Abstract: In Bezug auf die christlich-jüdischen Beziehungen wurde eine neue Ära mit der Kon-zilserklärung Nostra aetate des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils eröffnet. Seither vertieft die katholische Kirche das Bewusstsein ihrer Verwurzelung im biblischen Judentum und entdeckt ihre bestehenden Bande: Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede mit dem heutigen und ununterbrochen lebendigen Judentum. Dies geschieht im Rahmen des christlich-jüdischen Dialogs, dessen Aktivität viele Früchte getragen hat. U.a. entstan-den zahlreiche kirchliche Dokumente und päpstliche Botschaften, die anlässlich ver-schiedener Treffen mit Juden ausgesprochen wurden, besonders zur Zeit Johannes Pauls II. Darüber hinaus engagierten sich für den Lernprozeß Christen Juden viele Wissen-schaftler und verschiedene Institutionen, denen dieses Thema bedeutend erschien. Die katholische Kirche betonte und forderte gleichzeitig dazu auf, dass das Thema Ju-dentum seinen angemessenen Platz im Religionsunterricht finden solle. Österreich er-reichte dieses Ziel, weil bezüglich des Judentums in den österreichischen Religionsun-terricht schon länger wissenschaftliche Forschungsergebnisse eingeflossen sind. Polen hat es jedoch noch nicht erreicht. Deswegen kann ein Vergleich des Religionsunterrich-tes in Österreich und in Polen ein fruchtbares Ergebnis bringen. Im ersten Kapitel wird die Entwicklung des christlich-jüdischen Dialogs auf der Ebene der Weltkirche, der polnischen und österreichischen Kirche beschrieben und gleichzei-tig gezeigt, was von kirchlicher Seite bisher in Bezug auf den Religionsunterricht in Hinsicht auf das Judentum unternommen worden ist. Dann, gestützt auf die Lehre Jo-hannes Pauls II., wird eine pastorale Reflexion bezüglich des Judentums im Religions-unterricht durchgeführt. Zwei Prioritäten werden erkennbar: das Kennenlernen und die Reinigung des Gedächtnisses. Die erste, das Kennenlernen der Verwurzelung der Kir-che im biblischen Judentum und des heutigen Judentums, ist mit dem Religionsunter-richt sehr eng verbunden. Die zweite, die Reinigung des Gedächtnisses, nimmt hinge-gen großen Einfluss auf die Denkweise und Prägung der Überzeugungen des Menschen, was sich auch im Religionsunterricht widerspiegelt. Sie hängt mit der Geschichte zu-sammen, die aus christlicher und jüdischer Sicht sehr oft unterschiedlich dargestellt wird. Deswegen behandelt diese Dissertation nur die erste Priorität, das Kennenlernen des Judentums, im österreichischen und polnischen Religionsunterricht. Der zweiten sollte eine andere Arbeit gewidmet werden, worin die Geschichte Polens vielleicht von einer christlich-jüdischen Kommission neu zu erarbeiten wäre. Im zweiten Kapitel befinden sich die Kategorien für die Analyse der Lehrbücher und Lehrpläne für den Religionsunterricht. Zuerst werden sie aus Peter Fiedlers Buch „Das Judentum im katholischen Religionsunterricht. Analysen, Perspektiven, Bewertungen― übernommen und dann zu den fünf Dimensionen – 1. Gemeinsames geistiges Erbe; 2. Jüdische Wurzeln; 3. Bestehende Unterschiede zwischen Christen und Juden; 4. Das lebendige Judentum und 5. Gemeinsame Aufgaben – zugeordnet. Danach, aufgrund der kirchlichen Dokumente und theologischen Bearbeitungen, werden sie alle beschrieben. Gleichzeitig muss betont werden, dass diese zugeordneten und beschriebenen Bewer-tungskategorien nicht nur einen Bezugspunkt für die Analyse der Religionsbücher, son-dern auch eine Grundlage des Unterrichts über das Judentum für ReligionslehrerInnen bilden. Das dritte Kapitel ist der Analyse der derzeit geltenden Lehrbücher (2 österreichischen Serien – 24 Bücher und 2 polnischen Serien – 24 Bücher) und Lehrpläne von der ersten Klasse Volksschule bis zur Reifeprüfung für den Religionsunterricht in Österreich und Polen gewidmet. Die Analyse besteht aus drei Phasen. In der ersten Phase wird eine quantitative Analyse durchgeführt. Dabei handelt es sich darum, dass alle Seiten der Religionsbücher jeder Serie, auf denen das Judentum vorkommt, gezählt und mit allen Seiten der Religionsbücher jeder entsprechenden Serie verglichen werden, um den Pro-zentsatz zu ermitteln. In der zweiten und der dritten Phase erfolgt die qualitative Analy-se. Zuerst werden alle Seiten, auf denen das Judentum betrachtet wird, in „explizit― und „implizit― eingeteilt. Dann werden sie als „zureichend― oder „unzureichend― bewertet. Jene letzte Unterscheidung betrifft nur die polnischen Religionsbücher. Das vierte Kapitel enthält Vorschläge für den polnischen Religionsunterricht, die zwei Gruppen zugeordnet werden. Die erste Gruppe betrifft jene Stellen, die als „unzurei-chend― erkannt werden. Diesen werden die notwendigen Informationen hinzugefügt, um in den aktuell geltenden Religionsbüchern verschiedene zwischen dem Christentum und Judentum bestehende Bande zu zeigen. Die zweite Gruppe besteht aus verschiedenen Themeneinheiten, die die Verwurzelung des Christentums im biblischen Judentum und das heutige Judentum ausführlich darstellen. Zuerst werden alle Themeneinheiten in Anknüpfung an den Tag des Judentums so vorgeschlagen, dass in der 12-jährigen Schulausbildung die gesamte Information zum Thema Judentum und Verwurzelung des Christentums im Judentum gegeben wird. Dann werden Themeneinheiten behandelt, die mit verschiedenen Anlässen wie z.B. die Erinnerung an den heiligen Paulus oder an die heilige Teresia Benedicta vom Kreuz sowie mit kirchlichen Festen verbunden sind.
Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Christian, Antisemitism: Far right, Cemeteries, Jewish - Christian Relations, Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, Nationalism, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust, Holocaust Commemoration, Holocaust Memorials, Memory
Abstract: This thesis focuses on young Christians’, Jews’ and Muslims’ experiences of interfaith work in the UK and what impact(s) being involved in interfaith might have on their religious, social, ethical and political identities. It is situated in a growing academic and policy interest in interfaith work as a means to build cohesive communities, mitigate tension and conflicts, and encourage active citizenship. It also engages with still under-explored questions around how young people active in interfaith work are affected by this activism. The aim is not only to understand how and why young people from different religions are involved in interfaith work, but also the impact being involved in interfaith work might have on young people’s identities and sense of belonging. Focusing on the biographical accounts of young Christians, Jews and Muslims involved in three different interfaith organisations in UK, the thesis explores how the young people have become interested in interfaith work; the relationships, messages and contexts that have been important in forging this interest and activism; what interfaith work means to them socially, theologically, ethically and politically; and the challenges they have experienced with this form of faith-based engagement. Drawing on Kate Tilleczek’s ‘complex cultural nesting approach’, this thesis attends to the young people’s complex personal experiences of interfaith work and the different social actors, contexts and frameworks that have been important in forming this interest. The thesis shows that, to understand young people’s interfaith work, we need a multidimensional approach that considers social and theological dimensions in young people’s lives; look at how interfaith work is a means to fulfil social and political goals, but also forms of theological commitment; and explore how challenges facing interfaith work inform young people’s experiences in different ways, particularly theological, social and political tension in relation to interfaith space, religious congregations and British society at large.
Abstract: While the liberation of Europe in 1945 did not result in the end of antisemitism, Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness acquired new value in the aftermath of the Shoah. In democratic Europe, the Jew became at the very least the “enemy that we now must love”. Like antisemitism, European philosemitic discourse mutated over time. To counteract the image of the Jewish enemy, secular and Christian philosemites imagined various types of loveable “good Jews”. This newfound sympathy was not devoid of ambiguities. Philosemitism, broadly conceived as positive discourse on Jews, can indeed easily recycle antisemitic themes, recreate Jewish otherness, or strategically compensate for Holocaust guilt. However, while the Israeli or cosmopolitan Jew continues to fuel antisemitic paranoia, post-Holocaust ‘philosemitism’ has redefined the relationship between contemporary Europe and its Jews.
