Language:
English
Year of publication:
2012
Titel der Quelle:
Gal-Ed; on the History of the Jews in Poland
Angaben zur Quelle:
23 (2012) 59-76
Keywords:
Ringelblum, Emanuel,
;
Ringelblum, Emanuel,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
;
Yiddish literature History and criticism
;
Polish literature History and criticism
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Personal narratives
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography
;
Jews History 1945-
Abstract:
The unearthing and publication of the Ringelblum archive became one of the principal initiatives of the Central Jewish Historical Commission and its successor, the Jewish Historical Institute, in the immediate postwar years. During these years, marked with the consolidation of the communist dictatorship in Poland and the emigration of many Jews from the country, Ringelblum's portrayal evolved from that of a mourned friend into an icon of Jewish resistance, and finally into a symbol of struggle "against fascism and imperialism" and of wartime Polish martyrdom. Many of the Institute's projects to publish materials from the archive were abandoned due to financial problems, the departure of Jewish scholars, and the complex relations with the ruling regime. The most significant event linked to the Ringelblum archive in the early 1950s was the publication of Ringelblum's ghetto notebooks. The published Yiddish version, and even more the Polish version, underwent extensive censorship. For example, wartime expressions of Polish antisemitism in any form were censored from the edited versions, as well as passages that portrayed German policy as more oppressive toward Jews than toward Poles, and passages mentioning the existence of any non-communist, e.g. Zionist, political underground movement in the ghetto. Despite the censorship, the printing of Ringelblum's notes in an edition of 5,500 copies was a singular achievement in Stalinist-dominated Eastern Europe.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink