Causes for Anti-Semitism in 20th-Century Poland
Simcha Streltsov
Thanks for interesting materials.
One side of the issue is probably clear:
that Rusian empire was using all opportunities to
"divide et impera", and that a number of russified Jews were
part of that game - directed not only against Poles, but also
against Jews - in Poland and other parts of the empire.
Another issue is whether real Jewish separatism and desire for
"state within state" should be considered negatively by Poles.
: Therefore, beside of some differences, the orthodox Rabbi Peremuter, the
: Zionist Gruenbaum, and the folkist Pryluckis somehow agreeably fitted
: within the framework of Copenhagen Manifest. This type of agreement
: was judged and called by Polish deputies as the inadmissible attempt of
: of creating "state within a state". And therefore, Polish parliamentary
: majority adopted the position analogous to that of prime minister Paderewski
: that only only constitutional equality of Jews in Poland may be considered.
: This was received by Jewish nationalists as "threat to national Jewish
: interests".
: The "Minority Treaty" obligated Poland, however, (Art. 10 and 11) to
: preserving and subsidizing Jewish education and respecting the Sabbath
: (Saturday) as a holiday of Jewish population. For example, on Saturday,
: the religious Jews was not obligated to report to the courts or other
: administrative organs, as well as, to participate in elections, etc.
: The citizen equal rights for Jewish national minority was formally
: guaranteed in two Constitutions (1921 and 1935), in which the articles
: 10 and 11 from "Minority Treaty were included.
This issue is not unique to Poland - and in it's modern form
started with Napoleon - who agreed to give Jews equal rights
on the condition of emancipation. Ironically, his way to give
Jews freedom went thru him gathering "Sanhedrin", and forcing
them into accepting his premises.
From the Jewish point of view, there is nothing wrong or offensive
in being different - as long as it does not take from rights
of others. And it seems that Poland was _the_ country that understood
and accknowledged this position for centuries -
Jewish "state within state" existed in Poland until after Russian
occupation [ Vaad of Four Countries was dissolved after
Russians were able to stack one Jewish group against each other -
Jewish government was as much an obstacle for the direct rule of the
empire as the Polish state was!].
It is interesting to compare situation with US - as the document
uses comparison with other democratic countries:
here also there are/were attempts to impose "equal rights"
according to the opinion of the majority:
for example, Blue laws that forbade everyone to keep their stores
on Sunday. As a result, Jewish storeowners had to be closed the whole weekend.
On the other hand, some of the "Minority Treaty" laws above are
successfully implemented in US - instructions how to transfer college
tests from Saturday to Monday are printed in each booklet, when elections
in Brookline, Mass were scheduled on a Jewish holidays, Jews were given
alternative ways to vote, etc. - and noone claims that it makes Jews
less American patriots than others.
Simcha Streltsov, _Former_ Adar Rabbi of S.C.Soviet
-------------------------
please, only Kosher lePesach homentashen
all others will be returned unopened.
p.s. This sig expired, but nobody have sent me real
homentashen anyway
Martin Fox
Martin Fox
Simcha Streltsov
[ Author was Jan K Labanowski ]
[ Posted on 3 Jan 1996 05:05:42 GMT ]
I just want to present some ad hoc translation of fragments form the
book I recently went through to add to the discussion about Polish
Anti-Semitism. My short comments follow the translation.
===================================================================
Jozef Orlicki -- Szkice z dziejow stosunkow polsko-zydowskich 1918-1948
[Outline of the Polish-Jewish relations 1918-1948], KAW, Szczecin 1983
p.17
The russification policy of the tsarism lead to a new specific problem of
the so called "litvaks". These were Russian Jews who were being expelled from
central Russia and Lithuania after 1881 in the period of reaction after
assassination of tsar Alexander II. The majority of them settled in Congress
Kingdom [part of Russian partition of Poland] mainly in Warsaw and Lodz.
Large portion of them were traders and industrialists and they became
a competition to local Polish, and Jewish commerce/industrial circles
for the markets in Russia. They started to monopolize several branches of
commerce, established wholesalers, warehouses, and offices of Russian
firms in Warsaw and Lodz. Majority of them were the tool of russification
of the tsarism according to the rule of "divide et impera". At the end
of XIX and beginning of XX century the "livaks" were even a more
important obstacle for the assimilation attempts of the progressive Jewish
intelligentsia of Congress Kingdom then Zionists. According to Feldman
[W. Feldman -- Dzieje polskiej mysli politycznej 1864-1914, Warsaw 1933,
p. 367]:
Zionism which came to Warsaw in about 1985 loves, quoting the leader,
N. Sokolow, the cedars of Lebanon, and willows of Vistula. Zionists who
nurture the Hebrew language do not collide with Polish language. Only
the Jews from Russia established in Warsaw the jargon newspapers.
Not knowing the Polish language, they became enemies of this language
and in general, they were provocative towards Polish society. In the
Vistula country they aimed at legal and national separation, which would
deprive the Congress Kingdom of its Polish character. At the same, they
knew that their power depends on the Jews in Russia, and they became
the Russian centralists, and therefore contradicting the essential
interests of Poles.