Abstract: Neighbors — Jan Gross’s stunning account of the brutal mass murder of the Jews of Jedwabne by their Polish neighbors — was met with international critical acclaim and was a finalist for the National Book Award in the United States. It has also been, from the moment of its publication, the occasion of intense controversy and painful reckoning. This book captures some of the most important voices in the ensuing debate, including those of residents of Jedwabne itself as well as those of journalists, intellectuals, politicians, Catholic clergy, and historians both within and well beyond Poland’s borders.
Antony Polonsky and Joanna Michlic introduce the debate, focusing particularly on how Neighbors rubbed against difficult old and new issues of Polish social memory and national identity. The editors then present a variety of Polish voices grappling with the role of the massacre and of Polish-Jewish relations in Polish history. They include samples of the various strategies used by Polish intellectuals and political elites as they have attempted to deal with their country’s dark past, to overcome the legacy of the Holocaust, and to respond to Gross’s book.
Abstract: This article addresses the issue of teaching Judaism for students in the teacher-training programme and those training to become clergy in a Swedish milieu. A major challenge in the secular post-Protestant setting is to pinpoint and challenge the negative presuppositions of Judaism as a religion of legalism, whereas the student’s own assumption is that she or he is neutral. Even if the older paradigms of anti-Jewish stereotypes are somewhat distant, there are further patterns of thought which depict Judaism as a ‘strange’ and ‘legalistic’ religion. Students in the teacher-training programme for teaching religion in schools can in class react negatively to concepts like kosher slaughter, circumcision and the Shabbat lift. Even if the explanatory motives vary, there is nonetheless a tendency common to ordination students, relating to a Protestant notion of the Jewish Torah, commonly rendered as ‘Law’ or ‘legalism’. This notion of ‘the Law’ as a means of self-redemption can, it is argued in the article, be discerned specially among clergy students reading Pauline texts and theology. This analysis shows that both teacher-training and textbooks need to be updated in accordance with modern research in order to refute older anti-Jewish patterns of thought. As for the challenge posed by the simplistic labelling of both Judaism and Islam as religions of law, the implementation of the teaching guidelines concerning everyday ‘lived religion’ enables and allows the teacher to better disclose Judaism, Christianity and Islam as piously organised living faiths rather than as being ruled by legalistic principles.
Abstract: In der polnischen Kleinstadt Pruchnik schleiften Menschen an Karfreitag 2019 eine Strohpuppe durch die Straßen, hängten sie an einen Mast, schlugen, köpften und zündeten sie an. Die Puppe war mit Hakennase und orthodox-jüdischer Kopfbedeckung und Haartracht entsprechend stereotyper antisemitischer Vorstellungen gestaltet. Sie trug die Bezeichnung „Judas 2019“. Der Brauch dient der symbolisch-rituellen „Bestrafung“ der biblischen Figur Judas Iskariot für seinen Verrat an Jesus Christus und reicht mindestens bis in das 18.Jahrhundert zurück. Der Vorfall in Pruchnik sorgte für internationales Aufsehen. Der World Jewish Congress (WJC) übte Kritik und auch die katholische Kirche distanzierte sich.1 Allerdings finden sich vergleichbare Rituale nicht allein in Pruchnik, sondern auch in vielen anderen Gegenden der Welt: in Griechenland, in Spanien, in Lateinamerika – und auch in Deutschland, mit besonderem Schwerpunkt in Bayern. Auch hier wird an den Kartagen, meistens zu Karsamstag, ein Osterfeuer angezündet, das oft „Judasfeuer“ oder „Jaudus“ genannt wird. Häufig werden auch hier Puppen, wenn auch ohne stereotype „jüdische“ Merkmale, angezündet. Weshalb dieser Brauch in Bayern dennoch antisemitisch ist, welchen historischen Hintergrund er hat und wo genau in Bayern er besonders häufig auftritt, ist Gegenstand dieses Berichts.
