Poles and Jews

Poles and Jews: A Call for Myth Reconstruction confronts the anti-Polonism deeply embedded among American Jews and Poland’s enduring relationship with antisemitism. With two decades of research and in-depth interviews with scholars, community leaders, and laity in Poland and the U.S., Stark-Blumenthal dispels myths, and approaches this relationship anew.

Jennifer Stark-Blumenthal is an independent researcher of Polish-Jewish relations with an extensive background in Judaic studies from Brandeis University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and YIVO. Having conducted interviews with scholars, community leaders, and laity in Poland and the U.S., Stark-Blumenthal elevates context, respectfully challenging current taboos dividing the two groups.

Jennifer Stark-Blumenthal is an independent researcher of Polish-Jewish relations with an extensive background in Judaic studies from Brandeis University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and YIVO. Having conducted interviews with scholars, community leaders, and laity in Poland and the U.S., Stark-Blumenthal elevates context, respectfully challenging current taboos dividing the two groups.

“This book is an outline of the history of changing Polish-Jewish relations as much as it is a record of the author’s personal journey, of grasping with the concept of the Other, of one’s Self, and of one’s homeland. The book looks at the history of Jewish experiences in Poland through Polish and Jewish understanding of the collective past, deconstructing components of both groups’ national myths.”

— Katarzyna Person, Jewish Historical Institute

“This is a bold tour-de-force through Jewish-Polish history. The book is personally engaged and passionate, but also well-informed and rich in its treatment of the historical fabric of life. The questions the author asks will not leave the reader indifferent.”

— Marcin Wodzinski, University of Wrocław