Warsaw, 1968. Students are protesting against the Polish state and party leadership. They are not advocating the abolition of Socialism, but rather the fulfillment of its promises. Many of the young protestors, including Irena Grudzińska, Adam Michnik, and Jan T. Gross, come from Jewish families. However, only a few of them identify with Judaism, seeing themselves rather as Polish patriots and as Communists. Nevertheless, their origins are implicitly evoked in their protests. David Kowalski’s study examines the meaning of this belonging in the early opposition movement. Reaching back to the interwar period, he illuminates the experiences of the generation preceding the dissidents of 1968, examines the repercussions of the Holocaust, and demonstrates the interconnections of origins, Communist hopes, and Socialist disappointments.
Despre autor
Dr. David Kowalski ist Verwaltungsleiter beim Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk (ELES). Er hat Soziologie und Volkswirtschaftslehre an der Universität Marburg und an der Józef-Tischner-Europahochschule in Krakau studiert. Von 2010 bis 2016 war er Doktorand und wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Simon-Dubnow-Institut für jüdische Geschichte und Kultur in Leipzig.