From Assimilation to Antisemitism

The large number of Jews living in Polish lands had lived as a separate estate from the Poles until the mid-nineteenth century. As modern ideologies of democratic, homogeneous national societies came to life, this separateness became a problem. Focusing on several long-term factors and one major event-the Revolution of 1905-Weeks traces Poland's failed attempts to integrate its Jewish communities into the country's social fabric. While Jews became politically engaged during the Industrial Revolution, social integration remained elusive.

Theodore R. Weeks is Associate Professor of History at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.