Akcja „Reinhardt” w świetle najnowszej niemieckiej literatury przedmiotu

Author(s): Stephan Lehnstaedt / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 13/2017

Akcja „Reinhardt” to niemieckim określenie maskujące, za którym kryje się wymordowanie w latach 1942–1943 co najmniej 1,8 mln Żydów w obozach zagłady w Bełżcu, Sobiborze i Treblince. Spośród Żydów skierowanych do tych obozów przeżyło mniej niż 150 osób. Dwie z nich to ocaleni z Bełżca, pozostali zaś mniej więcej po połowie przeszli przez obozy zagłady w Sobiborze i Treblince. Prawie wszyscy wyjechali po wojnie z Polski – do Izraela albo do Stanów Zjednoczonych.

Alexandra Klei und Katrin Stoll (Hrsg.): Leerstelle(n)? Der deutsche Vernichtungskrieg 1941–1944 und die Vergegenwärtigung des Geschehens nach 1989

Author(s): Daniel Logemann / Language(s): German / Issue: 4/2020

Review of: Daniel Logemann - Leerstelle(n)? Der deutsche Vernichtungskrieg 1941–1944 und die Vergegenwärtigung des Geschehens nach 1989. Hrsg. von Alexandra Klei und Katrin Stoll. Neofelis Verlag. Berlin 2019. 266 S., Ill. ISBN 978-3-95808-227-4. (€ 25,–.)

Amikor antiszemita eszmék és zsidó törvények találkoznak. Magyarország esete

Author(s): Jehuda Hartman / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2018

An Affective Art History

Author(s): Luiza Nader / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2015

An Essay on Archival Sources to Study the Soviet Army’s Response to the Holocaust

Author(s): Vojin Majstorovic / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

This essay reflects on the sources that are available for the study of the Red Army’s encounter with the Holocaust. It discusses the accessibility of various archives in Russia and focusses on informational reports, a type of intelligence documents that the Soviet armed forces produced about the newly occupied territories.

An Immovable Property Restitution Legislation Database

ESLI'S Initiative to Bring Present and Future Meaning to the Terezin Declaration Commitments

Author(s): Kristen Nelson,Rajika L. Shah / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2015

The 2009 Terezin Declaration reflects the will of 47 nations to continue to enhance their efforts to right the wrongs committed against groups persecuted during World War II. These commitments are not only important with respect to bringing justice to those affected by persecution during the Holocaust, but also are important from the standpoint of transitional justice as now understood, including as a way of reducing the likelihood of future genocides or mass atrocities. The European Shoah Legacy Institute (ESLI) was established to monitor progress and advocate for the principles enshrined in the Terezin Declaration, in particular that of immovable (real) property restitution. ESLI’s latest project – the immovable property database initiative – will provide a much needed and long overdue dynamic tool for claimants, heirs, scholars, governments, NGOs – any stakeholder – to help navigate current property restitution issues by confronting the path through the past which brought us to current state of affairs.. When completed, the online database will be a user-friendly, public-access comparative repository of legislation and international and domestic case law (both past and present) from every country that has endorsed the Terezin Declaration. Using the online database to examine the often thorny and emotionally charged issue of heirless property, in particular, is emblematic of how the content can be used to drive the conversation for solutions forward and possibly give rise to intertwined policy-related questions.

An Open Secret? - The Dissemination and Reception of News about Auschwitz in Hungary in 1944

Author(s): Gergely Kunt / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

In this paper, I analyse diaries from 1944 to explore the extent to which ordinary Hungarian civilians were informed of the genocide of the Jewish population. The diaries indicate that information was sparse among the Hungarian population, and mainly obtained, directly or indirectly, from BBC radio broadcasts. The reactions of individual Christian and Jewish dia­rists varied according to the amount of credit they gave to the broadcasts or the rumours circulating within their social circles. However, both Jews and Christians tried not to give credit to the rumours as the idea of gas chambers and mass gassings was simply inconceiv­able to the majority of the examined diarists. Even Jewish diarists who had received news of the on­going genocide and feared for their lives thought it more likely that they would be executed by volley fire. For them, this method of mass murder posed a more realistic danger.