There were also unfortunate traditions of collaboration of kahalnicks with
the tsarist government. Many examples are given in the studies of the
Jewish Historical Institute of Warsaw, which lists many facts of
espionage for the tsar army by the members of Jewish Councils of kahals
during Polish national uprisings.
At the same time, it is important to remember that the "russocentrism"
cannot erase the patriotic/independence stance of this portion of Polish Jews
who fought together with Poles, or aided Polish uprisings financially.
Historian Czacki wrote about the participation of Jews in the Kosciuszko [1794]
Insurrection: Jews were not afraid of dying supporting the national cause
with their hearts" In September 1794, several hundred man Jewish battalion
under the command of Berek Joselewicz was fighting to practically the last
solder against the attack of Suvorov Army on Warsaw, and the Colonel Berek
Joselewicz gave later his life heroically during the Battle of Kock.
About his "Commando" the Polish poet Maria Konopnicka wrote:
In the Praga trenches
With the inscription "Homeland"
The Commando of Berek
There were four hundreds of them
Four hundreds were fighting
Four hundreds for Poland
Gave their life...
[sorry for nonpoetic translation]
During November Uprising [1831] Warsaw Rabi Davidson appealed to Jewish
population to actively aid the uprising. Jozef Berkowicz (the son of
the Berek Joselewicz) formed the 850 people strong Jewish battalion.
Their commander, Antoni Ostrowski evaluated them as: "They performed an
excellent duty and fought as experienced, wise solders."
During January uprising [1963] many Jewish-Patriots participated in the
partisan detachments against tsarist occupant. Before the uprising in
1961 they were organizing many patriotic demonstrations and protests,
especially in Warsaw. Here in October 1861, after mass arrests of Polish
patriots in the St.John's Cathedral, the Polish clergy in a sign of protest
closed the churches. The Warsaw Rabbi, Ber Meisels and the preacher [?]
Jastrow, and the president of Jewish community also in solidarity made
the synagogues closed, and all three were sentenced by Russian administration
to three months in prison.
During this time in Congress Kingdom the polonizing Jewish intelligentsia
not only was involving itself in the political manifestations and fighting,
but was also mobilizing other strata of Jewish population. But in the
"West District" (Lithuania), according to the contemporary historian and Rabbi
in Vilno, J. Stejnberg -- "the revolutionary attempts of Poles disgusted the
Jews". Dawid Fajnhauz, historian in the Jewish Historic Institute of
Warsaw presents in his work [D. Fajnhauz -- Jewish population in Lithuania
and White Russia and the January Uprising 1863, in: Buletyn Zydowskiego
Instytutu Historycznego nr. 31, 32, 1961] the following picture of
collaboration of the part of upper strata of Jewish society in Lithuania
during January uprising:
However, the substantial portion of Jewish bourgeois was pro-Russian, and
some of them in fact collaborated with tsar administration against the
uprising [1863]. Particularly the builders [podriedczyki] and the government
suppliers were against the uprising, as their wealth depended on Russian
administration. For example, Alpatov was executing secret instructions of
the governor [Muraviev], and supplier Kowienski, and merchant Fajwusz
Wiuker agreed in 1863 to supply the Russian army with means of
transportation.
Also many members of kahals who had administrative and political
connections with the state administration, collaborated with the tsarist
administration. Also, on the Tsar side were the rabbinical hierarchy whose
spiritual leader was the Rabbi of Vilno, Stejnberg, confident of Muraviov,
who consulted him on the matters of crushing the uprising.
To conclude, it has to be stressed that these Lithuanian "podreidczyki",
merchants, rabbi, etc., twenty years later, without remembering the expulsions
which they experienced from tsarist regime, after moving to the new
territories, were so eager to deprive the Congress Kingdom of its Polish
character.
In the last 30 years before WWI young polish bourgeois and the middle class,
under the influence of European national tendencies, enters the phase of acute
competition with all non-polish economic dominance [footnote: At this time,
Jewish magnates like: Bloch, Epstein, Fajans, Kronenberg, Loevenstein, Natanson
and Wawelberg established and monopolized the commerce banks, insurance
companies, chemical industry, paper industry, sugar production, and shipping
on Vistula River]. This was the background on which the concepts of solving
the Jewish question were developed.
The basis of ideological and political Jewish concepts is the rising national
awareness of Jews. The Jewish intelligentsia becomes visible in the second half
of XIX century in Europe. It proposes new solutions for the Jewish diaspora
question. The older ideas of messianic Zionism do not agree with the modern
thinking of this group. They reject the assimilation theories on the basis that
after rise of antisemitism in the 1880s in Russia, Germany and France, the
European nations will never accept the Jews, but will always consider them
as foreign and unfriendly forces. The portion of Jewish intelligentsia,
and Jewish bourgeois which were leaning towards assimilation, their
indifference towards Judaism begins to convert into national awareness
and national solidarity.
The creators of the modern approaches to nationality, which made them
a self-consistent theoretical system, prepared basis for the political
Zionism and folkism. Among others:
Mojzesz Hess (1812-1875) the author of the book "Rome and Jerusalem",
whose main argument is that Jews cannot be satisfied any longer with a
status of a religious category or a group, since they are a separate
nation which for 2000 years resisted the assimilation.
