A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and Exile
The article discusses transnational dimensions of the aftermath of Poland’s March 1968 antisemitic campaign, which resulted in the exile of approximately half of the Jewish population of the country at that time. It highlights some typical aspects of the diasporic experience, sequencing them diachr...
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Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences
2025-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://journals.ispan.edu.pl/index.php/adeptus/article/view/3428 |
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| author | Marcin Starnawski |
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The article discusses transnational dimensions of the aftermath of Poland’s March 1968 antisemitic campaign, which resulted in the exile of approximately half of the Jewish population of the country at that time. It highlights some typical aspects of the diasporic experience, sequencing them diachronically – early trajectories, e.g. coping with family separation, then the maintenance of community through organized reunions and global communication, and attempts at representation – and offers an overview of the networking efforts in terms of reintegration processes that can be seen as a collective response to the stigma of antisemitism and national exclusion. The article focuses on the experiences of the “March ’68 generation,” that is, those Polish Jews who were raised after the Holocaust and were young adults or teenagers at the time of the Jewish exodus from Poland in the late 1960s. The author explores autobiographic narratives, looking at how post-1968 diasporic experiences were remembered and interpreted and what significance exiles and non-exiles attached to these episodes of their lives. The inclusion of the non-émigré perspectives into the diasporic framework broadens the picture of responses to antisemitism by those affected. The core data come from three series of biographical interviews with émigrés and non-émigrés taken in 2001–2023, supplemented by selections from émigré press and other autobiographical accounts. The triangulation of research data was applied in a qualitative analysis of personally narrated life stories and of texts that reflect collective efforts at maintaining ties among people for whom the 1967–1968 antisemitic campaign, forced emigration, and the resulting separation were significant biographic and community changes. The article is a contribution to the historical sociology of Polish Jewry spanning the period of five decades, from the late 1960s political crisis in Poland’s communism to the 50th anniversary of the “March ’68 events” in 2018.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-36c49a9a2a73464fa3cfddf9d38c1e3c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2300-0783 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Adeptus |
| spelling | doaj-art-36c49a9a2a73464fa3cfddf9d38c1e3c2025-08-20T01:55:18ZengInstitute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of SciencesAdeptus2300-07832025-03-012110.11649/a.3428A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and ExileMarcin Starnawski0Uniwersytet Dolnośląski DSW we Wrocławiu [DSW University of Lower Silesia in Wroclaw], Wrocław The article discusses transnational dimensions of the aftermath of Poland’s March 1968 antisemitic campaign, which resulted in the exile of approximately half of the Jewish population of the country at that time. It highlights some typical aspects of the diasporic experience, sequencing them diachronically – early trajectories, e.g. coping with family separation, then the maintenance of community through organized reunions and global communication, and attempts at representation – and offers an overview of the networking efforts in terms of reintegration processes that can be seen as a collective response to the stigma of antisemitism and national exclusion. The article focuses on the experiences of the “March ’68 generation,” that is, those Polish Jews who were raised after the Holocaust and were young adults or teenagers at the time of the Jewish exodus from Poland in the late 1960s. The author explores autobiographic narratives, looking at how post-1968 diasporic experiences were remembered and interpreted and what significance exiles and non-exiles attached to these episodes of their lives. The inclusion of the non-émigré perspectives into the diasporic framework broadens the picture of responses to antisemitism by those affected. The core data come from three series of biographical interviews with émigrés and non-émigrés taken in 2001–2023, supplemented by selections from émigré press and other autobiographical accounts. The triangulation of research data was applied in a qualitative analysis of personally narrated life stories and of texts that reflect collective efforts at maintaining ties among people for whom the 1967–1968 antisemitic campaign, forced emigration, and the resulting separation were significant biographic and community changes. The article is a contribution to the historical sociology of Polish Jewry spanning the period of five decades, from the late 1960s political crisis in Poland’s communism to the 50th anniversary of the “March ’68 events” in 2018. https://journals.ispan.edu.pl/index.php/adeptus/article/view/3428diasporaMarch 1968Polish JewsreintegrationReunion '68transnational studies |
| spellingShingle | Marcin Starnawski A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and Exile Adeptus diaspora March 1968 Polish Jews reintegration Reunion '68 transnational studies |
| title | A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and Exile |
| title_full | A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and Exile |
| title_fullStr | A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and Exile |
| title_full_unstemmed | A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and Exile |
| title_short | A New Diaspora Space: Transnational Connections Among Polish Jews after the 1968 Antisemitic Campaign and Exile |
| title_sort | new diaspora space transnational connections among polish jews after the 1968 antisemitic campaign and exile |
| topic | diaspora March 1968 Polish Jews reintegration Reunion '68 transnational studies |
| url | https://journals.ispan.edu.pl/index.php/adeptus/article/view/3428 |
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