Anan ben Dawid jako islamizujący heretyk żydowski: o tym, jak raw Saadia Gaon stworzył mit fundacyjny karaizmu

Author(s): Marzena Zawanowska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2018

The paper explores the recently reconstructed and edited polemical work Kitab al-radd ʻala ʻAnan [The Book of Refutation against Anan] written in the early 10th c. CE by the allegedly “archfoe” of the Karaites, rav Saadia Gaon (d. 942). It focuses on the reconstruction of the story of Anan ben David (VIII c.), who with time begun to be considered the founding father of Karaism, and demonstrates that it was Saadia who created the basic myth of his lifestory. This myth was later on used not only by other rabbanite polemicists, but also appropriated by the Karaites. It includes several important elements, unknown from earlier sources, which constitute Saadia’s genuine contribution to the conceptualization of Karaism, its origins and nature. They are 1. Pinpointing Anan as the source of religious schism in medieval Judaism; 2. Historicization of Anan’s figure thanks to providing short description of his biography and psychological depiction of his character, including motives of his behavior; 3. Socio-political contextualization of his life and deeds; 4. Historical reconstruction of the development of heresy in Judaism, including the indication of common treats between the ancient sectarians (Sadducees) and Anan’s followers (Karaites); 5. Cultural rooting of Anan’s doctrine in its Islamic environment. All these elements have permanently entered the discourse on Karaism in Rabbanite and Karaite writings like. In addition, lack of other historical sources and/or symbols, the story created by Saadia was later on appropriated by the X-XI c. Karaites (i.e., Elijahu ben Abraham, Chiluq ha-Qaraim ve-ha-Rabbanim), who at the time desperately needed unifying myths, as the founding myth of their religion. It is therefore possible to conjecture that if not for the Babylonian geonim, who sought for the unification of Judaism and centralization of religious and political power in their own hands, and for polemical purposes first elevated Anan to the rank of a symbol (Rav Natronai Gaon) and then reconstructed his lifestory (Rav Saadia Gaon), it is not unlikely that he would not have been recognized by the Karaites as the founding father of their movement.

Anatomia donosu ks. Stanisława Trzeciaka na ks. Tadeusza Pudra

Author(s): Jan Grabowski,Dariusz Libionka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 13/2017

The materials presented in the article include documentation of the German Special Court (Sondergericht) in Warsaw proceedings against Tadeusz Puder, a Catholic priest of Jewish origin arrested by the Gestapo in the spring of 1941. His imprisonment was a consequence of a denunciation made by Fr. Stanisław Trzeciak, one of the leading Polish anti-Semites. Sentenced to several months in prison, Puder managed to escape from the prison hospital in autumn 1942 and survive in hiding. He died a few days after the liberation of Warsaw in a car accident. Despite the cooperation with the German security police, Trzeciak was among the victims of mass executions during the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. The introduction of the article presents a broader context of Trzeciak’s anti-Semitic activity and the reasons for his personal hatred for Puder, as well as unknown details of collaborative attempts in the first months of German occupation.

Anielski naród

Author(s): Miklós Szabó / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 03/2014