Perets Smolenskin (1842-1885) one of the most prominent animator of
Jewish Enlightment movement - Haskalah in the 2nd half of XIX century in
Russia. He was stressing in his many publications that emancipation of
Jews from their indolence, ignorance, and religious fanatism, can only be
done by awakening of Jewish national awareness.
Leon Pinskier (1821-1894) in his work "Auto-emancipation" (1882) calls
the Jewry -- especially the Russian one -- to gather all its forces to
awake the national awareness and accept the rule that only by the united
initiative of political "auto-liberation" the Jewry will develop all the
national virtues. The condition for this to happen, especially for the
unassimilated eastern Jewry (mostly in Russia and Russian partition of
Poland) is getting the place in the world, where it could form its
"own homeland", even if it was not a Palestine.
Aszer Ginsburg (1865-1929), known under the alias of Achad-Haam, was
stressing that the Jewish problem does not stem from the poverty of masses,
but comes from the spiritual/moral crisis which accumulated through
centuries. For this reason, it is necessary to recall the spiritual
essence of Jewry, which by unifying past and future will be able to
create Jewish national ideals. Its spiritual center should be Palestine,
which will radiate to the whole diaspora, and will unify the Jewish
nation in Judaism, as the best antidote to assimilation.
Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) in his programme of global solution of Jewish
question published in the brochure "Jewish State" (1896) creates the
political Zionism. It derives itself from the messianism, supports the
spiritual and moral forms of the renaissance of Jewish national awareness and
resists assimilation. He postulates the decisive fight for restitution
of Jewish state in Palestine for all Jews for whom continuing
socio-economic life in diaspora is unbearable.
Szymon Dubnow, historian, creates the theory of "folkism" (called also
"autonomism") contemporarily to the ideas/organization of political
Zionism. He is influenced by political teaching of Otto Bauer and Karol
Renner on rights of minorities to cultural/national autonomy in the
Hapsburg Imperium.
The main ideological controversy between folkism and zionism is the solution
of Jewish question in diaspora. Zionism sees it as historical right of Jews
to restore the sovereign Jewish state in Palestine. Folkism on the other
hand states that Jewish nation is a "concrete and autochthonous fact" in
diaspora, based on the specific socio-economic way of existence and
culturo-religious character. The Jews should not therefore look for their
future in elusive beliefs in restitution of Jewish state in Palestine.
Even if it was created, it will not be able to absorb all the Jews from
diaspora. The general conclusion of folkism is that the Jewish future
is in the countries where they currently live, and Jews should fight for
the full and real equal citizen rights, and the right to cultural,
national, and personal autonomy. Anti-Zionist folkism was like the
Zionism consequently against assimilation practices, stating that to be
a member of some nation, one needs to be born as a national, not become
a national.
As a result of indoctrination of Jewish masses with the above currents,
the Eastern and Central European Jewry, especially in the lands of partitioned
Poland, was split on the break of XIX and XX century into 3 main
socio-political orientations:
I. Largest -- orthodox religion (thalmudists and Hasidism) whose leaders,
Rabbi and Cadycks wanted an exclusive authority over Jewish population,
giving priority to religious, custom, educational/talmudic over the
nationality matters.
II. Jewish nationalism: Zionism and folkism, which were divided as to the
goals, but joined by the antiassimilationism
III. separatist Jewish worker class movement in two forms: pro-Palestinian
poaleizionism, and anti-Zionism bundism.
All these currents were against assimilation, and against antisemitism.
They were divided by the tactics in achieving national, religious, and
statehood goals.
The situation before WW I and the conditions of the regimes occupying
Poland were favorable neither to forming the Palestinian state nor achieving
the full and real equality. Acute, economic aspect of Jewish status at this
time was alleviated by partial emigration of Jews from the North-East
portion of Russian partition of Poland and from Galicia, to the countries of
New World, mainly America [footnote: according to the data from the Emigration
Committee at The Council for Studying Economic Needs of Jewish Population
in Poland -- May 1936, during 1900-1914 about 68 thousands Jews emigrated
from Poland yearly, least from Congress Kingdom, most from Galicia and
Eastern districts -- Archive of New Files, Ministry of Interior, folder 1086].
In this situation, it may be assumed that the Polish ideas of this period
concerning the solution of Jewish question did not have much chance of
being more than speculations, polemic discussions, or contradictory and
sometimes utopian projects. For a number of years these ideas were
coming from the Polish intelligentsia, its many socio-political camps. Short
sketch of these concepts can be presented on the basis of the article
of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauza published in the socialist journal "Krytyka"
in 1904 -- it is an example of rare objectivity on the Jewish issues
in these times [footnote: K. Kelles-Krauz, W kwestii zydowskiej, Pisma
Wybrane, TII, Warszawa 1962, p. 318-341]:
Clerical-conservative camp -- proposed: either Jews will reject their
religion and separate nationality for total assimilation, and will move
their unproductive mass to work in agriculture, or "get out of Poland".
