ŻYDOKOMUNA

'Żydokomuna' (Polish neologism for "Judeo-Communism" or "Judeo-Bolshevism") is a pejorative term used to express antisemitic stereotype blaming Jews for advocating, introducing, and running Communism in Poland.^[1] The term is similar to the "Judeo-bolshevism" rhetoric of Nazi Germany, wartime Romania^[2] and other war-torn countries of Eastern Europe.^[3]

Contents

History

See also

References

Further reading

History

The term has been used from the time of Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921), when the Jews were blamed for their support for Bolsheviks.^[4]
Polish Communist Party (KPP) had a very strong power base among the Jews. In Polish court proceedings against communists between 1927 and 1936, 90% accused were Jews. Out of fifteen leaders of KPP central administration in 1936, eight were Jews. Jews constituted 53 percent of the member of the "active members" (''aktyw'') of KPP, 75 percent of its "publication apparatus", 90 percent of the "international department for help to revolutionaries" and 100 percent of the "technical apparatus" of the Home Secretariat. In terms of membership, before its dissolution in 1938, 25 percent of KPP members were Jews; most of urban members of KPP were Jews^[5] - a significant number when compared to 8.7% of Jewish minority in pre-war Second Polish Republic. Nonetheless research of voting patterns of Poland's parliamentary elections of 1920's has shown that Jewish support for communist parties was proportionally less than their representation of the total population;^[6] based on the 1928 election data it can be estimated that only 5% of Jews were sympathetic enough to the communist cause to vote for the KPP. In the end while most Jews were not communists nor communist sympathizers, a very significant and quite visible portion of Polish Communists in the interwar period were Jewish. This disproportionately large participation of Jews in communist movement led to the spread of the Żydokomuna myth, which in late 30's was widely used in nationalist Endecja party propaganda, which was hoping to seize power after the death of Józef Piłsudski in 1935.^[7]
Following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, when compared to the Poles, significant percentage of Jews became sympathetic to the Soviets. While most Poles saw Soviets as invaders, many Jews saw them for what they were claiming to be – protectors from the Nazis.^[8] Large numbers of Jews welcomed the Soviet invasion, implanting in Polish joint memory the image of Jewish crowds greeting the invading Red Army as the liberator.^[9] Many Jews were declaring through words and actions, their disdain for the Poles, the Polish state, and their loyalty to the Soviet Union. In return, many local Jews were rewarded with positions of authority by the new Soviet government. What Poles saw as occupation and betrayal, many Jews saw as an opportunity for revolution and/or retribution. This has significantly worsened Polish-Jewish relations, leading to growing tensions. It should be noted that although Jews reaped some benefits from their collaboration with the Soviets; the Soviet terror soon begun to strike out at the Jewish population as well; Jewish independent organizations were abolished; activists arrested - ironically this, combined with prevailing censorship, led many Jews to seek haven in German-occupied Poland. After Operation Barbarossa and the beginning of Nazi terror on former Polish Eastern territories, many Jews joined Soviet partisans who increasingly clashed with Polish partisans; this contributed to yet another argument that Jews worked with the Soviets against Poles.
After the Second World War Polish Jews again were blamed for their active participation in the new Polish Communists organizations, particularly the secret police and Ministry of Public Security of Poland (also known as Służba Bezpieczeństwa). According to Toranska, “all or nearly all of the directors (of the Ministry of Security) were Jewish”.^[10] This allegation was denied by official sources which claimed that the Ministry of Security employed only one Jewish officer, presumably the head of the Ministry, Jakub Berman.^[11] Nonetheless recent study carried by Polish Institute of National Remembrance showed that out of 450 people in director positions in the Ministry (from 1944 to 1954), 167 (37.1%) were of Jewish ethnicity - a significant number, when compared to approximately 1% of Polish post-war population composed of Jews.Krzysztof Szwagrzyk''Żydzi w kierownictwie UB. Stereotyp czy rzeczywistość?'' (Jews in the authorities of the Polish Secret Security. Stereotype or Reality?), Bulletin of the Institute of National Remembrance (11/2005), p. 37-42,
online article, entire issue However, Szwagrzyk also quoted Jan T. Gross, who argued that many Jews who worked for the communist party cut their ties with their - Jewish, Polish or Russian - culture, and tried to represent the interests of international communism only, or at least that of the local communist government. Nonetheless this contributed to the post-war stereotype of Jews as agents of the secret police. Because Jews were also overrepresented in the ranks of other Polish Communist organizations, this further fed the 'Żydokomuna' theory. In 1950s one of the most known employees of the Polish secret police was the Polish Jew Józef Światło, who defected to the West, and whose story was popularized in Poland by Radio Free Europe.^[12]
Chodakiewicz argued that after the Soviet takeover of Poland in 1945 violence had developed amid postwar retribution and counter-retribution, exacerbated by the breakdown of law and order and a Polish anti-Communist insurgency.^[13] Some Jewish avengers endeavored in extracting justice from the Poles who harmed Jews during the War and in some cases Jews attempted to reclaim property confiscated by the Nazis. These phenomena further reinforced the stereotype of ''Żydokomuna'', a Jewish-Communist conspiracy in post-war Poland.
The numbers of Jews in communist structures gradually fell. Urząd Bezpieczeństwa was liquidated. With time, more Poles joined the communist party. Additionally, Mieczysław Moczar's "anti-Zionist" faction became increasingly influential in the communist party, leading to the March 1968 events, which resulted in most remaining Jews leaving Poland.
After the collapse of the People's Republic of Poland in the late 20th century, the term lost its original meaning. It is now used almost exclusively by fringe nationalists associated with Radio Maryja, usually in reference to former communist party members and to "liberals" who have supported capitalist reforms, globalization and European integration. Organizations referred to as "''Żydokomuna''" have included the SLD and UW political parties, and ''Gazeta Wyborcza''.