Some might say that there seems to be a rising tendency toward historical revisionism in Hungary. The term “revisionism” is used here to describe a negative process, a reinvention, a reinterpretation of historical events in a way that constitutes the denial of historical crimes. This would be an arguably objective statement, but on its own would also create a false certitude that we are facing a simple case of misinterpretation – something that can be addressed and solved by historians, the bearers of objective knowledge, a simple lie that shatters in the light of truth. If existence, as Heidegger claimed, “finds it’s meaning in temporality”, then we can assume that the present is in fact the history of itself, and all social phenomena are questions about the present, and therefore something that is naturally immune to the charms of historical facts. In this case, it can only be fully understood through an anthropological analysis, since historical facts are nonexistent, or at least irrelevant, from this perspective. If we also assume that we all live in “imagined communities”, and can analyze the “cultural stuff” that forms the basis of one’s national, ethnic, or any other group-related identity, then we can discard any observable social events, for it would be easier to label them simply as the product of mere stupidity or a misinterpretation of facts.This ternary can be understood through an analysis of recent Hungarian events, like the scandal concerning a statue presently under construction on Freedom Square (Budapest) that commemorates the Nazi invasion of 1944 and the rehabilitation of Miklós Horthy, the war-time leader of Hungary. The statue portrays Hungary as a victim of the Nazis, while more than 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz in the summer of 1944, with the active help of Hungarian officials. Nostalgia toward the 1930s goes hand-in-hand with increasing xenophobia and racism. These resent events can be, and are, criticized from a number of perspectives, without any effect, proving again that one should first understand an issue before addressing it.

Anikó Boros: Die Ermordung ungarischen Juden 1944 in Pusztavám

Author(s): John C. Swanson / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Review of: "Die Ermordung ungarischen Juden 1944 in Pusztavám. Zeugenschaft und Erinnerung im transnationalen Kontext.", Anikó Boros, (Studien zur Ostmitteleuropaforschung, Bd. 49.) Verlag Herder-Institut. Marburg 2020. VIII, 286 S., 11 Ill., 2 Kt. ISBN 978-3-87969-445-7.

Anti-Jewish excesses on Bulgarian territories of Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878

Author(s): Bartłomiej Rusin / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2016

The article concentrates on anti-Jewish excesses in the Bulgarian territories of the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The acts of violence against this group started at the very beginning of the war, when Russian and Cossack troops crossed the Danube and entered the city of Svishtov. Local Bulgarians joined the soldiers in the looting of the Jewish district. Several Jewish residents died. The anti-Jewish incidents occurred in several other towns (Stara Zagora and Kazanlak in particular), where local Jews were murdered and their houses were robbed and plundered. The prevailing atmosphere of chaos and fear of retaliation by retreating Turkish troops triggered the local Slavic population into committing crimes and murdering their Jewish neighbours, who were also accused sometimes of being Turkish spies. The only chance of survival for the local Jews was to flee into areas free from war, and many of them did so. It seems, however, that the atrocities did not influence considerably their attitude towards Bulgarians. In many cities, the local Jewry actually displayed great care for their neighbours, actively seeking to support and protect them. The participation of Bulgarians in the attacks belies the persistent idea of themselves being a traditionally tolerant nation, free of anti-Semitic sentiments. The Russian and Cossack troops also brought in a new variety of anti-Semitism, which previously was rather rooted in the local culture and folklore.

Anti-Jewish Rhetoric of Canon Law: Ecclesiastical Legislation and Jews in the 14th-Century Bohemian Lands

Author(s): Daniel Soukup / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

The paper investigates one of the aspects of anti-Jewish violence and rhetoric in the Late Middle Ages (14th century) which were based on the concept of rejection of Jews due to their theological guilt. According to ecclesiastical works, this guilt originated in Jews’ involvement in Christ’s death and was subsequently proved by the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and by their exile. The main interest of this study is based on how the canon law and ecclesiastical legislation of the new established Archbishopric of Prague at the time of Black Death persecutions shaped the perception of the medieval Jewish community in the Bohemian lands (e.g., clothing regulation, Jewish-Christian public and private relations, prohibitions of Christian servants, wet nurses and midwives in Jewish households, etc.). Rhetorical violence that created an ideological frame for the negative representation and portrayal of Jewish community in the pre-modern era is illustrated by articles concerning Jews from the Provincial Statutes of Archbishop Ernest of Pardubice (Statuta provincialia Arnesti, 1349). The first Archbishop of Prague drew from an extensive library of medieval canon law, compiling texts from basic legal handbooks and from his episcopal predecessors. The selection of legal teachings about Jews and the combination of this material in one unified whole represents not only the official position of the local church, but also an ambivalent yet still compact supplement to the policies of the King of Bohemia and later Emperor Charles IV concerning his Jewish subjects. The paper attempts to call into question the seeming dichotomy between the persecuting character of canon law and the protecting character of secular legislation.

