Żydzi Wschodniej Polski. Seria II, W blasku i w cieniu historii

Abstract

The present volume collects the material of the second edition of the annual international project „Jews of Eastern Poland”, inaugurated in 2012 with the conference whose main idea was defined in very general terms as „Culture – Tradition – Writings” (19 June 2012, Białystok). The first conference was dedicated to Doctor Józef Chazanowicz (1844- 1915), who was the originator of the Israeli National Library, and who was commemorated by Ryszard Löw in one the conference papers. The main idea of the second conference was expressed in more precise terms – it stemmed from the recognition that the major determinant of Jewish life in Eastern Europe was history with its downturns and upturns, cataclysms and turbulence. Great historical upheavals significantly altered the situation of Jewish communities (migrations, pogroms, the Shoah). In the periods of relative stability, Jews tried to develop their cultural life; their social status within national societies kept changing; their traditions and customs were subject to modernization; and there appeared new religious movements: Frankism, Hasidic Judaism, Haskalah. Thus, „The Good Sides and the Bad Sides of History” – the theme of the second conference – encapsulates the core of Jewish experience in the old Polish Eastern borderlands (the region that at present is divided among Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and the Baltic states). It needs to be emphasized that the date of the conference coincided with the 150th anniversary of the January Uprising, which was yet another occasion for hot debates concerning Polish-Jewish relations in the past. The year 2013 was the time of dynamic geopolitical changes in East-Central Europe: Russia redefined its influences in Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Moldova, and Germany – in other European countries. It was not the time of peace and stability – the still-growing (even if hardly perceptible) gaps between European countries, on the one hand, and a difficult situation of Israel in the Middle East, on the other. Plenty of issues to ponder upon – both for Poles and Jews. The second International Conference „Jews of Eastern Poland” (the second edition: „The Good Sides and the Bad Sides of History”) took place from 17 to 18 June 2013, and was organized by: Chair in Philological Studies „East-West” of Faculty of Philology at the University of Białystok, The Centre of Civil Education „Poland – Israel”, Łukasz Górnicki’s Książnica Podlaska (library). It is worth noting that the Centre of Civil Education „Poland – Israel” was the organizer of the 4th Festival of Jewish Culture „Zachor – Colour and Sound” (15-18 June 2013, Białystok), the event that traditionally accompanies the conference. The conference participants could attend all the events of the festival on 17 and 18 June and listen to the clarinetist Yale Strom (USA), the accordionist Peter Stan (USA), the singer Karolina Cicha (Poland), and the bands: Anavim (Belarus), Ash Haim (Belarus), Samech (Poland) and Klezmer Band (Poland). The conference was meant for a different audience – scholars, students, pupils and teachers, and the attendance was not disappointing – all the seats were taken when the conference papers were delivered. The conference was held under the auspices of major regional and national institutions. The honorary patronage was taken by: The Provincial Governor of Podlasie, The Speaker of Podlaskie Province, The President of Białystok, The Ambassador of Israel in Poland, The Dean of Faculty of Philology (the University of Białystok) The field of scholarly research (specified in 2012) included the following: History of Jewish migrations and settlements in Eastern Poland, Jews of the First and the Second Commonwealth of Poland and their contribution to struggles for independence, The attitude of Jewish communities from Eastern Poland towards national uprisings (the January Uprising, in particular), The Białystok Ghetto Uprising: testimonies and biographies, The impact of history on Jewish culture, art and religion in Eastern Poland, Different views of Jewish history in Eastern Poland – the perspectives of Jews from the Diaspora, Israel, Poland, and other countries, Historical determinants of individual lives, Jews and History in the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania, Podlasie, and Białystok (as well as in neighbouring regions: Masovia, East Prussia, and the Baltic states). The present volume comprises six chapters. Chapter I (Dora Kacnelson) is dedicated to the conference’s patron, whose life is described in Ryszard Löw’s essay „She Loved Both Nations: Dora Kacnelson: 1921 – 2003 – 2013”. A notable scholar and a specialist in Polish literature, Mrs Kacnelson is commemorated by Wiktoria Śliwowska, Elżbieta Feliksiak and Jarosław Ławski, who gives a „belated” review of her books. The chapter brings also a record of the „Evening of Remembrances” that took place on 17 June 2013 in the Museum of History in Białystok. Chapter II (Histories – Recorded and Told) features texts concerning the attitude of Jews towards the January Uprising of 1863 (D. K. Sikorski), the representation of Jews in Eliza Orzeszkowa’s oeuvre (A. Janicka), history of Jewish settlement in Suwałki (E. Juszkiewicz), and the participation of women in the Białystok Ghetto Uprising (G. Dawidowicz). Additionally, the chapter looks at two periodicals: Polish-Jewish „Our Review” („Nasz Przegląd”) and notorious for its hostility towards Jews „Literary Feast” („Biesiada Literacka”) from the period 1813-1814. Chapter III (People, Fates, Narratives) shows the history of Jews of Eastern Poland through the lives of: the teacher and activist Doctor Dawid Rosenmann (M. Śliż); Jan Jakub Sztern, a refugee to the USSR (A. Jaziorowska Polakowska); Grigorij Kanowicz, who wrote nostalgically of Lithuania (A. Lenart); and the writer Rachela Auerbach (A. Ślósarska). Separately, this part of the volume introduces Aleksandr Bogdanow (1873–1928), a Soviet ideologist and an associate of Lenin. Chapter IV (Unveiling of Jewish Identity) demonstrates different dimensions of Jewish spirituality: the problem of prophecy in Abraham Heschel’s works (A. P. Kluczyński), a problematic identity of the writer Julian Klaczko (N. Taylor-Terlecka), and the poet Abraham Sutzkewer’s reaction to the Shoah (J. Miklas-Frankowski). One text focuses on the concept of God in Franz Kafka’s works (A. Budrecka). Chapter V (Understanding Through Literature) aims to show literary struggles with Polish-Jewish history in Władysław Broniewski’s ”Ballads and Romances” (M. Tramer), in Julian Tuwim’s writings (M. Wosnitzka), and in literary testimonies of Jews from the Soviet Union during WWII (T. Sucharski). Moreover, it discusses the role of memory in Polish-Israeli female writers (K. Olszewska). One of the texts examines a picture of the Christian world in the eyes of Jewish children as represented in Israeli literature concerning the Shoah (A. Piątek). America features twice in this chapter: J. Partyka writes about bizarre interpretations of Bruno Schulz’s prose in the USA and Great Britain, and L. Aleksandrowicz-Pędich looks into symbolic images of Białystok in Jewish-American prose. Chapter VI (Art, Language, Customs) sketches lives of East-European Jews through the prism of Michał Duniec’s (J. Tomalska) and Samuel Baka’s (K. Sokołowska) paintings. Settling accounts with WWII is the main focus of the text dedicated to the problem of absence of Jews in the memory of contemporary inhabitants of Białystok (J. Auron-Górska). H. Kozłowski writes about the problems with restitution of possessions that used to belong to Jewish communities and Jewish organizations. K. Łaguna-Raszkiewicz analyses the memory of Białystok’s Jewish-Polish past. Two texts deal with linguistics: anthroponomastics of Tykocin Jews from the first half of the nineteenth century (L. Dacewicz) and biblical names of Jews and Christians from Białystok (Z. Abramowicz). As it was the case during the previous edition of the conference, Michael Schudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, gave a short talk to the participants. The third edition of the conference (June 2014) will be dedicated to „Jewish Woman of East-Central Europe”.