National-democratic camp (nationalists) -- was sceptical as to the
possibility of polonization of such a large mass of Jews [footnote: the
leader of National-Democrats, Roman Dmowski, expressed this scepticism
in 1903: "The national body should aim at incorporating only this which
can be assimilated and turned into more growth of the unified body. The
Jews are not such a element. They have too distinct and too crystallized
individuality through tens of centuries of civilized life, and they
cannot be assimilated in a large number by our young nation which is
only now forming its character. They would rather be able to assimilate
our majority spiritually and in part physically. (R. Dmowski, Mysli
nowoczesnego Polaka, Londyn, 1953, p. 91)]. Moreover, the traditional
religious Jewish separatism was amplified by the new nationalistic trend,
the Zionist. In this situation, the slogans about the dangers to Polish
national interests were used, and the only workable solution was stimulating
Jewish emigration from Polish soil, with (among others) economic boycott,
to enlarge economic position of "Polish element".
Organicists and socialists -- as summarized by K. Kelles-Krauz -- looked
for the cure for the Jewish question in the fact that the development of
capitalist relations in production will differentiate into classes and
professions the Jewish, as well as the Christian society, and eliminate
medieval biases with rising knowledge and education. This epoch allows
to assume: "... It will steadily undermine the barrier between Poles
born in Christianity, and Poles coming from the parents of Jewish faith,
and finally the barrier will disappear and they will polonize and
will be dissolved in our nation, similarly as other foreign element
came to us, for example the towns-people and colonists from Germany
[K. Jelles-Krauz, op.cit. p. 322].
K. Kelles-Krauz, who was one of the leading theorists of Polish Socialist
Party, stated that in a situation when "neither total emigration of Jews
from Poland is not possible, nor the total assimilation possible", the Jews
should be equated in a brotherly fashion, and their national minority rights
accepted. In his article, he skips the position of Socjaldemokracja
Krolestwa Polskiego i Litwy [Social-Democracy of Congress Kingdom and
Lithuania] towards Jewish question, but from the history of Polish workers
movement, it is known, that SDKPiL equally condemned and opposed the
antisemitism and Jewish nationalism. It did not have, however, any specific
plan for solving Jewish questions, assuming, as in the position of
"luxemburgism" of this period that the coming victorious proletariat
revolution will automatically liquidate all national questions in the world
[footnote: the position of Jewish question on Polish lands before WWI is
most fully described in the work of Julian Marchlewski -- Antisemitism
and workers, Warszawa, 1913].
p. 30 Chapter: In the Second Republic
The Fight for "The State within the State".
After end of WWI, Zionist had influential offices in main European countries
and the US. Historic "Balfour Declaration" of Nov. 2, 1917 which gave the
Jews the right to "National Seat" in Palestine, enlarged and enforced the
political Zionist in the diaspora. From this moment, the Zionist is joined
by Jewish plutocracy from Western Europe and America. The incoming members
frequently held important posts in government spheres in countries deciding
at the Peace Conference in Paris. In this period, the World Zionist
Organization claimed that it has a million members (excluding Soviet Russia),
while their number in 1914 was only 130 thousands [J. Zineman, History of
Zionism, Warszawa, 1946, p. 279].
However, the more realistic Zionists leaders knew that even in the best
situation, it is not possible in the short time (and maybe ever) to gather
3-4 million Jews in the Palestine (the total number of Jews in the whole
world was at that time estimated to be more than 10 millions). And therefore,
as was stated by folkists and Jewish Bund, the problem of majority of Jews
forced to stay in the countries of diaspora will persist.
In this situation, the world leadership of Zionists movement was trying to
gain a ideo-political hegemony in the whole national Jewish movement. For
this reason, in October 1918, the "Copenhagen Manifest" was proclaimed. It
contained three basic postulates of political Zionist, and was aimed at
the government of countries with larger Jewish populations:
1. Acceptance of Palestine as the "Jewish National Seat"
2. Real and constitutional equality of Jews in all countries
3. Granting the cultural, social, and political autonomy for Jewish
population in the diaspora countries [J. Zineman, History of Zionism].
The above manifest got the support of the Congress of American Jews in 1918.
Immediately after this conference, on the initiative of European and
American Zionists, the "Jewish National Councils" are formed in all larger
Jewish settlements, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. These
Councils, together with the Congress of American Jews, elect the "Committee
of Jewish Delegations to the Peace Conference in Paris". The goal of the
Committee is to impose, especially on Poland, the treaty guarantees of
the realization of postulates of the Copenhagen Manifest.
In parallel with this action, the Zionists in Poland activate in Poland
all socio-political orientations of Polish Jews to force the institutional
guarantee, first of all, of the third postulate of the manifest. The methods
and forms of this fight, did not contribute to forming and deepening of
friendly relations between Jews and Poles from the first days of 2nd Republic.
From the first days of the Polish independence, the major sectors of Polish
Jewry which were established earlier, i.e.: orthodox, zionism and folkism,
and separatist workers movement, try to represent before new government the
political parties and coalition. The leaders of these parties, as being
de facto representation of Jewish minority in Poland met with Josef
Pilsudski in the Versailles Kronenberg Palace on Nov 12, 1918.
"The representatives of Jewish parties were presenting the program and
political declarations before the Commandant Josef Pilsudski. The
personal and cultural autonomy was presented as a main postulate. As to
their relation to Polish State, all Jewish parties presented their
positions either in political declaration to Polish administration, or
in party resolutions. All of them confirmed that they accept Free and
United Republic [L. Halpern -- Polityka zydowska w Sejmie i Senacie RP
1919-1933, Warszawa, 1933].
