Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, Volume 12

Winner of the 1999 National Jewish Book Award for East European Studies

From 1772 to 1918 the large stretch of eastern Europe that forms the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains was under Austrian rule and known as Galicia. Jews were concentrated more densely here than anywhere in Europe—in large and small towns, in villages, and in estates. Two factors were to contribute to this region developing a distinctive character in the context of east European Jewish history: the impact of Austrian rule and exposure to the German language and culture; and the presence not only of Poles and Jews but also of Ukrainians. To the east of the River San the Ukrainians constituted the majority with the Poles as a sizeable minority; to the west the Poles were the overwhelming majority. In both areas, the triangular relationship between these groups and the Jews deeply affected Jewish life.

The nature of the Jewish community of Galicia and its relationship with the Poles, Ukrainians, and other ethnic groups is the core focus of this volume of Polin. Israel Bartal and John-Paul Himka give overviews of the history of the Jewish community and of its relations with the Poles and Ukrainians; Franz Szabo describes the first impressions of Austrian officials of ethnic relations in newly annexed Galicia; Stanislaw Grodziski examines the way the reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph II affected the Jews, while Hanna Kozinska-Witt investigates the views of the sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz on the Jewish issue. Other articles examine the consequences of Galician autonomy after 1867 for the Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians; Jewish large landowners in Galicia; the views of the Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko on the ‘Jewish question’; the Jewish role in the election of 1873; and Jewish emigration from Galicia to Vienna.

In the New Views section, Janina Rogozik describes the career of the Jewish inter-war parliamentary journalist Bernard Singer; Joanna Hensel-Liwszicowa outlines the social composition of Warsaw Jewry in 1912; and Stephen D. Corrsin investigates levels of literacy among Poles and Jews in late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Warsaw. In addition, further articles examine the collapse of the ideal of assimilation in the Kingdom of Poland in the last years of the nineteenth century; the attitude of the National Democratic Party to the ‘Jewish question’; the views of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz (1872–1905) on Jewish problems; and controversies in present-day Poland over the writings of Jerzy Kosinski. An article about an important Jewish publishing house in eighteenth-century Poland by the pre-war historian Emanuel Ringelblum is presented in translation.

Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, Associate Professor of American and Comparative Literature, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin
Israel Bartal, Professor of Modern Jewish History, and Director, Centre for Research on the History and Culture of Polish Jews, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Adam Bartosz, Director, Regional Museum, Tarnów
Józef Buszko, Professor, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Stephen D. Corrsin, Head of Serials Acquisitions, Columbia University
David Engel, Skirball Professor of Modern Jewish History, New York University
Immanuel Etkes, Professor of Modern Jewish History and the History of Jewish Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Tomasz Gasowski, Docent, Historical Institute, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Stanislaw Grodziski, Professor, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Joanna Hensel-Liwszicowa, formerly of the Historical Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
John-Paul Himka, Professor of East European History, University of Alberta
Klaus Hödl, Assistant, Institute for Contemporary History, Karl Franzens- Universität
J erzy Holzer, Professor, Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Yaroslav Hrytsak, Director, Institute for Historical Research, Lviv State University
Gabriele Kohlbauer-Fritz, Curator, Jewish Museum, Vienna
Janusz Korek, Research Assistant, Faculty of Slavic and Baltic Languages, University of Stockholm
Hanna Kozinska-Witt
Rachel Manekin, Department of the History of the Jewish People, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Emanuel Ringelblum
Janina Rogozik, Institute for Librarianship and Information Technology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
Tim Snyder, historian
Franz Szabo, Professor of Central European History, Carleton University
Roman Wapinski, Professr of History, University of Gdansk
Theodore R. Weeks, Associate Professor of History, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

Note on Names and Place-Names
Table of Major Place-Names
Note on Transliteration

Part I Focusing on Galicia: Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians in Galicia, 1772-1914
Introduction: The Jews of Galicia under the Habsburgs ISRAEL BARTAL and ANTONY POLONSKY
Dimensions of a Triangle: Polish-Ukrainian-Jewish Relations in Austrian Galicia JOHN-PAUL HIMKA
Austrian First Impressions of Ethnic Relations in Galicia: The Case of Governor Anton von Pergen FRANZ A. J. SZABO
The Jewish Question in Galicia: The Reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, 1772-1790 STANISLAW GRODZISKI
Ludwig Gumplowicz's Programme for the Improvement of the Jewish Situation HANNA KOZINSKA-WITT
Enlightenment, Assimilation, and Modern Identity: The Jewish Elite in Galicia JERZY HOLZER
The Consequences of Galician Autonomy after 1867 JOZEF BUSZKO
Politics, Religion, and National Identity: The Galician Jewish Vote in the 1873 Parliamentary Elections RACHEL MANEKIN
From Austeria to Manor: Jewish Landowners in Autonomous Galicia TOMASZ GASOWSKI A
Ukrainian Answer to the Galician Triangle: The Case of Ivan Franko YAROSLAV HRYTSAK
Galician Jewish Migration to Vienna KLAUS HÖDL
Yiddish as an Expression of Jewish Cultural Identity in Galicia and Vienna GABRIELE KOHLBAUER-FRITZ
Part II New Views
Benard Singer, the Forgotten 'Most Popular Jewish Reporter of the Inter-War Years in Poland' JANINA KATARZYNA ROGOZIK
Johann Anton Krieger, Printer of Jewish Books in Nowy Dwór EMANUEL RINGELBLUM
The Alphabetical List of Payers of the Communal Tax in Warsaw for 1912 JOANNA HENSEL-LIWSZICOWA
'The City of Illiterates'? Levels of Literacy among Poles and Jews in Warsaw, 1882-1914 STEPHEN D. CORRSIN
Poles, Jews, and Russians, 1863-1914: The Death of the Ideal of Assimilation in the Kingdom of Poland THEODORE R. WEEKS
Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz, 1872-1905: A Polish Socialist for Jewish Nationality TIMOTHY SNYDER
The Endecja and the Jewish Question ROMAN WAPINSKI
The Return of the Troublesome Bird: Jerzy Kosinski and Polish-Jewish Relations MONIKA ADAMCZYK-GARBOWSKA
Part III Reviews
REVIEW ESSAYS
The Historical Besht: Reconstruction of Deconstruction IMMANUEL ETKES
Four Days in Atlantis: Józef Lewandowski's Complex Vision of the Polish Jewish Past JANUSZ KOREK
On the Bowdlerization of a Holocaust Testimony: The Wartime Journal of Calek Perechodnik DAVID ENGEL
Judaica in Slovakia ADAM BARTOSZ
BOOK REVIEWS

Note on Contributors
Glossary
Index