Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznej
The Figure of the Bloodsucker in Polish Religious, National and Left-Wing Discourse, 1945/1946: A Historical Anthropology Study Despite the fact that after 1945 all anti-Jewish pogroms in Poland (except one) involved a blood libel – a rumor about Jewish murderers of Polish children – this fact has...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.ispan.edu.pl/index.php/sn/article/view/1090 |
| _version_ | 1797698673198497792 |
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| author | Joanna Tokarska-Bakir |
| author_facet | Joanna Tokarska-Bakir |
| author_sort | Joanna Tokarska-Bakir |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The Figure of the Bloodsucker in Polish Religious, National and Left-Wing Discourse, 1945/1946: A Historical Anthropology Study
Despite the fact that after 1945 all anti-Jewish pogroms in Poland (except one) involved a blood libel – a rumor about Jewish murderers of Polish children – this fact has not attracted the attention of historians until recently. Conspiracy theories, however, were a lot more popular and noted that the pogroms had been provoked by “Soviet advisers” or “Zionists”. The author of this essay argues that participants of anti-Semitic violence, the assailants as well as policemen, prosecutors, and judges involved in controlling the events – though they represented a variety of different political approaches – were all united by a common socio-mental formation, and remained united by a figure of the Jew as bloodsucker (this mystic figure is described here according to Mary Douglas). Many of them, security and secret services functionaries included, succumbed to a suggested blood libel. Moreover, some traces of blood libel are still present in Poland, not only as folk beliefs (cf. the research conducted under the present author’s direction in Sandomierz).
The essay’s aim is to present a structural background of slowly growing “Polish national socialism” on the one hand and old anti-Jewish resentments on the other, as both were a ground for a specific anti-Jewish alliance in the first period after World War II. Thus, the author claims that a synthesis of religious anti-Semitism (“Jew-kidnapper-bloodsucker”), modern anti-Semitism (“Jew-capitalist-bloodsucker”) and the “Judeo-communists” occurred in Poland, which crippled a healthy body of the nation and the communist party.
The essay is based on, inter alia, letters intercepted by the censorship in 1946, the reports made by some anti-communist underground fighters, a number of memories and documents of communist secret services officers, as well as documents accumulated in the course of investigations held by the authorities after the pogroms of 1945 and 1946.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:57:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-35a1000bd7504025b43366bc6b12aaef |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2392-2427 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:57:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa |
| spelling | doaj.art-35a1000bd7504025b43366bc6b12aaef2023-09-03T11:46:40ZengInstitute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of SciencesSprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa2392-24272022-02-013710.11649/sn.2010.019Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznejJoanna Tokarska-Bakir0Uniwersytet Warszawski; Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk [University of Warsaw; Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences], Warszawa [Warsaw] The Figure of the Bloodsucker in Polish Religious, National and Left-Wing Discourse, 1945/1946: A Historical Anthropology Study Despite the fact that after 1945 all anti-Jewish pogroms in Poland (except one) involved a blood libel – a rumor about Jewish murderers of Polish children – this fact has not attracted the attention of historians until recently. Conspiracy theories, however, were a lot more popular and noted that the pogroms had been provoked by “Soviet advisers” or “Zionists”. The author of this essay argues that participants of anti-Semitic violence, the assailants as well as policemen, prosecutors, and judges involved in controlling the events – though they represented a variety of different political approaches – were all united by a common socio-mental formation, and remained united by a figure of the Jew as bloodsucker (this mystic figure is described here according to Mary Douglas). Many of them, security and secret services functionaries included, succumbed to a suggested blood libel. Moreover, some traces of blood libel are still present in Poland, not only as folk beliefs (cf. the research conducted under the present author’s direction in Sandomierz). The essay’s aim is to present a structural background of slowly growing “Polish national socialism” on the one hand and old anti-Jewish resentments on the other, as both were a ground for a specific anti-Jewish alliance in the first period after World War II. Thus, the author claims that a synthesis of religious anti-Semitism (“Jew-kidnapper-bloodsucker”), modern anti-Semitism (“Jew-capitalist-bloodsucker”) and the “Judeo-communists” occurred in Poland, which crippled a healthy body of the nation and the communist party. The essay is based on, inter alia, letters intercepted by the censorship in 1946, the reports made by some anti-communist underground fighters, a number of memories and documents of communist secret services officers, as well as documents accumulated in the course of investigations held by the authorities after the pogroms of 1945 and 1946. https://journals.ispan.edu.pl/index.php/sn/article/view/1090blood libel legendJews in Polandaftermath of the Holocaust in Polandanti-Semitism |
| spellingShingle | Joanna Tokarska-Bakir Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznej Sprawy Narodowościowe. Seria nowa blood libel legend Jews in Poland aftermath of the Holocaust in Poland anti-Semitism |
| title | Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznej |
| title_full | Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznej |
| title_fullStr | Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznej |
| title_full_unstemmed | Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznej |
| title_short | Figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym, narodowym i lewicowym Polski roku 1945/1946. Studium z antropologii historycznej |
| title_sort | figura krwiopijcy w dyskursie religijnym narodowym i lewicowym polski roku 1945 1946 studium z antropologii historycznej |
| topic | blood libel legend Jews in Poland aftermath of the Holocaust in Poland anti-Semitism |
| url | https://journals.ispan.edu.pl/index.php/sn/article/view/1090 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joannatokarskabakir figurakrwiopijcywdyskursiereligijnymnarodowymilewicowympolskiroku19451946studiumzantropologiihistorycznej |