Language:
English
Year of publication:
2005
Titel der Quelle:
Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instituts
Angaben zur Quelle:
4 (2005) 445-458
Keywords:
Jews History 1800-2000
;
Antisemitism History 1800-2000
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Jews Periodicals
;
Antisemitism Periodicals
Abstract:
In prewar Poland, the word "ghetto" did not refer to a rigid physical separation between Jews and non-Jews, since this was not the existing situation. However, the term was used as a metaphor with negative connotations, such as backwardness and isolation. It was used thus by both Jewish assimilationists and non-Jews - positivists, who believed that the Jews could become worthy citizens, and also by antisemites, who opposed Jewish assimilation. Polish conservatives, both political and religious (including Catholics from ca. 1890), became increasingly racist and called for social segregation and discrimination. In the 20th century, popular Catholic periodicals called for the separation of Jews from Poles. With the rise of Hitler in Germany, his anti-Jewish restrictions found favor in the eyes of many Poles, who also began to introduce restrictions. Polish discourse increasingly called for isolation of the Jews. From the mid-1930s, antisemitic propaganda popularized the idea of a ghetto in the Nazi style, thus preparing the Poles for acceptance of the imminent Nazi ghettos, which were the prelude to concentration camps.
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