Korespondencja Zofii Ameisenowej z Gershomem Scholemem jako przyczynek do badań nad frankizmem
Correspondence between Zofia Ameisenowa and Gershom Scholem as Contribution to Studies on Frankism.

Summary/Abstract: While preparing his monographic study on Sabataj Cwi, Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) conducted extensive research, querying libraries and archives in a number of countries. He did not neglect to also include Polish resources. His research in Poland was facilitated in particular by Zofia Ameisenowa (1897–1967), a professor and curator of the manuscript collection at the Jagiellonian Library. The archive of her legacy was recently found to hold her previously unknown correspondence with Gershom Scholem dating back to the period of 1954–1959 which, complemented by Ameisenowa’s letters preserved at the National Library in Israel, provided the source material for the presented article. As discussed in the text, said letters shed a new light on the particular research interests of Scholem, who, at the time the letters were written, simultaneously worked on the book about Sabataj Cwi and already researched his subsequent publication on Jakub Frank and the Frankist movement. The correspondence informs us of Zofia Ameisenowa’s key role in discovering the manuscripts of Księga Słów Pańskich [Book of the Words of the God] at the Jagiellonian Library, which provided a crucial contribution to subsequent research on Frankism. At the same time, Zofia Ameisenowa reveals her own interest in medieval Jewish spirituality and describes difficulties faced when attempting this type of research in Poland. Interesting details are also provided regarding the circumstances of Gershom Scholem’s visit to Poland in 1959. The correspondence cited in the article is an important testament to not only the research relationship between Ameisenowa and Scholem, but also contacts maintained between Scholem and Israeli scholars on the one hand, and scientific circles in socialist Poland on the other.

• Details
• Contents