Anti-Jewish Violence in Prague, 1744, through Contemporary Eyes:

The Testimony of Joseph Kirschner Shohet

Author(s): Iveta Cermanová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

The study focuses on the period of theWar of the Austrian Succession at the beginning of the reign of Maria Theresa, when Prague, the capital of Bohemia, was conquered and occupied twice. It summarizes the present state of knowledge in the specialist literature on the fate of Prague Jews at this time and on their alleged collaboration with the enemy, which became a pretext for two pogroms in 1744 and for the expulsion of the Jews from the Bohemian lands. It explores in detail the contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish sources on these events and presents a previously unknown narrative-biographical source in the form of an eye-witness account (family megillah) by Joseph Kirschner Shohet (1717–1766), which describes the author’s fate and the tragic experience of the second pogrom in Prague on 26–27 November 1744. The study contains a full transcription of Kirschner’s scroll from the Hebrew original and a translation of most of its text.

Antijüdische Provokationen - Amtsberichte zur politischen Radikalisierung in der ČSR am Vorabend des Zweiten Weltkriegs

Author(s): Miloslav Szabó / Language(s): German / Issue: 1/2016

In der Forschung gilt die Erste Tschechoslowakische Republik als eine Insel der Demokratie und ein Eiland religiöser wie ethnischer Toleranz, die von autoritären und antisemitischen Regimes umzingelt gewesen sei. Diese weitgehend positive Einschätzung jedoch gilt nur bedingt für die aus dem ungarischen Teil der Monarchie ausgeschiedene Slowakei, wo der Antisemitismus die politische Kultur tiefer als in den böhmischen Ländern geprägt hatte. Dennoch wird der slowakische Antisemi- tismus in der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik fast ausschließlich im Kontext der ‚neuen Judenfrage‘ in der zweiten Hälfte der 1930er-Jahre verortet und mit der Oppositionspolitik der Slowakischen Volkspartei Hlinkas (Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana, HSĽS) beziehungsweise der Anhängern der Faschistischen Volksgemeinschaft (Národní obec fašistická, NOF) in Verbindung gebracht. Inwiefern der Antisemitismus die sogenannten staatstragenden Parteien oder gar die Justiz und Staatsverwaltung in der Slowakei beeinflusste, wird hingegen nur selten thematisiert. Dies sticht vor allem angesichts der Tatsache ins Auge, dass es sich hierbei um entscheidende Faktoren der antisemitischen Radikalisierung nach der Ausrufung der slowakischen Autonomie im Herbst 1938 handelt.

Antisemitism and Catholicism in the Interwar Period - The Jesuits in Austria, 1918–1938

Author(s): David Lebovitch Dahl / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2016

The paper examines the attitudes of the Austrian Jesuits to antisemitism in the interwar period. This question is highly relevant for the study of antisemitism and the Holocaust, because of the strong influence of Catholicism within Austrian society and the prominent role played by Austrians in the Holocaust. The scientific literature has argued that the Austrian context was of central importance to the formation of both antisemitic and anti-antisemitic views among Catholics. However, the dynamics and internal nuances within high ecclesiastical circles have remained understudied. The present research indicates the permanence of an entrenched anti-Jewish tradition as well as the start of a novel reconsideration of this very tradition within the Jesuit Order in Austria. By analyzing tensions in the positions of the Austrian Jesuits, this research contributes to a better understanding of the continuity and rupture in antisemitism in Austria in the period immediately prior to the Holocaust.

