THE POLISH AND JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THE KIELCE DIOCESE Cover Image

SPOŁECZNOŚĆ KATOLICKA I ŻYDOWSKA W DIECEZJI KIELECKIEJ
THE POLISH AND JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THE KIELCE DIOCESE

CHALLENGES AND RISKS IN THE YEARS 1945-1947

Author(s): Tomasz Gocel
Subject(s): Local History / Microhistory, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949)
Published by: Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Kielcach
Keywords: Polish-Jewish relations;Kielce;

Summary/Abstract: The difficult Polish-Jewish relations in the years 1945-1947 in the Kielce region were influenced by Poland’s political and social situation immediately after the end of the World War 2. The article characterizes the risks and challenges which the Polishand Jewish communities faced in the first two years after the war. The awareness of immense demographic and material losses, the catastrophic living conditions, mass banditry and the struggle of the anti-communist underground resistance, both political and armed, against the new authorities, combined with the process of social reforms and the sense of insecurity they caused - were factors that worsened the morale of both the Polish and the Jewish citizens. Along with the strengthening of the new government, there was an animosity arising among some Poles against the Jewish minority. The source of this antipathy was mainly in the over-representation of the Jews on high positions within state authorities, their perceived and real privileges and the non-assimilation of the surviving Jews with the surroundings.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 15
  • Page Range: 185-198
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish