Book Description
Wartime devastation, postwar emigration waves, and the establishment of a Communist government transformed Jewish society in Poland after the Holocaust. Although small organized Jewish religious and cultural communities operated in Poland throughout the postwar period, the majority of families remaining after the early postwar years were Polonized, and a significant portion were formally unaffiliated with Jewish communal institutions. The dissertation explores the processes by which Jewish families rebuilt communities in post-war Poland and the degree to which these individuals became integrated into Polish society. The study analyzes, on one hand, the extent of cultural and social integration in each postwar generation, focusing on family life, cultural identification and social affiliations; and on the other hand, the ways in which living patterns, social circles and school attendance connected Jewish families even when partial or total abandonment of Jewish identity was evident.