No Way Out: The Politics of Polish Jewry 1935-1939 (Monographs of the Hebrew Union College) [Hardcover]

Emanuel Melzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997 | ISBN-10: 0878204180 | ISBN-13: 978-0878204182

This readable scholarly study sheds important new light upon a major center of Jewish life on the eve of its destruction. Drawing from sources in the Polish Jewish and non-Jewish press and from archives in Europe, Israel, and the United States, Melzer examines the efforts of Polish Jewry to secure its existence and advance its interests in the late 1930s, when the radicalization of antisemitism became an increasingly prominent theme in the country's political life. With the death of Pilsudski, the prognosis for the Polish Jews appeared increasingly bleak, as hostile forces sought to abrogate their constitutional rights and force them to leave the country en masse. The enmity they experienced drew in no small measure from the example of Nazi Germany, which did not hesitate to portray the Jews as the common enemy of Germans and Poles alike. In the face of these developments, Polish Jews attempted to wage a coordinated and concerted political battle against the economic persecution, hostile administrative practices, discriminatory legislation, and violent riots that increasingly pervaded their daily lives. Melzer recounts those attempts and analyzes their failure.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Hebrew

Product Details

• Hardcover: 235 pages
• Publisher: Hebrew Union College Pr (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878204180
• ISBN-13: 978-0878204182
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,345,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars No Way Out For Poland's Jews, February 9, 2012

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This review is from: No Way Out: The Politics of Polish Jewry 1935-1939 (Monographs of the Hebrew Union College) (Hardcover)

No Way Out is an extremely readable and well-researched examination of the Jewish response to the virulent anti-Semitism of 1930's Poland.

Marshal Pilsudski acted as somewhat of a break to the fervent anti-Semitism of his arch-rival, Roman Dmowski and his National Democratic Party (Endecja), which was supported by a large segment of the population and by the Polish Catholic clergy.

Following Pilsudski's death in 1935, his ruling political party, Sanacja, incorporated much of the Endecja's anti-Jewish ideology in an attempt to garner popular support. Anti-Semitism became increasingly institutionalized. Boycotts of Jewish businesses and products were encouraged. Businesses and market stalls were vandalized. The number of Jewish university students was restricted while those Jews that did attend university were segregated to separate seating areas. Professional associations barred Jews. Hiring and promotion of Jews was restricted in the public sector. High-ranking government officials explored emigration options including shipping Jews to Madagascar. There were discussions in the Polish parliament of revoking the citizenship of Jews. Laws restricting Jewish religious practices were passed. Many of Poland's politicians looked upon Nazi Germany's policies regarding its Jewish population with admiration. In 1938, Poland's ambassador to Berlin, Jozef Lipski, met with Hitler and promised him "a beautiful monument in Warsaw" if the Fuhrer could solve Poland's "Jewish Question."

How did Poland's Jewish citizens react in this increasingly hostile and foreboding climate? Melzer writes that Poland's Jews were divided into several political factions, mainly Agudas Yisroel (orthodox conservatives), the Bund (socialists), and the Zionists. The conservative Agudas Yisroel supported Pilsudski and continued to support the Sanacja for a period following his death. Zionists actually welcomed the growing anti-Semitism because it strengthened their argument that Jews should leave Poland for Palestine. The Bund was the most vigorous of the political factions in defending the shrinking rights of Poland's Jewish citizens but its effectiveness was limited. The absence of charismatic and authoritative leadership and lack of political cohesion crippled the Jewish reaction to the institutional and popular onslaught.

Given the increasingly hostile climate in 1930's Poland, one can only imagine what would have been the fate of Polish Jews if the Germans had not invaded.

Although this is a well researched study (50 pages of notes from both Jewish and Gentile sources) it's also very readable. I highly recommend it. Polish traditionalists may close their eyes to Polish Catholic intolerance but history won't be silenced.

Below is a list of books which examine Jewish society in Poland and Polish Catholic anti-Semitism:

"Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present" by Joanna B. Michlic

"Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland" by Jan T. Gross

"The Neighbors Respond: The Controversy over the Jedwabne Massacre in Poland" by Antony Polonsky

"Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland After Auschwitz" by Jan Tomasz Gross

"Contested Memories: Poles and Jews during the Holocaust and Its Aftermath" by Joshua D. Zimmerman

"Secret City: The Hidden Jews of Warsaw, 1940-1945" by Gunnar S. Paulsson

"Shtetl" by Eva Hoffman

"Bondage to the Dead: Poland and the Memory of the Holocaust" by Michael C. Steinlauf

"Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust" by E. Thomas Wood

"My Brother's Keeper: Recent Polish Debates on the Holocaust" by Antony Polonsky

"Polish-Jewish Relations During the Second World War" by Emanuel Ringelblum

"On the Edge of Destruction: Jews of Poland Between the Two World Wars" by Celia Stopnicka Heller

"The Convent at Auschwitz" by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski

"Rethinking Poles and Jews: Troubled Past, Brighter Future" by Robert Cherry

"The Hidden Pope: The Untold Story of a Lifelong Friendship That Is Changing the Relationship Between Catholics and Jews - The Personal Journey of John Paul II and Jerzy Kluger" by Darcy O'Brien

"When Nationalism Began to Hate: Imagining Modern Politics in Nineteenth-Century Poland" by Brian Porter

"Faith and Fatherland: Catholicism, Modernity, and Poland" by Brian Porter

"The Populist Radical Right in Poland: The Patriots" by Rafal Pankowski

"Rome's Most Faithful Daughter: The Catholic Church and Independent Poland, 1914-1939" (Polish and Polish American Studies) by Neal Pease

"Traitors & True Poles: Narrating A Polish-American Identity, 1880-1939" (Polish and Polish American Studies) by Karen Majewski

"The Catholic Church and Antisemitism: Poland, 1933-1939" by Ronald E. Modras

"The Jews in Poland" by Chimen Abramsky

"Imaginary Neighbors: Mediating Polish-Jewish Relations after the Holocaust" by Dorota Glowacka

"Sinners on Trial: Jews and Sacrilege after the Reformation" by Magda Teter

"From Assimilation to Anti-Semitism: The Jewish Question in Poland, 1850-1914" by Theodore R. Weeks

"Antisemitism And Its Opponents In Modern Poland" by Robert Blobaum

"The Jews of Poland Between Two World Wars" by Yisrael Gutman

"Unequal Victims: Poles and Jews During World War Two" by Israel Gutman

"Economic Origins of Antisemitism: Poland and Its Jews in the Early Modern Period" by Hillel Levine

"Forced Out: The Fate of Polish Jewry in Communist Poland" by Arthur J. Wolak

"The Crosses of Auschwitz: Nationalism and Religion in Post-Communist Poland" by Geneviève Zubrzycki

"Memory Offended: The Auschwitz Convent Controversy" by John K. Roth

"In the Shadow of the Polish Eagle: The Poles, the Holocaust and Beyond" by Leo Cooper

"No Way Out: The Politics of Polish Jewry, 1935-1939" by Emanuel Melzer

"The Politics of Hate: Anti-Semitism, History, and the Holocaust in Modern Europe" by John Weiss

"Boycott! The Politics of Anti-Semitism in Poland, 1912-1914" by Robert Blobaum

"In the Shadow of Hitler: Personalities of the Right in Central and Eastern Europe" by Rebecca Haynes