Abstract: In this contribution, Topolski argues that the erasure and denial of Europe’s race–religion constellation can help us understand how it has been possible to resurrect the divisive, exclusionary and problematic myth of a ‘Judaeo-Christian’ tradition in Europe. While this term can be, and has been, used in diverse and contradictory ways in the past few decades, Topolski is most interested in how it masks Islamophobia. To do this, she turns to Europe’s denied race–religion constellation. She contends that we cannot understand European racism, past or present, without making the race–religion constellation visible, and that its invisibility today is not accidental. Next, Topolski wants to show how the current resurrection of the term ‘Judaeo-Christian’ serves to mask and conceal the race–religion constellation. The focus is thus on the exclusion of religions that have not assimilated to the accepted secularized norms of white Christianity, particularly its Aryan/Protestant form, and how this exclusion is connected to the race–religion constellation. In the final part, Topolski explains how the latter might serve the collapsing European project, as well as struggling nation-states, as a scapegoat mechanism to blame Europe’s Others for problems Europe has itself created. This leads to their further exclusion and a lack of tolerance in terms of practice and rituals (which might be connected). For these reasons, Topolski argues we need to reject the use of the term ‘Judaeo-Christian’ and make visible the hidden race–religion constellation.
Abstract: In this article, Jansen attempts to demonstrate that addressing the religious practices of Jews and Muslims from the perspective of a religio-secular framework in today’s European context underestimates the complexity of semiotic relations between Muslims, Jews and other Europeans. She discusses this complexity in terms of ‘intercultural semiotics’ between the three groups. In particular, she focuses on what she calls ‘mirroring relations’, drawing on an expression from Yirmiyahu Yovel about a ‘crooked, passion-laden mirror’ characterizing the ways in which modern Europeans imagined their Jewish neighbours in early twentieth-century Europe. In order to further explain this, Jansen analyses a passage from Marcel Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time, which concerns a group of people in late nineteenth-century France, following the Dreyfus Affair, who are perceived by the narrator as Jewish. Thereafter, drawing on Gil Hochberg’s notion of the ‘re-membering’ of the Semite, Jansen analyses semiotic mirroring in the work Projet Deburkanisation (2017) by the Belgian author Rachida Lamrabet, which she reads as a contemporary meta-reflection, involving Muslims, on the mirroring relations between Jews and other Europeans first discussed via her reading of Proust.
Abstract: Since 1995, Surveys on antisemitism using national representative samples have been regularly carried out in Hungary. In this article, we used data from the 2011 and 2017 surveys to explore the relationship between three types of antisemitism, namely religious, secular, and emotional. Moreover, we scrutinized how different religiosity indicators can be used as explanatory variables for the different types of antisemitism. We found a slight increase in religious and secular antisemitism between 2011 and 2017, while emotional antisemitism remained almost the same. Religious anti-Judaism significantly correlated with both secular and emotional antisemitism, however, its relationship was much stronger with the former. When analyzing the relationship between different types of antisemitism and religiosity indicators, we found that while in 2011, all the indicators were connected to religious, and most of them to secular and emotional antisemitism, in 2017, only the variables measuring subjective self-classification remained significant. The results show that the relationship between religion and antisemitism underwent some substantial changes between 2011 and 2017. While in 2011, personal religiosity was a significant predictor of the strength of antisemitism, in 2017, religion serving as a cultural identity marker took over this function. The hypothetical explanatory factor for the change is the rebirth of the “Christian-national” idea appearing as the foundational element of the new Hungarian constitution, according to which Christian culture is the ultimate unifying force of the nation, giving the inner essence and meaning of the state. In this discourse, being Christian is equated with being Hungarian. Self-declared and self-defined Christian religiosity plays the role of a symbolic marker for accepting the national-conservative identity discourse and belonging to the “Christian-national” cultural-political camp where antisemitic prejudices occur more frequently than in other segments of the society
Abstract: Examines antisemitism in various aspects of Greek society in the 1980s and early 1990s. Regarding religious antisemitism, the official position of the Orthodox Church recognizes Judaism's contribution to Christianity and condemns antisemitism, but some in the Church exhibit anti-Jewish sentiments, hiding behind opposition to Zionists and Chiliasts (Jehovah's Witnesses). Greeks often confuse the terms Israelis, Zionists, and Jews. Discusses issues such as antisemitic texts in government schoolbooks, legislation against racial discrimination (which has rarely been enforced), political antisemitism expressed on occasion by the socialist PASOK party and by the Communist party, extreme right and terrorist organizations [e.g. ENEK (United Nationalist Movement), Ethniko Metopo (National Front), Chrysi Avghi (Golden Dawn)], antisemitic press and literature, and antisemitic incidents. The most common way of dealing with antisemitism in Greece is denial of its existence.
