism Reading: - Jan Doktor, “Jakub Frank: A Jewish Heresiarch and his Messianic Doctrine” Acta Poloniae Historica 76 (1997): 53-74

6. Partitioned Poland

2/24 Congress Poland Reading: - Antony Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, 40-95

2/26 Jewish Life in Galicia Reading: - R. Mahler, Hasidism and the Jewish Enlightenment: Their Confrontation in Galicia and Poland in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, Philadelphia 1985, pp. 121-148 Primary Source: A Satirical Look at Jewish Life in Galicia

5 3/3 The Russian Partition Reading: - John Klier, Russia Gathers her Jews: The Origins of the "Jewish Question" in Russia, 1772-1825, DeKalb, Ill 1986, pp.

7. 3/5 Midterm Exam

8. The Age of Polish-Jewish Brotherhood

3/10 Polish Jews and the Polish Uprisings Reading: Israel Bartal, The Jews of Eastern Europe, 1772-1881, Philadelphia 2006, pp. 82-112 Primary Source: Jankiel the Tavernkeeper Adam Mickiewicz, “Pan Tadeusz” in: Harold B. Segal, Stranger in Our Midst: Images of the Jew in Polish Literature, Ithaca 1996, pp. 71-75

3/12 The Promise of Assimilation Reading: Ezra Mendelsohn, Painting a People: Maurycy Gottlieb and Jewish Art, Hanover-London 2002, pp. 1-44

3/17 “The Promised Land”: Class Discussion of the Film Reading: - Agnieszka Friedrich, “Boleslaw Prus and the Assimilation of Polish Jews”, Polin 22 (2010): 316-331 Film: “The Promised Land” (1974/2003), directed by Andrej Wajda (on ‘Canvas’).

3/19 No Class

3/31 Nationalism Reading: - Antony Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, 96-134

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7. Pogroms and Politics: 1914-1939

4/2 Independent Poland I Reading: - Antony Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, 211-252 -

4/3 Second Response Paper Due, 12 pm

4/7 Independent Poland II Reading: - Chone Shmeruk, “Hebrew-Yiddish-Polish: A Trilingual Jewish Culture,” in: Y. Gutman et al. (eds.), The Jews of Poland Between Two World Wars, Hanover 1989, pp. 285-311

8. The Holocaust

4/9 The Holocaust I: Discussion of the Second Response Paper Reading: - Israel Gutman, The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943, Bloomington 1983, pp. 62-116

4/14 The Holocaust II: Jedwabne Reading: - Jan T. Gross, Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Princeton 2001, pp. 54-111

4/16 The Righteous Among the Nations Reading: - Teresa Prekerowa, “The Relief Council for Jews in Poland, 1942- 1945”, in: Ch. Abramsky et al. (eds.), The Jews in Poland, Oxford 1986, 161-176 - Nehama Tec, “Helping Behavior and Rescue during the Holocaust:, in: Peter Hayes (ed.), Lessons and Legacies, I, Evanston 1991, 210-224 Film: “Schindler’s List” (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg (on ‘Canvas’).

7 10. Communist and Post-Communist Poland

4/21 Communist Poland: 1946-1968 Reading: - Antony Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, 380-423

Primary Source: Confessions of a Polish Jewish Communist - Heather Laskey, Night Voices Heard in the Shadow of Hitler and Stalin, Montreal 2003, pp. 203-238

4/23 Post-Communist Poland Reading: - Antony Polonsky, The Jews in Poland and Russia, 424-462

Two Review Meetings Will Be Held During Reading Period To Prepare For The Final Exam

5/9 Final Exam, 2pm

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