Lecture 4 Interwar Anti-Semitism in Germany and Poland Alexander Watson Religion, Peace and Conflict 18 March 2014 Lecture 4 Interwar Anti-Semitism in Germany and Poland

Germany and Poland in the interwar period Introduction Roots of Anti-Semitism: National or Regional? Poland & Germany – the economic / demographic context Inter-war Polish anti-Semitism & Violence The Nazis Conclusion Germany and Poland in the interwar period

The Roots of Anti-Semitism Religious (traditional) Racial (late 19th century) Political Economic “Political anti-Semitism voiced the subjectively conceived interests of modernizing Christian middle-class elements striving for advancement in the emergent industrial-capitalist order.” William Hagen (p. 352) Polish Jews, 1939

Political Crisis Unstable Democracies Poland – Authoritarianism: - Weimar Germany, 1933 Poland – Authoritarianism: Piłsudski’s Sanacja regime From 1935 ‘Rule of the Colonels’ Germany – National Socialist Dictatorship from 1933 Józef Piłsudski Head of Polish State, 1918-19 & 1926-35

Economic Crisis Germany Poland Large industrial sector. Hyperinflation 1923-4 Great Depression, 1929-32 - industrial production - 40.8% - GDP - 15.7% Poland A predominantly agricultural land. 83% lived in villages. High rate of population Increase (1.7% in 1921-31) Hyperinflation, 1923-5 Great Depression, 1929-32 - industrial production - 37% - GDP Unknown Germany and Poland suffered the 1st & 2nd greatest drops in industrial production in Europe in the depression years.

Jewish Populations Germany Poland Jews were less than 1% of population Most Jews were assimilated. - 1 mixed German-Jewish marriage for every 2 purely Jewish marriages (1927) - They spoke German Numerous in the professions (doctors, lawyers etc.) and in the media Poland Jews were 9.8% of population - Just over 2 million (1921) - 25.2% in 12 largest cities Most Jews were Orthodox. They spoke Yiddish Jews paid 35-40% of taxes Jews were 20.4% of Polish students in 1928-9 1/3 Jews lived on charity

Anti-Semitic Politics in Poland Roman Dmowksi and the National Democrats 1919 Minorities Protection Treaty (renounced Sept. 1934) Polish Anti-Semitic Violence - Pogroms in Lwów (Nov. 1918) - 72 dead & 443 wounded, Pinsk (April 1919) – 34 dead; Wilno – 54 dead - Pogroms in Grodno (1935), Przytyk (1936), Częstochowa (1937) Roman Dmowski, Leader of Endecja

Nazis / Colonels’ Regime Poland 1936 – new prime minister endorses economic struggle 1937 – Catholic Church asks for Jewish children to be segregated Restrictions on numbers of Jewish students & use of ‘ghetto benches’ from 1935 Promotion of Jewish emigration – ‘Madagascar Plan’ Germany 1 April 1933 – Anti-Jewish Boycott 7 April 1933 – Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service 15 Sept. 1935 – The Nuremburg Laws 14 Nov. 1935 – Reich Citizenship Law Supplementary Decree 9-10 November 1938 – Night of Broken Glass

Conclusion Regional (East-Central European) Anti-Semitism By the end of the 1930s, regimes in both Poland and Germany wished to exclude and remove their countries’ Jewish populations Consistent and greater violence of Polish anti-Semitism before the Second World War Greater radicalism of Nazi anti-Semitism, especially once war broke out