Publisher's Synopsis
This volume looks at the relationship of Polish Catholicism to the widespread antisemitism in that country during the 1930s. It examines how, in their struggle against secularism and liberalism, Polish church leaders saw every assimilated Jew as both a symbol and potential agent of secularity. Interwar Poland was home to more Jews than any other country in Europe, and this work argues that nationalist efforts to promote antisemitism were supported by the Catholic clergy, for whom the "Jewish question" was more than economic. The myth of a masonic-Jewish alliance to subvert Christian culture held considerable sway over Catholics in 1930s Poland. Antisemitism is no longer regarded as a legitimate political stance, but in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, the issues of religious culture, national identity and minorities are with us still. This study of interwar Poland is intended to throw light on dilemmas that continue to preoccupy even Western democracies.
