An in-depth and multifaceted investigation of how Polish Jews, Polish Zionism, and Polish culture influenced Israel’s cultural and political development, as well as of how the Zionist project influenced Jewish life in Poland. From its inception as a political movement, Zionism had as its main goal the creation of a ‘New Jew’ who could contribute to building a Jewish state, preferably in the historic homeland of the Jewish people, where Jews would free themselves from the negative characteristics which, in the view of the ideologues of Zionism, had developed in the diaspora. Yet, inevitably, those who settled in Palestine brought with them considerable cultural baggage. A substantial proportion of them came from the Polish lands, and their presence significantly affected the political and cultural life of the Yishuv, and later the State of Israel. In this volume, scholars from Israel, Poland and elsewhere in Europe, and North America explore different aspects of this influence, as well as the continuing relationship between Israel and Poland, up to the present day.

Relations between Jews and their neighbours in eastern Europe have long been perceived, both in the popular mind and in conventional scholarship, as being in a permanent state of conflict. This volume counters that image by exploring long-neglected aspects of intergroup interaction and exchange. In so doing it broadens our understanding of Jewish history and culture, as well as that of eastern Europe. Whereas traditional historiography concentrates on the differences between Jews and non-Jews, the essays here focus on commonalities: the social, political, and economic worlds that members of different groups often shared. Shifting the emphasis in this way allows quite a different picture to emerge. Jews may have been subject to the whims of ruling powers and influenced by broader cultural and political developments, but at the same time they exerted a discernible influence on them—the social, cultural, and political spheres were ones that they not only shared but that they also helped to create. This model of reciprocal influence and exchange has much to offer to the study of inter-group relations in eastern Europe and beyond. Designed to move the study of east European Jewry beyond the intellectual and academic discourse of difference that has long troubled scholars, this volume contributes to our perception of how members of different groups operate and interact on a multitude of different levels. The various contributions represent a wide cross-section of opinions and approaches—historical, literary, and cultural. Taken together they move our understanding of east European Jewry from the realm of the mythical to a more rational mode. In addition to essays considering interactions between Jews and Poles, other contributions examine relations between Jews and other ethnic groups (Lithuanians, Russians), discuss negotiations with various governments (Habsburg, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and Soviet), analyse exchanges between Jews and different cultural realms (German, Polish, and Russian), and explore how the politics of memory affects contemporary interpretations of these and related phenomena. Contributors Karen Auerbach, Israel Bartal, Ela Bauer, Jan Błoński, Marek Edelman, Michael Fleming, Dorota Glowacka, Regina Grol, François Guesnet, Brian Horowitz, Agnieszka Jagodińska, Jeff Kopstein, Sergei Kravtsov, Rachel Manekin, Czesław Miłosz, Karin Neuberger, Przemysław Różański, Kai Struve, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, Jerzy Turowicz, Scott Ury, Kalman Weiser, Jason Wittenberg, Marcin Wodziński, Piotr Wróbel

As a re-examination of Socialist attitudes to the 'Jewish question' and antisemitism, of how the growth of socialism affected relationships between Poles and Jews, and of the character of Jewish Socialist groups in Poland, it makes a significant contribution to the history of the Jews in Poland. It also sheds light on the history of Socialism in east-central Europe and the complexity of nationality problems there.

For the past 120 years, an Israeli culture has been created in Erez Israel. What is this culture? Can another kind of culture even be suggested? Does what is being created in this small Mediterranean land still belong to the Jewish heritage? This book compiles studies that present Israeli culture as a rich historical work, alive and vibrant, which reflects an essence full of contradictions, influences and battles, arising from encounters between immigrants and designed in the space between ideology and spontaneity.

National Jewish Book Award for East European Studies 1999 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. Contents: 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