Against Anti – Semitism – Adam Michnik Agnieszka Marczyk

This word is, admittedly, far from unambiguous, but it is packed with dynamic emotional meaning. Anti-Semitism would, of course, become superfluous if it did not muddy the consciousness of people whose real interests are contrary to its social tasks. “Through a collective suggestion, racist ideology can appeal to groups or individuals who have no rational reasons for ‘racial’ antagonisms.

Ideology inflamed by economic conflicts can become a force whose action is independent of the issues that gave rise to it in the first place.”a The rabble is the agent of anti-Semitism. The rabble is not same thing as “superfluous people” in Stefan Czarnowski’s sense of the word, that is, those who have a defined place in the social order—even if only negatively.

The rabble’s composition is not determined by class, but its social tasks are. It can arise out of the most diverse social elements. The rabble comes into being in a mass of people; when dispersed it maintains no sense of solidarity but only a vague readiness to renew that bond which is based on neither class nor nationality, and which is not a permanent bond at all, but a circumstantial one, with volatile meanings.

The bond established by the rabble is incapable of constructing a distinct program; it is purely negative and destructive, necessarily devoid of class consciousness. It gives collective expression to disoriented discontent and it is therefore incapable of rationalized reactions; it is categorically opposed to discussion, subject to only the most primitive suggestions, submissive in the face of demagogy, and invaluable as a tool of crime perpetrated in someone else’s name. The rabble is the accumulation of negative collective tensions—tensions which are unaware of their sources and therefore susceptible to the imposition of almost any direction of development, so long as it is sufficiently simple and concrete, not requiring reflection or independence, and capable of releasing all inhibitions stemming from both rational arguments and the existence of fundamental rules of universal human morality.

The rabble can act against the most obvious interests of the majority of its participants, but in general it is consciously directed from outside—because it is incapable of independently deciding on or organizing its actions, and because one of the principles of its existence is the negation of internal social discipline. It was the rabble that tore the learned Hypatia to pieces on the streets of Alexandria; the rabble became active on St. Bartholomew’s night, in Polish attacks on people of other faiths, and in anti-Jewish pogroms.

The rabble can only be a tool of political reaction. It acts only when there are clear prospects of immediate success and only when it outnumbers the enemy; it retreats only before power. Anti-Semitism is the favorite form that can be imposed onto its dim consciousness. These five theses are not new. Nor are they, unfortunately, all that outdated.

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You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Michnik, Adam, editor. | Marczyk, Agnieszka editor. Title: Against anti-Semitism : an anthology of twentieth-century Polish writings / edited by Adam Michnik and Agnieszka Marczyk. Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018] Identifiers: LCCN 2017022798 | ISBN 9780190624514 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780190624538 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Antisemitism—Poland—20th century.

| Jews—Poland—History—20th century. | Poland—Ethnic relations—History—20th century. | Poland—History—20th century—Sources. Classification: LCC DS146.P6 A43 2018 | DDC 305.892/40438—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017022798 1kitap1.com/en Contents A Note on the Translation Introduction: Poland and Anti-Semitism Adam Michnik with Agnieszka Marczyk PART I PROLOGUE 1. Jews—the 1920s Czesław Miłosz PART II 1936–1939: THE MUSTARD GAS OF RACISM 2. The Przytyk Market Stands Ksawery Pruszyński 3. Annual Shame Maria Dąbrowska PART III 1939–1945: ON BOTH SIDES OF THE WALL 4.

Jews and Polish Commerce Kazimierz Wyka 5. We, Polish Jews Julian Tuwim 6. The Orchestration of Rage Michał Borwicz PART IV 1945–1947: THE POWER OF IGNORANCE 7. The Power of Ignorance Mieczysław Jastrun 8. The Problem of Polish Anti-Semitism Jerzy Andrzejewski 9. With Kielce in the Background Stanisław Ossowski 10. Our Part (A Pessimist’s Voice) Witold Kula PART V 1956–1957: THE ANTI-SEMITISM OF KIND AND GENTLE PEOPLE 11.

Anti-Semites: Five Familiar Theses and a Warning Leszek Kołakowski 12. From National Democrats to Stalinists Konstanty A. Jeleński 13. Anti-Semitism Jerzy Turowicz 14. The Anti-Semitism of Kind and Gentle People Tadeusz Mazowiecki PART VI 1967–1969: EXPULSION FROM POLAND 15.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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