Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946
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Rückenstärke cvr_eu: 39,0 mm Rückenstärke cvr_int: 34,9 mm Eastern European Culture, 12 Eastern European Culture, Politics and Societies 12 Politics and Societies 12 Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946 Pogrom Cries – Essays This book focuses on the fate of Polish “From page one to the very end, the book Tokarska-Bakir Joanna Jews and Polish-Jewish relations during is composed of original and novel texts, the Holocaust and its aftermath, in the which make an enormous contribution on Polish-Jewish History, ill-recognized era of Eastern-European to the knowledge of the Holocaust and its pogroms after the WW2. It is based on the aftermath. It brings a change in the Polish author’s own ethnographic research in reading of the Holocaust, and offers totally 1939–1946 those areas of Poland where the Holo- unknown perspectives.” caust machinery operated, as well as on Feliks Tych, Professor Emeritus at the the extensive archival query. The results Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw 2nd Revised Edition comprise the anthropological interviews with the members of the generation of Holocaust witnesses and the results of her own extensive archive research in the Pol- The Author ish Institute for National Remembrance Joanna Tokarska-Bakir is a cultural (IPN). anthropologist and Professor at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish “[This book] is at times shocking; however, Academy of Sciences at Warsaw, Poland. it grips the reader’s attention from the first She specialises in the anthropology of to the last page. It is a remarkable work, set violence and is the author, among others, to become a classic among the publica- of a monograph on blood libel in Euro- tions in this field.” pean perspective and a monograph on Jerzy Jedlicki, Professor Emeritus at the the Kielce pogrom. Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946 History, CriesPogrom – Essays Polish-Jewish on ISBN 978-3-631-77448-9 EEC 12_277448_Tokarska-Bakir_VH_A5H 151x214 fusion.indd 1 17.06.19 15:25 Rückenstärke cvr_eu: 39,0 mm Rückenstärke cvr_int: 34,9 mm Eastern European Culture, 12 Eastern European Culture, Politics and Societies 12 Politics and Societies 12 Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946 Pogrom Cries – Essays This book focuses on the fate of Polish “From page one to the very end, the book Tokarska-Bakir Joanna Jews and Polish-Jewish relations during is composed of original and novel texts, the Holocaust and its aftermath, in the which make an enormous contribution on Polish-Jewish History, ill-recognized era of Eastern-European to the knowledge of the Holocaust and its pogroms after the WW2. It is based on the aftermath. It brings a change in the Polish author’s own ethnographic research in reading of the Holocaust, and offers totally 1939–1946 those areas of Poland where the Holo- unknown perspectives.” caust machinery operated, as well as on Feliks Tych, Professor Emeritus at the the extensive archival query. The results Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw 2nd Revised Edition comprise the anthropological interviews with the members of the generation of Holocaust witnesses and the results of her own extensive archive research in the Pol- The Author ish Institute for National Remembrance Joanna Tokarska-Bakir is a cultural (IPN). anthropologist and Professor at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish “[This book] is at times shocking; however, Academy of Sciences at Warsaw, Poland. it grips the reader’s attention from the first She specialises in the anthropology of to the last page. It is a remarkable work, set violence and is the author, among others, to become a classic among the publica- of a monograph on blood libel in Euro- tions in this field.” pean perspective and a monograph on Jerzy Jedlicki, Professor Emeritus at the the Kielce pogrom. Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946 History, CriesPogrom – Essays Polish-Jewish on EEC 12_277448_Tokarska-Bakir_VH_A5H 151x214 fusion.indd 1 17.06.19 15:25 Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946 EASTERN EUROPEAN CULTURE, POLITICS AND SOCIETIES Edited by Irena Grudzińska-Gross and Andrzej W. Tymowski VOL. 12 Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946 2nd Revised Edition Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Na- tionalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Con- gress. The publication was financed by the National Programme for the Development of Humanities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in 2016-2017. Translated by Blanka Zahorjanova, Avner Greenberg, Paul Vickers, and others. Copy edited by Maciej Grabski. Copy editing Appendix: Matthew Chambers. Cover image: courtesy by Wojtek Wołyński. Printed by CPI books GmbH, Leck. ISSN 2192-497X ISBN 978-3-631-77448-9 (Print) E-ISBN 978-3-631-78944-5 (E-PDF) E-ISBN 978-3-631-78945-2 (EPUB) E-ISBN 978-3-631-78946-9 (MOBI) DOI 10.3726/b15601 Open Access: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 unported license. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ © Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, 2017 2nd revised edition Berlin 2019 Peter Lang – Berlin · Bern · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Warszawa · Wien This publication has been peer reviewed. www.peterlang.com To the memory of Henryk Pawelec, 1921–2015, and Andrzej Ropelewski, 1923–2012 Contents Irena Grudzińska-Gross Introduction: The land of the deadly exclusion ���������������������������������������9 * * * Post Script ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������13 Chapter 1: The Polish Underground Organization Wolność i Niezawisłość and Anti-Jewish Pogroms, 1945–1946 ���������������������������������������������������������������17 Chapter 2: The Unrighteous Righteous and the Righteous Unrighteous ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������39 Chapter 3: The Trial of Tadeusz Maj. The History of AL Unit “Świt” in the Kielce Region���������������������������������������������������95 Chapter 4: Ethnographic Findings on the Aftermath of the Holocaust through Jewish and Polish Eyes in the Memory of the Polish Hinterland �����������������������������141 Chapter 5: “Our Class”, in Klimontów Sandomierski ��������������������187 Chapter 6: The Figure of the Bloodsucker in Polish Religious, National and Left-Wing Discourse, 1945–1946 ��������199 Chapter 7: Pogrom Cries ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������247 Chapter 8: Communitas of Violence. The Kielce Pogrom as a Social Drama ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������273 Alina Skibińska, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Chapter 9: “Barabasz” and the Jews. Chapters from the History of the Home Army Unit Wybranieccy �����������������������������305 7 Chapter 10: Suppressio veri, suggestio falsi. The History of Ryszard Maj’s Testimony ��������������������������������������������������������379 List of previously published papers ��������������������������������������������������������������401 Appendix ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������403 Bibliography ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������473 Index of Names ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������495 8 Irena Grudzińska-Gross Introduction: The land of the deadly exclusion Those who are following the present developments in Poland will not be sur- prised that the question of what happened to Jews during the Second World War and right after it is steadily getting more and more attention� As time passes, the temperature of the debate seems only to increase� Since the formation of the Law and Justice [PiS] government, entire institutes and ministries have been devoting themselves to this topic� History is being written anew, in which Lech Kaczyński features as the leader of the Solidarity movement, and millions of Poles are in- volved in saving Jews in the Nazi-occupied Poland� A shrine to the Polish Right- eous has been erected in Father Rydzyk’s Toruń sanctuary� The Second World War is being fought again� There are several reasons for the continued presence of this particular frag- ment of the past� Its harrowing nature and lasting consequences do not allow it to fade� The book Pogrom Cries is one of the efforts to examine this part of history in all its documentary depth� The author, Professor Joanna Tokarska- Bakir, is an ethnographer, cultural anthropologist, and public intellectual – her thinking defies artificial disciplinary divisions� She bases her work on archival research, interviews, anthropological and ethnographic studies� She writes about the culture of antisemitism and studies violence and social rituals� Her c�v� shows an impressive list of publications and awards� Her presence in public debates is invaluable� Hers is one of the