W imię socjalizmu – poszukiwanie miejsca na ziemi. Przypadek Leona (Libera) Gotloba
In the Name of Socialism – Searching for a Place in the World. The Case of Leon (Liber) Gotlob

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the life and wanderings of Jewish Bund socialist Leon (Liber) Gotlob. They reflect the fate of many of his generation – who lived their youth before 1939. Using his example, the author proved that we do not always have a say in where we live and settle, and that certain decisions are forced on us by the political and social situation, as well as by third parties. The outbreak of war in 1939 forced Gotlob to escape from the German aggressor to the east, which subsequently led to his imprisonment and deportation to a labour camp in the USSR. The „amnesty” that came in the summer of 1941 gave the protagonist a chance to find a way out of the USSR and follow the combat route in the ranks of the Anders’ Army. This is when the news of the deaths of his loved ones and the Holocaust caused him to tie his life plans to the United States, where he intended to continue his work with the Bund. Following the failure of his efforts to leave for the U.S., while in the UK as a demobilised soldier, he decided to return to Poland with his new family, which happened in the autumn of 1947. He was actively involved in rebuilding the Bund committee and the life of the Jewish community in Tarnów until his arrest in March 1949. Despite his previous harsh criticism of the USSR and communism, the experiences of losing freedom during the war and in post-war Poland, as well as the fact that he was under surveillance, Gotlob was still able to adapt to the political reality of the time. After his release from prison in November 1951, he was an active member of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland. It was not until the events of 1956 in Poland, and the consequent opening of the road to emigration, that he was able to achieve the goal he set earlier. Together with his family and friends from Tarnów, he found himself in America and continued his work in the ranks of the Bund in the free world.

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