“Post-Jewish property” as a figure of Polish public discourse Cover Image

„Mienie pożydowskie” jako figura polskiego dyskursu publicznego
“Post-Jewish property” as a figure of Polish public discourse

Author(s): Piotr Forecki
Subject(s): History, Jewish studies, Recent History (1900 till today), History of Judaism, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), History of Antisemitism
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: Holocaust; antisemitism; discourse; Jewish property; ‘post-Jewish property’; WWII; remembrance

Summary/Abstract: The term “post-Jewish property” has a descriptive function in Polish. It is present in both colloquial speech and academic discourse. This specific collocation usually does not raise semantic suspicions and is considered a carrier of neutral content used to describe certain material assets, that is the property of Jews who were murdered by the Germans during the Holocaust, in particular – the real estate remaining in Poland, whose owners changed. The problem with the term “post-Jewish property” understood in this way is that it is based on false foundations and incorporates functions assigned to it in order to ensure the comfort of the Polish national community. The key objective of this paper is to deconstruct this highly convenient and useful conceptual collocation, indicate its origin and, primarily, to answer the question of what it tries to erase/conceal.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 75-90
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Polish