Small Numbers, Big Presence: Jews in Poland after World War II

Abstract

In this path-breaking book, he reflects on the evolution of Polish Jewry in these years against the background of its enormous contribution to Jewish religious traditions and its tragic fate in the Holocaust. A Jewish community, ‘small in numbers’ but with a ‘big presence’, continues to function in Poland. This book is essential reading for all those who wish to understand this remarkable phenomenon. Antony Polonsky, Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University Small Numbers, Big Presence is history rooted in assiduous dispassionate research, but no less, in passionate commitment to Polish Jewry. As much Pole as Jew, Stanislaw Krajewski was a witness to Poland’s postwar Jewish renaissance and the Jews’ de-assimilation. A frontliner in many struggles and triumphs, he tells the story with an insider’s knowledge of the intricacies of events and personalities. Moshe Rosman, Bar-Ilan University, Israel The most important is Stanisław Krajewski’s ability to capture complex phenomena with often mutually exclusive interpretations in a surprisingly new and original way. Stanisław Obirek, Professor at the American Studies Centre, University of Warsaw