At this moment it should be reminded and stressed that Jews were also
fighting for independent and united Polish state in Pilsudski's Legions.
The studies of this historical period show, that among 12 thousands of
legionnaires, who were a part of I and II Brigade (Aug. 1914 -- Sep. 1916),
3-4% were Polish Jews, mainly the young people from the polonizing families
in Malopolska, and soldiers coming from Austrian army, as, e.g., Dr Adolf
Sternhauss. As a civilian he was a Councillor of the General Attorney Office
in Lviv, and lieutenant in the army, he declined Austrian officer rank, and
as a private died in the battle under Kamieniecka in 1915. His heroic death
was later commemorated by J. Kaden-Bandrowski in the book Mogila [Grave].
The Jews from the Russian partition also fought and died in the Legions,
e.g., posthumously decorated with the medal of Virtuti Militari:
Motel Lewinson -- son of small trader from Lublin, Sargent. His commanders
testified that "he surprised everybody and total devotion to the
struggle for Polish independence; killed in action -- Oct. 25, 1915.
Lieutenant Bronoslaw Manspral, aka "Chaber" [Cornflower] from Warsaw.
Killed in action in Kukly in 1915. J. Kaden-Bandrowski dedicated a
a piece "Chaber" to his prowess and heroic death in the struggle for
independent Poland [see: Z. Urbanski -- Mniejszosci narodowe w Polsce,
Warszawa, 1932, p. 232].
The declaration of Jewish leaders for Pilsudski which was cited before
in this chapter, may be possibly considered as an act of the separation
of parties and associations represented by them from the anti-polish
stance manifested by Jewish nationalists in this crucial time -- the
possibility of restoration of independent Poland. Below are the short
examples of anti-polish attitudes and demands:
"Yevreyskaia Zhizn" -- the organ of "Litvaks" -- in an issue of Nov. 22,
1915 did not conceal that it is difficult to imagine "... greater
ill fortune for Jews in whole Europe than uncontrolled Polish economy (...).
We accept the principle of self-determination of nations, but the
Poland's independence would be the most vivid violations of this idea,
which we experienced looking at the economy of Galicia, in Russia, and
even outside Poland. Only due to foreign administration and other
nationalities there will be a guarantee that Polish "autonomy" is not
dangerous...
Other newspaper of Jewish nationals, "Lecte Najer" [Latest News] of Vilno
in June of 1918, i.e., after historic declaration of Lenin about a positive
attitude of soviet government toward independent Poland, wrote to persuade
disoriented Jewish masses: "... if there was a mention about changing
the border, we could accept any solution, except the Polish one".
The Jewish nationalism in Western Europe and America exhibited similar
hostile attitude toward the possibility of creation of independent Poland.
Evidence for this was cited by Polish and Jewish deputies during sessions
of the 1st Sejm Ustawodawczy of Polish Republic [Legislative Parliament] in
the mid 1919. E.g., Jewish Deputy, Hauser, speaking from the Sejm tribune
in Feb. 26, 1915 said that when he visited USA in 1915, he could not see
a single Jewish newspaper and a single column in any Jewish daily which
would not slander the Polish nation. Deputy Dabski on May 23 was quoting
in his Sejm speech an appeal of Dutch Zionists printed on April 28, 1918
in "Joodsche Wachter": "And to Thee, the governors of all countries of
the world we demand: (...) guard the Israel, and prevent the greatest
disaster which can touch our nation in 20th century; do not allow formation
of independent Poland at the cost of destruction of Jewry."
The most complete political-programmatic declaration, expanding on the
postulates of folkists and ortodox Jews, and containing the enlarged
interpretation of the Copenhagen Manifest was presented to J. Pilsudski
on Nov. 12, 1918 by Izaak Gruenbaum -- a leader of Zionist Organization in
Poland. In this -- as it was later called by historians studying Zionism --
"first authoritative document of Jewish politics in independent Poland we
read among other the following:
"Zionist Party, which sees the solution of world's Jewish problem in the
restitution of national center in Palestine, which was agreed upon by
the powers of Entente, and against which no other powers were protesting;
the Zionist Party which aims at organizing Jewish life in the countries
where Jews are living in large bodies on the principles of national
self-government -- repeats again solemnly (...) that it is ready to
collaborate in the restitution of Republic (...) on the principle of
Independent and United Poland. Accepting that there is an immediate need of
formation of people's government and calling for the session of
Constitutional Assembly, we want to see democratic reforms in Jewish
life (...). We want that Jewish life is built on the principle of
local people's communes (gmina ludowa) which would be in charge of all
specific Jewish needs (...). The will of Jewish nation as to organizing
Jewish life in the Republic should be made known. For this reason, the
Jewish National Congress should be called, for which the delegates should
be elected by the whole adult Jewish population without difference of sex,
on the basis of 5-adjective election. This Congress would prepare the
project of the future Jewish Constitution. This Constitution will be
presented to the Constitutional Assembly (Sejm) for approval.
Even before this Congress, the State Secretariat for Jewish National
Affairs should be formed which should create the Temporary Jewish National
Council formed by the representatives from political Jewish parties.
