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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black arxj white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Artx>r, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMÏ BUILDING OUR OWN HOME: THE ETHNIC IDENTITY OF THE JEWS OF KRAKOW. 1918-1939 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State Université' Bv Sean Martin. M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Eve Levin. Adviser Professor Katherine David-Fox Adviser Professor Irina Livezeanu Department of History UMI Number 9982939 UMI UMI Microform9982939 Copyright 2000 by Beil & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This work shows how one East European minority community fostered a distinct ethnic identity while attempting integration into the majority culture. The attempt involved the establishment and development of separate Jewish institutions, including Jewish newspapers, schools, and cultural organizations. As commimity leaders endeavored to integrate into the Polish community , they challenged Polish society not only to accept the presence of multiple ethnic groups but to embrace the cultural diversity multiethnicity provided. Writing in Polish. Jewish nationalist intellectuals created a modem, multifaceted Jewish identity that combined Zionist ideology with elements of Polish culture. Private Jewish schools promoted a distinct ethnic identity, but they also prepared Jewish children to function in the larger society. Jewish academic, professional, theatrical, social, and sports organizations arose alongside more traditional Jewish religious organizations in Krakow, resulting in a more secular and diversified Jewish community. These organizations did not. however, serve to separate the Jewish community from the Polish population, but at times they promoted Polish patriotism and a Jewish affiliation with Polish culture. In short, the Jews of Krakow began to develop unique subcultures with II van ing components of Zionist Hebrew. Polish national, traditional religious, and secular Yiddish elements. An examination of these subcultures helps to understand the complex reality of Jewish life in interwar Poland. The Jews of Krakow were not a people apart, but part of a nation trying both to maintain its own sense of identit) and enter into the larger Polish community. Ill In memory of my parents. Richard Martin ( 1926-1998) and Rose Marie Martin (1934-1984) And for Jaroslaw R. Romaniuk. whose support and patience are invaluable. IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have been very fortunate to complete this dissertation under the supervision of several excellent advisers, all of whom have contributed in important ways. Michael Berkowitz helped me to develop the topic before his departure from Ohio State for University College London. He has graciously monitored my progress since and 1 am very grateful for his assistance. Irina Livezeanu also continued to advise me after her departure from Ohio State. Her insights and corrections helped me to improve the manuscript considerably. In agreeing to serve as my adviser of record. Eve Levin made possible my progress on the dissertation and its eventual completion. To all. 1 owe a great deal of thanks. Grants from the U. S. Fulbright Commission and the American Council of Learned Societies made possible the research and writing. VITA Januan 10. 1968......................................................................Bom - Weirton. WV 1990.......................................................................................... BA. Regional Studies in East Central Europe. Columbia University 1992-1994.................................................................................Graduate Teaching Associate. Yiddish Ohio State University 1994...........................................................................................MA. Yiddish MA. History Ohio State University 1994-1995.................................................................................Graduate Teaching 1997-1998 Associate. History 1999-2000 Ohio State University 1996-1997................................................................................. Fulbright Scholar. Jagiellonian University. ICrakow 1998-199................................................................................. 9 Dissertation Fellow .American Council of Learned Societies 1999-200................................................................................. 0 Adjunct Lecturer. Cleveland College of Jewish Studies Major Field: History VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Dedication............................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments................................................................................................................ v Vita........................................................................................................................................vi Chapters: I. Introduction....................................................................................................................1 II. The Legacy of the Pre-Independence Jewish Community......................................41 III. "Building Our Own Home": The Jewish Press of Interwar Krakow.....................61 IV. The Yiddishist Reaction to Assimilation: Religious and Cultural Responses... 100 V. Making Polish Jews: The Private and Public Education of Jewish Children— 131 VI. Maintaining Community: Jewish Participation in Private Jewish Schools........ 172 VII. Organizing the Jewish Street: Varieties of Cultural Life......................................216 VIII. Conclusion................................................................................................................272 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 283 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Jews of interwar Krakow developed a distinctly modem Jewish national identity in Poland that denied neither Jewish heritage nor Polish citizenship. In their attempts to assert both Jewish and Polish identities, the Jewish institutions of Krakow represented varying subcultures within Polish society and within the Jewish community itself. The development of Polish patriotism among the leading Jews of Krakow paradoxically allowed for the formation of a separate Jew ish national identity. Private Jewish institutions, including newspapers, schools, and cultural organizations promoted a distinctive Jewish identity while advocating Jewish integration into the majority society. These institutions existed as individual entities and did not usually result from unified efforts of the entire Jewish community. Nonetheless, they represented some of the most important elements within the city's Jewish life and. in their goals and programs, they reflected a growing involvement with Polish life and Polish national culture. The independence of Poland after 1918 signalled significant change for the ethnic and national minority groups within the country, including Jews. Ukrainians. Germans. and Byelorussians. In Polish, this period is often referred to as a "rebirth." echoing the rhetoric of East European intellectuals who led "national awakenings" all over the region. Such rhetoric is not entirely unjustified. Only during the interwar period were Poles, as well as the country's national minorities, developing modem education systems, a highly diversified press, and cultural organizations which supported all manner of professional activities and leisure interests. It was not until after the end of World War I that Poles. Jews, and the other national minority communities in the Polish state began to develop organizations of city life that resembled the complex network of urban institutions we recognize today. The unprecedented freedom of a nominally democratic Poland presented all ethnic groups within the country with the opportunity to grow politically, socially, educationally, and economically. The private and public institutions these