See also

★ Jewish Bolshevism

★ Kielce pogrom

★ Bund

★ Zionist-Occupied Government

★ History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union: Jews and Bolshevism

References

1. The Neighbors Respond: The Controversy over the Jedwabne Massacre in Poland, Antony Polonsky and Joanna B. Michlic, , , Princeton University Press, 2003, p.469
2. The Notion of “Judeo-Bolshevism” in Romanian Wartime Press, George Voicu, , , Studia Hebraica, 4/2004, p.55-68
3. Anti-Semitism and Anti-Communism: The Myth of 'Judeo -Communism' in Eastern Europe, A. Gerrits, , , East European Jewish Affairs, 1995, 25,1,49-72
4. Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide..., Tadeusz Piotrowski, , , McFarland & Company, 1997, ISBN 0-7864-0371-3
5. Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide..., Tadeusz Piotrowski, , , McFarland & Company, 1997, ISBN 0-7864-0371-3
6. Antisemitism And Its Opponents In Modern Poland, Robert Blobaum, , , Cornell University Press, 1983, p.97
7. The Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939, Joseph Marcus, , , Walter de Gruyter, 2003, p.362
8. The Death of Chaimke Yizkor Book Project, JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy
9. Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide..., Tadeusz Piotrowski, , , McFarland & Company, 1997, ISBN 0-7864-0371-3
10. Teresa Toranska, ''Them: Stalin's Polish Puppets'', Harper & Row, New York 1987, ISBN 0060156570

11. Norman Davies, "God’s Playground – A History of Poland (revised edition), Columbia University Press, New York 2005, ISBN 0-231-12819-3
12. The defection of Jozef Swiatlo and the Search for Jewish Scapegoats in the Polish United Workers' Party, 1953-1954
13. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, "After the Holocaust Polish-Jewish Conflict in the Wake of World War II", Columbia University Press, New York 2003, ISBN 0-88033-511-4

Further reading

★ August Grabski, ''"Działalność komunistów wśród Żydów w Polsce (1944-1949)"'', Trio, Warszawa 2004, ISBN 8388542877