The President of this Council should be a State Secretary for Jewish
National Affairs. [L. Halpern - Polityka zydowska w Sejmie i Senacie RP
1919-1933, Warszawa, 1933].
As we can see, the Zionist political-programmatic declaration, beside the
3 postulates of Copenhagen Manifest, contains already concrete
propositions as to what central institutions should safeguard the
Jewish national/cultural and personal autonomy in the restored Poland.
In other words, in the independent country, there should be a separate
government of Jewish minority, State Secretariat, which will act based on
the separatist Jewish Constitution. Such an institution was never and
nowhere known to Jewish diaspora.
Several weeks later, on Feb. 18, 1919, Prime Minister of Republic of Poland,
Ignacy Paderewski, presented an official position of the government at
a special conference with the leading representatives of Polish Jewry
organized in the Hotel Bristol in Warsaw. Among others, he stated
categorically that his personal, as well as the Government of Polish
Republic opinion is that "Jews in Poland should enjoy the equal rights
as in United Kingdom or America", i.e., without special privileges of the
kind of national-personal autonomy. However -- the prime minister assured --
all questions of the public and legal status of Jewish minority in Poland
will be resolved in the future Constitution of Polish Republic without
any interference of any foreign factors from abroad.
The representatives of the Jewish party forum qualified this position
of the prime minister of Polish government as: "the war declaration against
Jewish national movement, which it will espouse in the defense of its
interests", as stated in the protocols of he meeting with Ignacy
Paderewski.
"The Great Jewish Debate" -- called so by the contemporary political
observers -- the discussion in the Legislative Parliament [Sejm Ustawodawczy]
on Feb. 24-25, 1919 initiated by Jewish deputies in the name of Zionist,
folkist, and orthodox electorate. Deputy Izaak Gruenbaum, representing
the Zionist Organization, repeated the political-programmatic declaration
which was cited before. The leader of folkists, Noach Prylucki, ignoring
the pro-Palestinian position of Gruenbaum, also demanded that the Parliament
of PR [Sejm of RP] grants the national-cultural and personal autonomy
to the Jews of Poland with the head organ which would supervise all
"secular Jewish communes". Deputy representing the orthodoxy, Rabbi
Perelmuter declared that though the religious Jews also "support the
Jewish nationality", their priority, however, are religious-traditional
affairs, and because of this, they demand the religious/cultural
autonomy within religious communes directed by the "Jewish juridical
and national head religious organ."
Therefore, beside of some differences, the orthodox Rabbi Peremuter, the
Zionist Gruenbaum, and the folkist Pryluckis somehow agreeably fitted
within the framework of Copenhagen Manifest. This type of agreement
was judged and called by Polish deputies as the inadmissible attempt of
of creating "state within a state". And therefore, Polish parliamentary
majority adopted the position analogous to that of prime minister Paderewski
that only only constitutional equality of Jews in Poland may be considered.
This was received by Jewish nationalists as "threat to national Jewish
interests".
Characteristic is the speech of he deputy Wojciech Korfanty during
"Jewish Debate". The shorthand notes from the 6th session of
the Sejm (Feb. 25, 1919) record that deputy Wojciech Korfanty received
wide approbate when he stated: "The whole nation's position is that the
same rights which Jews have in America, England, and France, they should
have also in our country (...). But they want to form in our nation
a state within a state, they want more rights that the rest of citizenry,
and they use for this purpose the principle of national minority. I want
to point your attention to the fact that in Westfalia and Nadrenia, there
are half a million of our Poles who live there permanently. Did ever
Polish nation through its representatives in German Parliament demanded
that Westfalia and Nadrenia be designated as countries with two nations?
Did it ever demanded special rights for Poles? Gentlemen, about a million
Jews lives in New York, if not more --- is New York a American-Jewish town?
Did your coreligionists from New York formulated the case in such a way
that they need to have there some privileges, some right of national
minorities, some autonomy? Therefore (...) more privileges than Polish
citizen -- under no condition!...
There was also another side to this "Jewish Debate" in the 1st half of 1919.
International press (mainly of of Zionists affiliation) of Jewish nationalists
wanting to provide arguments for the Committee of Jewish Delegates to
the Peace Conference in Paris which would justify the necessity of granting
special privileges to Jews in Poland, wilfully, and sometimes quite
perfidly, exaggerated all excesses resulting from the after-war turmoil
in which the victims were Jews and Poles alike, especially in south-eastern
regions of the country. The most well known is the "Lviv Pogrom". What
one can find from the contemporary reliable sources is given below:
During the night of Nov. 21/22, 1918, after 3 weeks of bloody fights,
the troops of Ukrainian nationalists of Attaman Petlura were forced by
Poles to retreat from the town. Until the Polish garrison was reinforced
for a few days there was an anarchy and lawlessness in Lviv. In this
situation some portion of the population fell the victim to plunder, rape,
and killing. The perpetrators were usually the deserters and marauders from
Russian and Austrian army, and the criminals freed from the prisons.
