Szpiedzy, spekulanci, fałszerze, oszuści i darmozjady: Antysemityzm po warszawsku w czasie I wojny światowej
Spies, Profiteers, Forgers, Crooks and Parasites: Anti-Semitism Warsaw Style during World War I

Summary/Abstract: The economic and population crisis in Warsaw during World War I encouraged anti-Semitic actions and attitudes, never mind the fact that Poles and Jews inhabiting the premier Polish city were facing the same problems. The gossip about the Jews’ massive spying for the benefit of the central states appeared at the beginning of the war, with many Poles treating the Jews as collaborators. There were charges against Jewish “profiteers” and accusations against Jews over falsifying products and money, along with fears regarding an excess of the Jewish population in the Polish capital due to the presence of refugees. During the war, the suspicions that the Jews’ “prosperity” was rooted in commerce and funds “from America” brew stronger. As a result, the poorest Jewish inhabitants were declared to be a burden for Warsaw’s “Polish” finances and their access to welfare aid provided by public institutions was curtailed. The open discrimination against the Jews led to their diminished representation on local government bodies. There were plenty of instances of victimization of the Jews by the city police, resulting in mass complaints filed by them against police actions, with the memorials submitted to the city authorities becoming the voice of the Jewish community. On the eve of the regaining of independence by Poland, the relations between the Poles and the Jews got so bad that it bordered on a miracle that the kind of pogrom experienced by the Jews in Lviv was avoided in Warsaw.

• Details
• Contents