Overview

Return of the Jew traces the appearance of a new generation of Jews in Poland that followed the fall of the communist regime. Today more and more Poles are discovering their Jewish heritage and beginning to seek a means of associating with Judaism and Jewish culture. Reszke analyzes this new generation, addressing the question of whether there can be authentic Jewish life in Poland after fifty years of oppression. Based on a series of interviews with Jewish Poles between the ages of 18 and 35, her study provides an illuminating window into the experience of being, and for many becoming, Jewish in these unique circumstances.

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9781618113085

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Reviews

Most Jews think there are no more Jews in Poland. This is not true even though in comparison with the millions of Jews before World War II the present number seems like nothing. The Jews who were born in Poland after the war and have lived there come mostly from assimilated and mixed families. Their search for roots and their readoption, or reconstruction, of some sort of Jewish identity provides for a fascinating story. Katka Reszke has been able to tell the story, building on her own involvement in it and on many interviews with young adults. The book gives an insight into their identity search and the expansion of Jewish presence in present day Poland--an unexpected bonus of the demise of Communism in 1989. --Professor Stanislaw Krajewski, the University of Warsaw, Poland, Author of Poland and the Jews. Reflections of a Polish Polish Jew

Author Information

Katka Reszke (PhD Hebrew University of Jerusalem) is a researcher in Jewish history, culture, and identity. She has lectured in Israel, Poland, and France. As a documentary filmmaker, her work focuses on human rights, social justice, minority and gender issues, and Polish-Jewish history.

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