During these excesses, the Polish Army and self-defense units summary executed
tens of bandits. But the columns of Zionist press abroad were not filled
with these facts. Using the biased sources [footnote: In Feb. 1919, it was
a famous affair of memorial sent abroad by Dr. T. Askenazy with a biased
description and statistics of "Lviv Pogrom". Ilustrowany Kurier Polski
no. 46, Feb. 17, 1919, reported that the head of press office of Polish
Embassy in Vienna, Emmanuel Parnas, tendentiously fed the Vienna press
from untested information from Jewish Warsaw newspaper Hajnt (Zionist)
and Der Moment (Folkist). See also the speech of deputy Bardel from 14th
session of Sejm -- shorthand notes March 14, 1919] the casualties and losses
were intentionally exaggerated for the Jewish population in Lviv Pogrom.
E.g., Vienner "Der Abend" cited the number of 3000 Jews killed, and the
records of Jewish religious commune examined later showed that in the
period of Nov. 1, to Dec. 20, 1918, total number of individuals of Jewish
faith who died of natural and violent causes was 68 [Czas, nr. 6,
Jan. 6, 1919].
Disgusted with antypolish libel on the theme of "Lviv Pogrom" the deputy
Dr. Bernard Hausner from the ranks of religious-Zionist "Mizarachii" took
the floor during 7th session of Sejm on Feb. 26, 1919: "I have to say with
regret that (...) Zionist colleagues took the path of, say, disloyalty and
did not wait for the results of committee and investigation. They did not
wait for the numbers and facts and generalized accusations to the whole
Polish society. (...) You say gentlemen that (...) 50 houses were burned,
that a great number of stores were demolished, but were only the Jewish stores
demolished? In daylight the shops were looted, and I myself saw when
the catholic store of Stark on the St. Mary Plaza in Lviv was demolished.
When you gave the number of 350 killed (...) I found myself that in fact
there were 60 killed (...). If you say that there was no protest, then
listen to me. Immediately after pogrom, on the huge people gathering
it was decided to organize the workers who went together with the militia
to defend the possessions and life of Jews. These are the facts from which
you make a horrible weapon against Poles."
Other, non-Jewish deputies were quoting smaller or larger fragments from
Jewish newspapers which were deceiving world public opinion that "Lviv
Pogrom" is a symptom of "zoologic antisemitism" of Polish population
and chauvinism of polish government, rather than after-war demoralization
which feeds murderous and criminogenic elements. Some softening of the
antypolish campaign in European Jewish press was observed after the
December 1918 statement in French Parliament by Foreign Minister Pichon
who concluded that: "among the antisemitic perpetrators during events in
Lviv, the majority were the masses of German and Russian POWs moving through
Poland, and the reason was the Polish-Ukrainian war [Czas, nr 532,
Dec. 15, 1918].
The antypolish campaign of Jewish nationalists in USA did not slow down
however, but increased. The evidence of this was presented among others
by Dr. Karol Rostanski, who at this period was a well known Polonia
activist in Washington. His personal observations and experiences,
supported by the wide variety of quotations from American press, may be
considered as documents in respect of methods, contents, and aims of
antypolish actions.
Most of all, Dr. K. Rostanski concludes that many different Jewish
organizations, mostly Zionist and pro-German, and others inspired by
them, were using press libel. The most distinctive was the Hearts'
syndicate known from its pro-German orientation during World War I.
The Jewish newspapers: "Sentinel" and "Daily Jewish Courier", in practically
every article, represented Jews in Poland as the population which is
subjected to rape, plunder, and killings every day. They also used the
naivete of American public coming from the limited knowledge of the
local geography, which Jewish press was quoting as Polish. For example, the
Black-Hundred (czarnosecinski) pogrom of 2500 Jews in Homle was presented
as a fact committed by Poles in Polish town. The repulsive provocations
went even so far that in "Herald" of May 26, 1919, the illustrated article
from "special Polish correspondent", Hersz Berenstein, entitled: "Pogroms
of Jews in Poland" was published. Dr. K. Rostanski writes about this article:
The photographs which represented some killed and wounded were described
as "pogrom victims", but the photographs were the copies of the pogrom
in Kishiniov from 1903, as we searched and proved beyond any doubt.
Americans read, looked, and were revolted since they did not know that
pogroms in Kishiniov were ordered by Russian Black-Hundreds, that they
did not take place in Poland, and they occurred many years before the
World War! They thought that it was happening in Poland recently, that
Poles killed so many Jews there, that their bodies did not cool down yet,
and that the fires are still burning from these Polish cruelties and crimes.
This was the opinion of general public which did not know the case.
[K. Rostanski -- Polonii w Ameryce z Zydami sprawa w dobie odbudowy
Panstwa Polskiego, Warszawa, 1925, p. 59].
There was -- stresses Dr. K. Rostanski -- a favorable press for Poland.
The papers like democratic Times or republican Post, and mainly the Henry
Ford organ, "Dearborn Independent", often printed Polish articles,
authorized statements, and interviews with a number of statesmen, e.g.,
with Ignacy Paderewski, and American legate in Warsaw, Gibson. Gibson on
many occasions in press releases and personal public addresses stressed that
while various excesses arising from the war situation take place in Poland
in which both Poles and Jews are killed, but it does not have anything to
do with "pogroms". The statement of Prod. Dr. W. Muttermilch, the Jewish
scientist from Poland, proponent of assimilation had an important impact on
improving pro-Polish atmosphere. Its fragment cited by K. Rostanski follows:
The "pogrom" campaign was orchestrated and used against Poland to gain
some influence on the participants of Peace Conference. Jews want from
Poland national and political concessions -- this is not therefore a
religious affair, since Poland never restricted religious denominations.