ANTISEMITISM AS AN INADMISSIBLE SOCIAL PHENOMENON

Author(s): Nikolai Mihailov / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2021

Antisemitism is a dangerous and destructive ideology based on incitement to hatred of the Jewish people and is associated with their persecution, discrimination, and in the variation of Nazi antisemitism - with their physical destruction and extermination. Despite the destructive and absurd ideas of this stereotype of national and racial hatred, it is very persistent and people still sometimes experience its consequences. Apart from rumors, conspiracy theories and outdated and denied notions of "world Jewry", these ideas, which are detrimental to humanism and freedom, are sometimes disseminated in the form of "science" or "journalism", "opinion", very often using the power of contemporary media. The word antisemitism always means hatred against Jews in the context of modernity. An important element of contemporary antisemitism is the identification of Jews with finance, urbanization, and especially capitalism. Different "scientific" explanations about “interiorness” of the Jews have had a strong influence on German society since the first decades of the 20th century, an influence that underlies the ideology that led to the brutal policy of the "final decision". The danger of spreading such misanthropic ideas in the form of some kind of "education" and under the guise of "scientifically-based" antisemitism has not passed today. That is why the emphasis on education of students, doctoral students, etc. is extremely important: they should learn not only about the tragic events of the Holocaust, but also to build a critical view of all those preconditions - historical, social, cultural, intellectual – that led to the emergence of racial theories, "explaining" social processes and leading to catastrophic and horrific cruelty events.

Antisemitism in Orthodox Guise: Accommodating Fascist Antisemitism with Newspaper Rhetoric in Interwar Romania

Author(s): Ionuț Florin Biliuță / Language(s): English / Issue: 22/2019

The present text discusses fascist antisemitism displayed by Orthodox clergymen during the interwar and the Holocaust. By referring to several antisemitic metaphors (the Jews as the exploiter, as the force behind world Freemasonry, as the persecutor of Christians or the legionary indictment on the Christian commandment of universal love) employed by fascist priests in the legionary newspapers, the articles show the causalities and continuities between the interwar years and the Holocaust period in the fascist imaginary of Orthodox priests.

Antisemitism in the Polish Lands

Author(s): Theodore Weeks / Language(s): English / Issue: 43/2019

Review of: Theodore R. Weeks - Małgorzata Domagalska, Zatrute ziarno: Proza antysemicka na łamach “Roli” (1883–1912), Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Neriton, 2015, 341 pp. Theodore R. Weeks - Grzegorz Krzywiec, Polska bez Żydów: Studia z dziejów idei, wyobrażeń i praktyk antysemickich na ziemiach polskich początku XX wieku (1905–1914), Warsaw: Instytut Historii PAN, 2017, 559 pp. Theodore R. Weeks - Maciej Moszyński, Antysemityzm w Królestwie Polskim: Narodziny nowoczesnej ideologii antyżydowskiej (1864–1914), Poznań: Instytut Historii UAM, 2017, 468 pp.

Anti-Semitism on Trial: The Case of Eligiusz Niewiadomski

Author(s): Paul Brykczyński / Language(s): English / Issue: 02/2014

On 30 December 1922, Eligiusz Niewiadomski, the murderer of Poland’s first president, Gabriel Narutowicz, was tried and sentenced to death. The execution was duly carried out on 31 January 1923. The trial of Niewiadomski was one of the most important and galvanizing judicial proceedings in the history of the Second Republic. According to the historiography, Niewiadomski was universally perceived as a “lunatic” or “madman” and his actions were a political setback and embarrassment for the Polish radical right. During the trial, Niewiadomski evinced no contrition for his crime and claimed that his deed was the expression of “the conscience and offended dignity of the nation.” In this article, I will present the argument that shortly after his trial, the right wing publicists’ and politicians’ judgment of Niewiadomski underwent a profound transformation. Far from being condemned as a “madman” or “murderer,” Niewiadomski assumed the position of a “tragic hero” who may have broken the letter of the law but who had done so in the name of just principles, which deserved recognition and approval. The pivotal event in this transformation was the rabidly anti-Semitic speech delivered by Niewiadomski during his trial. The paper analyzes the coverage of the trial and execution in the press in order to arrive at an understanding of precisely how the Polish right was able to reclaim Niewiadomski as one of its own so quickly despite his grave crime. It also analyzes the meaning of this transformation and its significance for understanding the nationalist right in Poland and, more broadly, interwar Polish politics as a whole.