Download or read book Bondage to the Dead written by Michael C. Steinlauf and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Polish-Jewish relations, rather good in pre-partition Poland, deteriorated in the mid-19th century, and even more in the Second Republic (1919-39) with its exclusivist nationalism. The wartime period was marked by strong anti-Jewish moods in Poland; antisemitism was a "legitimate" stance within the resistance movement. However, many Poles helped Jews. Between 1944-48 Polish rulers conducted politics favorable toward Jews, but they used the Jewish issue as a tool in their struggle against the old elite, which whipped up anti-Jewish sentiments. In the 1950s-60s the Holocaust was increasingly de-Judaized in Polish discourse; after 1968, when Poland engaged in the anti-Zionist campaign, Jews ceased to be mentioned at all. The genocide of the Jews began to be discussed in Poland only after 1978; the Solidarity movement used its memory in its struggle against the government. At the same time, popular antisemitism re-emerged. Now, many Poles object to what they see as over-emphasis of Jewish suffering and neglect of non-Jewish suffering under the Nazis.