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From Judeo-Polonia to Act 447: How and why did the Jewish conspiracy myth become a central issue in Polish political discourse?
Author(s): Bulska, Dominika; Haska, Agnieszka; Winiewski, Mikołaj; Bilewicz, Michał
Editor(s): Astapova, Anastasiya; Colăcel, Onoriu; Pintilescu, Corneliu; Scheibner, Tamás
Date: 2020
Topics: Antisemitism, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Surveys
Abstract: Poland was home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the world: more than 3 million Jews lived in the country prior to the Holocaust. Currently, according to census data, there are approximately 10,000 Jews living in Poland. At the same time, antisemitic attitudes, especially the belief in a Jewish conspiracy, are widespread among Polish society. What are the sources of such attitudes? How can what has been described as “antisemitism without Jews” be expressed? What are the psychological functions of it? In this chapter, we aim to answer these questions by reviewing anti-Jewish conspiracy narratives in public discourse and by describing the results of nationwide surveys measuring the popularity of antisemitic conspiracy theories and conducted on a representative sample of Poles in recent years. Then we explain the psychological functions that belief in such conspiracy theories can provide for an individual.