Polish Jews in the Soviet Union (1939–1959)

Katharina Friedla is a historian specializing in East European and Jewish history, with a major focus on nationalism and identity politics, culture, state ideology, and forced migrations.Markus Nesselrodt is a historian of East European history and specializes in Polish history, history of migration, and urban history.

”The various articles, along with the bibliography and Edele’s ‘paths ahead’ discus- sion in the epilogue (pp. 287–289), should greatly benefit both the general public and scholars who are interested in such topics as the Holocaust, the history of the Second World War, East European Jewry, Soviet Union studies, and Polish studies. More spe- cifically, it is an important contribution to the understanding of a unique and impor- tant part of the Polish Jewish experience during the war.”— Na’ama Seri-Levi, The Hebrew University, Yad Vashem, Contemporary Jewry“[T]he volume demonstrates the strong development that research on Polish Jews in the Soviet Union has taken in recent years, and it also hints at the direction that future research may further evolve.”— Kai Struve, Slavic Review

• Table of ContentsNote on Translations, Transliterations, and Place NamesAntony PolonskyForewordKatharina Friedla / Markus NesselrodtIntroductionPart One: HistoryMarkus NesselrodtWho, When, and Why? Escaping German Occupation in 1939 versus 1941Eliyana AdlerChildren in Exile: Wartime Journeys of Polish Jewish YouthAlbert Kaganovitch Together and Apart. Poles and Polish Jews in the War-Torn Soviet UnionKatharina Friedla “I’m rushing with millions of others to the battlefield”—Jewish Soldiers in the Polish Army in the Soviet Union, 1943–1946Wojciech MarciniakRepatriation of Polish Catholics and Jews from Distant Parts of the Soviet Union in Polish-Soviet Relations (1944–1947)Serafima VelkovichPolish Citizenship as a Way to Freedom: How Soviet Jews Escaped the USSR Using Polish DocumentsMiriam SchulzThe Deepest Self Denies the Face: Polish Jewish Intellectuals and the Birth of the “Soviet Marrano”Gennady EstraikhHersh Smolar: A Polish Personage in the Soviet Jewish Cultural Scene, 1940s–1960sPart Two: Memory Natalie BelskyContested Memories: Soviet and Polish Jewish Refugees and Evacuees Recount Their Experience on the Soviet Home FrontJohn GoldlustNeither “Victims” nor “Survivors”: Polish Jews Reflect on Their Wartime Experiences in the Soviet Union During the Second World WarLidia Zessin-Jurek A Matzeva Amid Crosses: Jewish Exiles in the Polish Memory of SiberiaPrzemysław Kaniecki and Renata PiątkowskaBefore, During, and After: The Objects and Archival Material in the POLIN MuseumMark EdeleEpilogueBibliographyAcknowledgementsNotes on ContributorsIndex of PlacesIndex of Names