Great Britain and the Polish Jews, 1918-20

Abstract

In a century where antisemitism inspired perhaps the darkest chapter in the history of Europe, namely the 'Final Solution' of I942-45, it is not easy to conceive the circumstances of the pre-Nazi era when antisemitism was a monster of lesser proportions than that which it later became. Indeed, the vocabulary of the subject has been so coloured by events that it is necessary to start with a few semantic observations. Since I945, the word 'antisemitic' has grown in meaning. It has developed connotations far beyond the original definition of 'opposed to or hostile to Jews'. It is no longer confined to the former context of racial and religious discrimination, and of the lynchings which sometimes attended them. It is now irretrievably associated with systematic genocide. It began as one word among many from the large glossary of European intolerance and persecution, but has now achieved a particular and unique status, commensurate with the horrors of Auschwitz. In present-day debates on Jewish affairs, it is used by those who wish to blacken their opponents with the charge of behaving like the Nazis, and is carefully avoided by those whose 'anti-Zionist', 'anti-Jewish', or 'anti-Israeli' policies might invite invidious comparisons. The historian, who has no part in these debates, must either invent his own terminology and thereby become incomprehensible, or else must state his reservations about current usage, and still run the risk of being misunderstood. The English language itself presents difficulties. In so far as English is better acquainted with Jewish than with Polish affairs, it is unable to offer anything relating to Poles equivalent to a word like 'antisemitic'. 'Antipolonic' does not exist, whilst 'anti-Polish', like 'anti-Jewish', is non-racial and unemotional. 'Polonophobic' can be found, but it is rare and implies that the associated