Paper Short Abstract:

This paper relates to literary attempts to revive the memory of Jewish folklorists in Poland in the interwar period. Special attention will be given to the identity and ambivalent social reception of representatives of the mentioned ethnic minority frequently facing marginalisation and violence.

Paper Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to analyse the identity and social reception of the collectors of Jewish folklore and members of the Association of Jewish Writers and Journalists in Poland in the interwar period, namely Menachem Kipnis and Hersh Danilevich. As Polish Jews and migrants, they occupied a unique sociological and cultural position, existing within the framework of the opposition between "the familiar" and "the foreign”. Kipnis and Danilevich did not assimilate with the Polish population; instead, they published their works in Yiddish, remaining committed to their cultural traditions. They became double outsiders – alienated from both Poles and assimilated Jews who distanced themselves from their roots and attained higher social standing by currying favour with prominent figures in Polish and German society. History turned out to be ruthless to both of them: they died in the Warsaw ghetto, and significant part of the ethnographic materials they collected did not survive the war.

The primary sources for this study will be the memories and works of writers, chroniclers, and historians Zusman Segalovich, Chaim Kaplan, Emanuel Ringelblum and Itzhak Katzenelson – acquaintances of Kipnis and Danilevich and witnesses of the events. The titular issue will be presented in a historical and social context, considering the realities of Poland during that era, including the rise of anti-Semitism, the legal status of the Jewish minority, and the attitudes of local communities towards it to show the complex relations focused around the Polish-Jewish ethnocultural borderland, which constitutes a difficult chapter of common history.