Poznański syjonizm i rewolucje. Działalność Żydowskiej Rady Ludowej w relacji Maxa Kollenschera
Poznań Zionism and Revolutions. The Activities of the Jewish People’s Council as Reported by Max Kollenscher

Summary/Abstract: The end of World War I and the first months of the evolution of a new socio-political order in Poznań and Greater Poland proved to be the beginning of the end of the world in which they used to live for some, while for others it was a historical moment of materialization of national aspirations. In the revolutionary days of November 1918 the Poznań Zionists managed to formulate an initiative aimed at representing the interests and protecting the rights of the local Jews. In the subsequent months, the Jüdischer Volksrat, or Jewish People’s Council, became a key organizational force of the local community, thus overshadowing the official powers of the community controlled by the liberals. Its program, which assumed awarding full „personal and national” equal rights to Jews by guaranteeing them the status of an ethnic minority, was articulated already in the earliest manifestos.In particular, it emphasized the need for an autonomous Jewish self-government. A key role in devising the strategy of action of the organization was played by Max Kollenscher, the spiritus movens of the local Zionist movement. He was not only an efficient politician and organizer but also a keen observer. His reminiscences of the „German-Polish transition period” are full of valuable details that contribute to the knowledge of the times when global geopolitical solutions brutally clashed with national aspirations of the three ethnic groups living in the Poznań region.

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