Abstract: Настоящий отчет в основном описывает результаты качественных исследований 2018 г . Это была вторая волна фокус-групп и интервью, во многом продолжавшая и развивавшая исследование, первая волна которого прошла в 2015 г . и которая описана в соответствующем Отчете . Сведения об объеме и географии проведенных фокус-групп представлены в Приложении №1
Наряду с этим настоящее качественное исследование имеет целью дополнить и поддержать значительное по масштабам количественное исследование, проводимое одновременно Левада-центром в тех же городах (и ряде других) . Описываемые фокус-группы и интервью проводили модераторы Левада-центра А .Левинсон и С .Королева .
Приглашение респондентов из числа евреев осуществлялось через еврейские организации на местах . Контакты с этими организациями были установлены с помощью сотрудников Российского Еврейского Конгресса, за что мы им приносим свою благодарность . Приглашение других респондентов происходило силами местных маркетинговых и социологических агентств, сотрудничающих с Левада-центром .
Выборка для качественного исследования 2018 г . была построена так, чтобы в каждом из четырех городов провести встречи с местным еврейством и с представителями тех групп, которые образуют контекст или часть контекста для существования евреев . Поэтому в городах Дербент и Казань проводились фокус-группы с представителями мусульманского большинства, в городах Томск и Калининград – с представителями русского населения городов .
Исследователи полагали необходимым проверить гипотезу о том, что религиозность, т .е . включенность в жизнь религиозной общины и в соответствующее вероучение, влияет на восприятие проблемы антисемитизма . Поэтому были запланированы фокус-группы с евреями религиозными и с теми, кто себя к религиозным не относит . Такие же различия должны были быть в группах русских (относящие и не относящие себя к православным) и в группах мусульман, которые были разделены на «практикующих» (в Дербенте) и «этнических» (в Казани) . Мы не имели в виду обращаться к «истово-верующим» этих трех конфессий, поскольку это относительно узкие группы среди вообще «верующих»/ «практикующих»/ «религиозных» . Гипотеза нашла лишь частичное подтверждение . Среди евреев этот статус не влиял на их представление о наличии/отсутствии антисемитизма . Среди «практикующих» мусульман и православных было отмечен особый тип претензий к евреям и/или иудеям, не встречавшийся у тех, кто не причисляет себя к верующим . Претензии состояли в том, что иудеи считают себя выше нас – мусульман или православных . В остальном позиции людей более и менее вовлеченных в религию – в отношении обсуждаемых вопросов – не различались .
Abstract: In march 1998, the Vatican released a long-awaited statement on the Catholic Church and the Holocaust. In a preface to the document, entitled We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, Pope John Paul II expressed his hope that it would ‘help to heal the wounds of past misunderstandings and injustices’. Eighteen months after the publication of the document, it seems now possible to conclude that, however sincere the Vatican’s intentions, the pope’s hopes will almost certainly not be realized. Indeed, far from healing, the document has succeeded largely in re-opening, if not actually deepening, old wounds. Not only did it divide the Catholic intellectual and journalistic communities. More importantly, I think, it bewildered and frustrated many Jewish readers and bitterly disappointed others. It also called forth a literary response from Jewish intellectuals and organizations that, while especially vigorous in the immediate wake of the document’s publication, had force and feeling to last more than a year. Since the energy driving these responses appears to have subsided, it seems possible now to undertake a comprehensive survey of Jewish reaction to We Remember and to attempt to account for its intensity and duration.
