Żydofilka. Eliza Orzeszkowa w ujęciu antysemickiej „Roli”
A Jew-Lover: Eliza Orzeszkowa as Portrayed by the Antisemitic Rola

Summary/Abstract: The antisemitic weekly Rola consistently opposed the Polish positivist milieu, particularly its support for the idea of assimilating Jews into Polish society. Among the authors most frequently attacked by Rola was Eliza Orzeszkowa, one of the most esteemed and influential Polish writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In her fiction and journalism, Orzeszkowa often—and generally favorably—addressed Jewish themes. For this reason, she was treated by Rola as an ideological adversary and a member of the progressive milieu whose actions were believed to jeopardize the foundations of Polish identity and contribute to the moral degradation of Polish society. Her works on Jewish issues were regarded by the weekly as outright betrayals of national interest. While her literary talent was not disputed, it was argued that Orzeszkowa misused it to harm her own community by portraying Jewish characters positively, showing understanding for their motivations, and even distorting reality by depicting them in an overly favorable light. Particularly irksome to Rola were Orzeszkowa’s connections with the circles of assimilated Polish Jews, which the weekly considered its most dangerous ideological adversary.

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