Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland [Paperback]

Arthur J. Wolak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2004

In the late 1960s, after the Holocaust had brought about the almost total destruction of centuries of Jewish civilization in Poland, senior leaders of the ruling Communist Party initiated a domestic terror campaign that resulted in the unceremonious eviction of thousands of Polish Jews. Why did the leadership of a nation that professed equality among all peoples suddenly drive them into exile? In Forced Out, Arthur Wolak explores this turbulent era, revealing a period in modern European history that offers important cautionary lessons about the dangers of political opportunism and the inherent evils of totalitarianism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Summing up: Recommended. Anyone interested in modern Polish history or the history of anti-semitism. -- CHOICE, June 2005, Vol. 42. No. 10.

a thorough and fair-minded history of the 1967–1968 "anti-Zionist" campaign of Poland's communist government... -- John J. Hartman, PhD

brought back memories of the events ... where ... I and thousands of my colleagues rioted ... on the streets of Warsaw. -- Marek A. Suchenek, PhD

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Fenestra Books (May 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587362910
• ISBN-13: 978-1587362910
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,223,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-researched and plainly presented account, October 12, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland (Paperback)

Growing up in Canada as the son of Holocaust sruvivors, Arthur Wolak has traveled and studied extensively in a post-Commu-nist Poland. Forced Out: The Fate Of Polish Jewry In Communist Poland is a meticulously, informative, and insightful history of those political, economic, and foreign policy issues and circumstances that led to the post-World War II and holocaust era exodus of most of Poland's remaining Jews. Chapters discuss anti-semitism in Poland, including Communist government propaganda that targeted Jews as scapegoats to distract the population from economic troubles and other systemic failings, as well as the post-communist era future and the relationship between Poland, Poland's Jews, and Israel. A thoughtful, literate, well-researched and plainly presented account, as accessible to the lay reader as it is to sociologists and historians. Highly recommended for Judaic Studies and 20th Century European History academic reference collections.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very scholarly, November 9, 2006

By 

A. Katz (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland (Paperback)

I was amazed to read this scholarly examination of events in Poland (67/68) through which I lived as a young teen. Reading this book put these events into a broader historical context for me. I appreciate the background on the main characters involved in PZPR (Gomulka and Moczar) and elucidation of the currents and dynamics that led to that particular eruption of anti-semitism, under the banner of anti-zionism.

A thorough and scholarly examination of a subject.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for the 1968 Era, April 4, 2008

By 

R. L. Huff "An old reader" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland (Paperback)

The backbone of the book traces the rise in Polish nationalism and and its flip side, anti-Zionism, in "People's Poland" of the 1960s. However, it too glibly attributes this to "Communism" per se. The reality, as to be expected in this part of the world, is much more nuanced than simplistic cold war labeling.

As Professor Jan Gross shows in his major work, "Fear," on Polish anti-Semitism in the immediate postwar period, anti-Semitism in Poland was still the purview of the traditional nationalist-Catholic right. Under the banner of "Zydokomuna" Jews and Communists were linked as part of some master anti-Polish conspiracy. Communist attitudes toward this was one of the issues splitting the Party. The "internationalists" - tending to be pro-Moscow, "Stalinist," and heavily Jewish - condemned this tendency as reactionary and sought to punish it. The "nationalists" - with Gomulka as their foremost representative - tended to look the other way to curry favor with the Catholic workers and peasants, who after all were the majority and upon who the regime must base itself. After de-Stalinization, Gomulka's view prevailed. Traditional nationalist scapegoating of Jews was "integrated" into the "People's Democracy."

Unfortunately, this does not indict the Communists so much as Polish society. It is revealing that the Party had to resort to this in order to anchor itself in the popular masses. In this it paralleled the behavior of the Nazi occupation, as outlined in Professor Gross' previous book, "Neighbors." Unlike the Nazis, however, the Polish Communists were at least theoretical exemplars of a professedly anti-racist ideology. The majority of Poles did not change their fundamental attitude to the Party or Communism because of Gomulka's pandering to popular prejudice; but as under the Nazis, anti-Semites found convenient official justification for giving vent to their "time-honored tradition."

The real tragedy for Poland is that only in the totalitarian years of Stalinism could Jews have a semblance of social dignity in the country. Rather than lash out at those who explore this past - as they have done with Professor Gross - Poles should take this to heart and try to devise a society morally broad enough to embrace all its (surviving) members.