Abstract: This study provides an analysis of the attitudes of a minority faith in the UK, the Jews, to interfaith engagement, to the Council of Christians and Jews and other monotheistic religions. It is based on oral testimonies of interviewees who were all members of the Oxford Jewish Congregation, a unique community which has three Jewish groupings of Orthodox, Masorti and Liberal all under one roof. The objectives are to determine the influence of upbringing and life experiences on resultant interfaith attitudes, and link these with the religious denomination of the respondents. Thereafter these attitudes are considered in relation to Israel; to membership of the Council of Christian and Jews; to the attitudes of Jews entering into the sacred space of the ‘Other’ in situations of increasing intensity. Finally this thesis explores attitudes of Jews welcoming non-Jews to attending services in synagogues.
The thesis firstly highlights that the participants’ attitudes towards those of other religions were dependent upon upbringing, background and life experiences, irrespective of whether these resultant attitudes were positive, ambivalent or negative. Secondly, the most significant result found was that all the respondents were involved in dialogue with the Other irrespective of whether they had positive, ambivalent or negative attitudes towards interfaith and despite which Jewish denomination they belonged to. Thirdly, with regard to Israel, each had their own view and opinion which was not dependent on religious affiliation. Fourthly, with regard to the space of the Other, there is more complexity from whether the respondents would enter a church, attend, then participate in an interfaith service held in a church, and finally if they would take part in a service in a church involving a friend or colleague. The responses were divided by the Jewish grouping of the interviewees and demonstrated a new paradigm. There were personal interfaith boundaries beyond which responders would not pass. There was no correlation between background or religious affiliation, revealing an underlying level of unpredictability within the interviewees. Fifthly, this study demonstrated that half of the Orthodox responders were engaged in interfaith activity. Anecdotally, without previous evidence, it has been assumed that Orthodox Jews were less likely to engage in interfaith work. Within this research this was not the case.
Abstract: maginary Neighbors offers a unique and significant contribution to the contemporary debate concerning Holocaust memory by exploring the most important current political topic in Poland: Jewish-Polish relations during and after World War II. Drawing on the controversy and attention generated by Jan Gross’s landmark book Neighbors, whose description of the brutal Jedwabne massacre reignited the debate over Polish-Jewish relations during the war, this timely volume presents a rich and nuanced examination of the manner in which past and present relations between Poles and Jews are understood in Poland and in the Polish and Jewish diasporas.
Rather than revisiting historical details of Jedwabne, this innovative collection uses an interdisciplinary approach to understand the reverberations of the events—and the scholarship that has evolved around them—within the context of the Polish national community. Combining scholarly essays with literary and journalistic accounts, Imaginary Neighbors demonstrates that the Holocaust memory in Poland, together with the memory of Polish Jews and Jewish culture, continues to be engaged in conflict. What emerges is a passionate conversation among cultural critics, philosophers, literary theorists, historians, theologians, and writers on the vexing issues of responsibility, forgiveness, reconciliation, and national and religious identity.
Abstract: Interpreting culture as symbols, stories, rituals and values, the thesis explores the culture of a Jewish and a Catholic secondary school in a dialogical way. The survey of the literature in Chapter 1 identifies relevant school-based research and locates the chosen case-study schools within the context of the British 'dual system'. Chapter 2 draws on the theoretical and methodological literatures of inter-faith dialogue and ethnography to develop and defend a paradigm for the research defined as open-inclusivist and constructivist. The main body of the thesis (Chapters 3-5), based on field-work undertaken in 1996 and 1997, presents the two schools in parallel with each other. Chapter 3 describes the details of the case studies at 'St. Margaret's' and 'Mount Sinai' and my developing research relationship with each school. In Chapter 4 many different voices from each school are woven into two 'tales' about the schools' cultures. This central chapter has a deliberately narrative style. Chapter 5 amplifies the cultural tales through the analysis of broadly quantitative data gained from an extensive questionnaire administered to a sample of senior students in each school. It is the only place in the thesis where views and values from the two schools are directly compared. The final two chapters widen the horizon of the study. Chapter 6 presents voices which were not part of the original case studies but which relate, in different ways, to the culture of the two schools. Chapter 7, with theoretical ideas about Jewish schools and education, and Catholic schools and education, provides resources for further dialogue about culture within Judaism and Catholicism and for Jewish-Christian dialogue. The thesis ends with some reflections on possible implications of the two cultures for discussions about the common good in education.
