Żydzi Wschodniej Polski. Seria III, Kobieta żydowska

Abstract

The present volume collects the proceedings of the third International Conference “Jews of Eastern Poland,” this time dedicated to “The Jewish Woman,” that took place from 13 to 14 June 2014 at the University of Białystok and the Książnica Podlaska Library. The conference was organized by the Chair in Philological Studies “East-West” at the University of Białystok, the Scholarly Association “Oikoumene,” the Centre of Citizenly Education “Poland – Israel” and the Książnica Podlaska Library. The conference commemorated Chasia Bornstein Bielicka (1921-2012), an activist of the organization Hashomer Hatzair, a member of resistant movements in the ghettos of Grodno and Białystok, and the author of memoirs One of the Few. A Resistance Fighter and Educator 1939-1947 (2003 in Hebrew, 2009 in English). The conference was held under the patronage of the Provincial Governor of Podlasie, the Marshal of the Podlasie Voivodeship, the President of Białystok, the Israeli Embassy in Poland, the Dean of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Białystok. It was accompanied by the seventh annual ZACHOR Jewish Culture Festival, which featured an exhibition of Israeli juvenile visual arts, a concert of Urjane Kenżikajew (Simferopol, the Crimean peninsula, Ukraine), and an exhibition of Zuzanna Szarek’s photography “Tel-Aviv.” The festival’s major event was a concert of Yaron Gershovsky (USA), Adam Czerwiński (Poland) and Tomasz Kupiec (Poland) in the building of Podlasie’s Opera and Concert Hall. The participants of the conference took part in a discussion panel dedicated to Chasi Borstein-Bielecka, with remembrance talks by Grażyna Dawidowicz (PhD), Lucy Lisowska, and Barbara Olech (PhD). The conference organizing committee included the scholars from the University of Białystok: Professor Jarosław Ławski (Head), Barbara Olech, and Anna Janicka. The organizational work was supervised by the Chair in Philological Studies “East-West.” All the conference discussions were held in Room 47, or the Maria Renata Mayenowa Room (a.k.a. Rachela Górewicz, née Kaplanowa, 1910-1988) – a notable scholar in the Institute of Literary Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, a Polish Jew from Białystok. The conference participants, who came from Poland, the USA, Belarus, Israel, Great Britain, considered a number of issues and problems: ––The role of women in Jewish communities of eastern Poland, –– Jewish, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian women: their mutual relations, –– Gender roles in a typical Jewish family, –– Jewish women in literature and fine arts, –– Female Jewish writers of eastern Europe, –– History and the lives of Jewish women. The participation of Jewish women in historical events, –– Jewish women as émigrés, –– Jewish women of Białystok, Podlasie and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, –– Jewish women and the problem of emancipation, –– Jewish women and the problems of religion, philosophy and science. The volume is divided into four chapters. Chapter I, “The Jewish Woman,” features an outline of the conference’s main idea (J. Ławski), portraits of Chasia Bornstein-Bielicka (G. Dawidowicz) and Stefania Wilczyńska, and Mark Halpern’s reflections on “Białystok’s Jews’ Collective Memory.” Chapter II, “Ur-Patterns, Archetypes, Attitudes,” brings a set of profiles of Jewish women who have made significant contributions to Jewish culture: Rachel (J. Lisek) and Judith (K. Krawiec-Złotkowska), as well as a theological analysis of shekinah – a concept denoting the dwelling of the Presence of God in Jewish mysticism. Chapter III, “Writers, Pioneers,” introduces the Jewish women who embraced the roles of intellectuals and artists in the nineteenth and twentieth century: Malwina Meyersohnowa (A. Jeziorkowska-Polakowska, D. Kalinowski), Franciszka Arnsztajnowa (K. Sokołowska), Czesława Endelmannowa-Rosenblatowa (A. Wydrycka), Antonina Valentin (N. Taylor-Terlecka), female writers of Lublin (J. Matyjasek), Guina Szwarc (I. Gadomska), Debora Vogel (J. Juszkiewicz) and Leia Godberg (A. Piątek). Chapter IV, “History – Histories of People…,” reveals a historical background to the emancipation of Jewish women, particularly: the lives of Jews in the Kingdom of Poland in the first half of the nineteenth century (K. Rutkowski), the history of Jewish community in Grodno at the beginning of the twentieth century (K. Konczewska), and the ways of selecting first names for Jewish girls (Z. Abramowicz). In addition, this part of the volume presents female Holocaust experience: the life of the dwarf woman Perla Ovitz, who was subjected to Dr Mengele’s experiments in Auschwitz (L. Ciborowska), and social roles of women in ghettos (A. Ślósarska). Chapter V, “Interpreting Testimonies,” features profiles of Jewish female artists and interpretations of their works: Ninel Kameraz-Kos (E. Rogalewska); Vera Gran as portrayed in Agata Tuszyńska’s The Accused: Vera Gran (J. Wróbel-Best); Amelia Hertzówna, a well-known Polish playwright (J. Dragańska); Stefania Baczyńska, mother of the poet K. K. Baczyński (R. Majewska); Irit Amiel and Janina Bauman as representatives of “post-traumatic prose” (K. Zwolska-Płusa); and Yala Korwin (B. Chodźko). The whole is supplemented by a portrait of Julian Tuwim as seen by his mother and his sister (M. Wosnitzka). Chapter VI, “Art, Theatre, Press,” gathers presentations of “Jewish artists of Białystok” (J. Tomalska); the painter Mela Muter (B. Mróz); the first Habima, the earliest Hebrew theatre in Białystok (R. Löw); and contemporary Israeli female artists (S. Kochaniec). Moreover, the chapter includes two studies of Jewish press: representations of “female Zionists” in the weekly Ewa from 1928 to 1933 (M. Szabłowska-Zaremba) and of “Jewish women” in the monthly Miesięcznik Żydowski (D. K. Sikorski). The publication of the volume was supported financially by the Office of the Marshal in Białystok. The next conference, in 2015, will be dedicated to Jewish scholars of eastern Poland and eastern Europe.