Jews want to form their own strong party, national one, which demands
not only the separate schools, courts, and communes, but would like to have
its own parliament, that is, to form a "state within a state" [In: Rostanski,
cited above].
The antypolish campaign lessen only after publication of the report of
Morgentau Commission, which, on the order of US Senate was studying in Poland
the charges about alleged pogroms of Jews. It concluded that indeed, some
isolated excesses took place, but "only happened as an effect of war
conditions". The whole antypolish phase is ended by the Treaty on the
Protection of National Minorities (called a Small Versailles Treaty) which
was signed on June 28, 1919 "between Major Powers Allied with Poland".
Beside very strong pressures from the Jewish Committee of Delegates to
Peace Conference in Paris, it failed to impose the aforementioned institutional
forms of "state in the state" in Poland.
The "Minority Treaty" obligated Poland, however, (Art. 10 and 11) to
preserving and subsidizing Jewish education and respecting the Sabbath
(Saturday) as a holiday of Jewish population. For example, on Saturday,
the religious Jews was not obligated to report to the courts or other
administrative organs, as well as, to participate in elections, etc.
The citizen equal rights for Jewish national minority was formally
guaranteed in two Constitutions (1921 and 1935), in which the articles
10 and 11 from "Minority Treaty were included.
At the end, this "strange war" for "state within a state" resulted in the
fact that in the whole twenty years between the wars nobody could form any
central institution which would be formally considered as a legal
representation of the general interests of the whole Jewish minority
before the primary organs of the Polish State. The public and legal status
was only granted to religious communes as the units of local religious
(but not national) self-government, but there was not central Jewish
leadership. The government projects of the law considering the Central
Jewish Religious Council were never introduced.
Government social and political supervision over Khahals (the Councils of
Jewish Communes) were exercised by Stariosties (Counties) and Magistrates.
The religious affairs and Jewish education was supervised and coordinated
by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education. In such
a situation, the role of general representation of Jewish interests before
the government was fulfilled to some extent the Jewish Club of Deputies
in Polish Sejm and Senate. It included from 10 (in Legislative Sejm) to
47 deputies and senators during 1922-1927 term, and 10 -- 6 in the last
terms before the war. These were usually members of party leadership, mainly
Zionist and Aguda.
=========================
Now, my short comments. While for most Jews the causes of Polish Anti-Semitism
are simple: "They just sucked this with the mother's milk", and the only
problem is if this is "nature" (genetic) or "nurture" (environmental), the
case is more complicated than that. It is also sad that Jews during their
long history were usually unable to detect their true enemies. Looking at
the current popular opinions it seems that the lessons of Holocaust are
mostly lost, especially for the well fed and safe (?) American Jews. Pity...
Of course, I will hear an outcry about "carefully selected material" and
biased opinions. OK... If those are not facts, then prove them wrong...
Good luck... By the way, I am a filosemite, so do not start from calling me
a Jew-hater. I realize, that a definition of antisemite is: "A non-Jewish
person who talks about Jews." And I am quite comfortable with this definition.
Jan Labanowski
j...@osc.edu
Misha Verbitsky
Michael Kagalenko <mkag...@lynx.dac.neu.edu> wrote:
>Simcha Streltsov (sim...@bu.edu) wrote:
>]Jan K Labanowski (jlab...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote:
>]Thanks for interesting materials.
>]One side of the issue is probably clear:
>]that Rusian empire was using all opportunities to
>]"divide et impera", and that a number of russified Jews were
>]part of that game - directed not only against Poles, but also
>]against Jews - in Poland and other parts of the empire.
> So, Russians are to blame for Polish anti-Jewish feelings, the
> logic goes. Is there anything bad that Streltsov does not consider Russians
> responsible for ?
> This mentality reminds me of the people who believe that 13 rabbis rule
> the world in secret.
Please don't smear the people who believe that 13 rabbis rule
the world in secret by comparing them with this Turko-Okrainian
anti-Semitic hnyda. There are only a few people who believe that 13
rabbis rule the world in secret, and they are relatively harmless
and vastly amusing (count me among these people, by the way, with
13 rabbies replaced by 9 boddhisatvas of various
confessions who don't let this world to disappear as
long as we keep them amused). There is a _countless
_crowd of rootless boring racist smerdiakoid imbeciles
like Streltsov, Alexplore, Borjka, etc., who make the
situation worse for all of us.
Misha.
We think that in view of the impending end there is very little hope for
any of you. It is suggested that in view of this approaching situation,
that all of you start considering the methods of survival and victory
over those who threaten you. If you love, love selectively or not at all.
Are those recipients of your affection worthy of it? Are they using you?
Are they your crutch? That which is falling should also be pushed. That
which is crawling should also be crushed. There is no hiding from the
blackbird... Which side are you on? It doesn't matter if they're big or
small. There is only one answer - kill them all.
-- David Tibet