Abstract: From the Middle Ages until World War II, Poland was host to Europe's largest and most vibrant Jewish population. By 1970, the combination of Nazi genocide, postwar pogroms, mass emigration, and communist repression had virtually destroyed Poland's Jewish community. Although the Poles themselves were subjected to enormous cruelties in the twentieth century, questions about the extent of their antisemitism and its role in the fate of Polish Jewry are today hotly disputed.
Antisemitism and Its Opponents in Modern Poland serves as an effective guide to some of the most complex and controversial issues of Poland's troubled past. Fourteen original essays by a team of distinguished Polish and American scholars explore the different meanings, forms of expression, content, and social range of antisemitism in modern Poland from the late nineteenth century to the present. The contributors focus on both the variations in antisemitic sentiment and those Poles who opposed such prejudices.
Central themes of this significant, balanced, and timely contribution to a contentious and often emotional debate include the deterioration of Polish-Jewish relations in the era of national awakening for both the Poles and the Jews, the meaning of the various forms of violence against the Jews, intellectual movements in opposition to antisemitism, the role of the Catholic Church in promoting antisemitism, and the prospects for the Church to atone for this shameful chapter in its recent history.
Abstract: Since Polish Catholics embraced some anti-Jewish notions and actions prior to WWII, many intertwined the Nazi death camps in Poland with Polish anti-Semitism. As a result, more so than local non-Jewish population in other Nazi-occupied countries, Polish Catholics were considered active collaborators in the destruction of European Jewry. Through the presentation of these negative images in Holocaust literature, documentaries, and teaching, these stereotypes have been sustained and infect attitudes toward contemporary Poland, impacting on Jewish youth trips there from Israel and the United States. This book focuses on the role of Holocaust-related material in perpetuating anti-Polish images and describes organizational efforts to combat them. Without minimizing contemporary Polish anti-Semitism, it also presents more positive material on contemporary Polish-American organizations and Jewish life in Poland. To our knowledge this will be the first book to document systematically the anti-Polish images in Holocaust material, to describe ongoing efforts to combat these negative stereotypes, and to emphasize the positive role of the Polish Catholic community in the resurgence of Jewish life in Poland. Thus, this book will present new information that will be of value to Holocaust Studies and the 100,000 annual foreign visitors to the German death camps in Poland.
Contents:
Part 1 Foreward
Part 2 Preface
Part 3 Introduction: Confronting Negative Stereotypes: Polish Behavior in Wartime and Contemporary Poland
Part 4 Anti-Polish Stereotypes
Chapter 5 Introduction: Anti-Polish Stereotypes
Chapter 6 Poland and the Poles in the Cinematic Portrayal of the Holocaust
Chapter 7 Cinema in the Crossfire of Jewish-Polish Polemics: Wajda's Korczak and Polanski's The Pianist
Chapter 8 American Press Coverage of Poland's Role in the Holocaust
Chapter 9 Measuring Anti-Polish Biases Among Holocaust Teachers
Part 10 Contextual Understanding and Dialogue
Chapter 11 Introduction: Polish-Jewish Relations in America
Chapter 12 Polish-Jewish Relations during the Holocaust: A Changing Jewish Viewpoint
Chapter 13 Polish and Jewish Historiography of Jewish-Polish Relations during World War II
Chapter 14 The Holocaust: A Continuing Challenge for Polish-Jewish Relations
Chapter 15 Polish-Jewish Relations since 1984: Reflections of a Participant
Part 16 Contemporary Poland
Chapter 17 Introduction: Polish-Jewish Relations in Poland: Where Have We Come From and Where Are We Headed?
Chapter 18 The Evolution of Catholic-Jewish Relations after 1989
Chapter 19 Antisemitism in Contemporary Poland: Does It Matter? And For Whom Does It Matter?
Chapter 20 Polish Historians Respond to Jedwabne
Chapter 21 March of the Living: Confronting Anti-Polish Stereotypes
Chapter 22 Gentiles Doing Jewish Stuff: The Contributions of Polish Non-Jews to Polish Jewish Life
