Relations between the Bund and the Polish Socialist Party from a micro-historical perspective: Tarnów in the interwar period

Abstract

This article examines how and why the Bund and the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) cooperated on the local level in Tarnów in the interwar period. Besides the ideological rapprochement of the two parties, there was an intrinsic logic to the relations between the Bund and the PPS in Tarnów, which may be measured in the successes oyf der yidisher gas (such as common protest actions on the streets) and in municipal institutions, and in the contact between both local leaders and their outlooks. The relations of the party members in daily life and everyday encounters generate new insights from a micro-historical perspective. The fact that working together yielded real outcomes and that some changes were palpable in daily life encouraged further collaboration. Particular attention is devoted to work in a joint Socialist Club within the city council of Tarnów between 1934 and 1939 and to the trials and successes of this club.