Description
Book SynopsisInterrogates the myth of the Jew as Poland's foremost internal 'threatening other', harmful to Poland, its people, and to different aspects of its national life. This book analyzes the nature and impact of anti-Jewish prejudices on modern Polish society and culture, tracing the history of the concept of the Jew as the threatening other.
Trade Review"Joanna Michlic's achievement is a comprehensive, balanced, thoroughly researched study of how Jews have been viewed by Poles, especially by politicians and writers... The great strength of this book is its comprehensiveness and rich evidentiary base."-Nations and Nationalism -- Zvi Gitelman Nations and Nationalism "Michlic has given us an illuminating and readable survey of an important issue; she has written a book that scholars of Polish, east European, and Jewish history will be glad to have on their shelves and that will be of great service to them in their classrooms."-Ezra Mendelsohn, Slavic Review -- Ezra Mendelsohn Slavic Review
Table of Contents1 - The Concept of the Jew as the Threatening Other and Modern Nation Building in Poland: General Introduction; 2 - The Representation of the Jew as the Threatening Other: Historical Introduction Part I.; 3 - The Myth of the Jew as the Threatening Other and its Functions in Interwar Poland, 1918-1939: Historical Introduction Part II.; 4 - The Myth and Anti-Jewish Violence between 1918 and 1939: The Uses of the Myth in Instigation, Rationalization and Justification of Violence.; 5 - Perceptions of Jews during the German Occupation of Poland, 1939-1945: The Development and Persistence of the Myth under a New Set of Political and Social Circumstances.; 6 - Old Wine in a New Bottle: Ethno-Nationalist Influence on Polish Perceptions of Jews in the Early Post-War Period, 1945-49.; 7 - "Judeo-communists, Judeo-Stalinists, Judeo-anti-Communists and National Nihilists": The Communist Regime and the Myth, 1950s -1980s.; 8 - Conclusions: The Beginning of the End of the Image of the Jew as Threatening Other in Post-Communist Poland.
