Central Committee of Jews in Poland
The Central Committee of Jews in Poland (Polish: Centralny Komitet Żydów w Polsce , CKŻP for short ; Yiddish : צענטראל קאמיטעט פון די יידו אין פוילו; Centraler Komitet fun di Jidn in Pojln ) was a political representation of Jews in Poland in 1944-1950 .
history
The Central Committee of Jews in Poland was founded on November 12, 1944 as a successor organization to the temporary Central Committee of Jews in Poland ( Tymczasowy Centralny Komitetu Żydów Polskich, TCKŻP for short ). This had been founded a month before with the purpose of representing Jews before the state authorities and providing care and assistance for the survivors of the Holocaust . After the liberation of the Polish territories, the committee was moved to Łódź , where it remained until around the mid-1950s. During this time, Łódź became the center of the Jewish diaspora .
The Jewish Historical Commission established by the temporary Central Committee of Jews in Poland was transformed into the Central Jewish Historical Commission. Their main task was to collect reports from the Holocaust survivors and thus also to support the prosecution of Nazi criminals . In May 1947, the commission was renamed the Jewish Historical Institute .
From 1946 onwards, most of the financial resources (80%) of the CKŻP came from grants from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee . The JDC coordinated repatriation , settlement and support for repatriates .
From May 1946, the committee's school department ( Wydział Szkolny ) was active. In the school year 1946/1947 the Central Committee of Jews succeeded in opening 28 schools and in the next year 33 another. About 3,000 students were taught at these. The teaching content of the CKŻP schools was similar to that of the public schools. In addition, the Yiddish and Hebrew languages and literature as well as the history of the Jews were taught. There was no religion class and Saturday ( Shabbat ) was a day off. In addition, eleven orphanages and 60 old people's homes were founded.
In 1945 the main library for Jewish studies was founded. As of August, the country team department took (pol. Wydział Ziomkostw; jid. Landsmanšaft ) began operations.
In June 1946 the political leadership of the CKŻP was put together. According to the party key and on the basis of a compromise between the legalized Jewish parties, the distribution of the seats in the leadership was as follows:
| Political party | Number of seats |
|---|---|
| Polish Labor Party | 6th |
| General Jewish workers' union | 4th |
| Ishud | 4th |
| Poale Zion | 3 |
| Hashomer Hatzair | 1 |
The chairman was Emil Sommerstein von Ischud, who was replaced in 1946 by Adolf Berman from the left Poale Zion.
From 1945 to 1950 the CKŻP published the daily newspaper “ Dos Naje Leben ” and from 1947 published the youth magazine “ Ojfgang ” on a monthly basis . From 1946 to 1947 the book publisher “ Dos Naje Leben” (later “ Undzer Leben” ) was also in operation.
The Department of Culture and Art took care of the small circle of Jewish painters and sculptors who had survived the Second World War . The committee provided financial and organizational support to the Jewish Society for the Dissemination of Art ( Żydowskie Towarzystwo Krzewienia Sztuk Pięknych ) , which was reactivated after the war . From November 1947, the Jewish Society for Culture and Art ( Żydowskie Towarzystwo Kultury i Sztuki ) founded by the members of the Polish Workers' Party was supported. a. Maintained culture houses, club rooms and libraries and looked after art ensembles. The film production company " Kinor " also received financial support .
As communist power grew stronger in Poland, the Jewish faction of the Polish Workers' Party gradually took over relations with the CKŻP. In 1948 22 of 33 schools of the CKŻP were nationalized and in the others the program was unified with that of the state schools. The following year all schools were included in the national education system. In 1949, Hersz Smolar , the representative of the Polish Workers' Party, took over the role of chairman of the CKŻP.
One of the final reasons for the state authorities to dissolve the pluralism of Jewish institutional life was the merger of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland and the Society of Jewish Culture ( Towarzystwo Kultury Żydowskiej ) with the Socio-Cultural Society of Jews in Poland ( Towarzystwo Społeczno -Kulturalne Żydów w Polsce ), which was fully committed to the political line of the state, 1950.
literature
- Rafał Żebrowski, Zofia Borzymińska, Po-lin. Kultura Żydów polskich w XX wieku , rozdział Po II wojnie światowej , pp. 304-318, Wydawnictwo Amarant, 1993
- JadFF Schatz, Komuniści w "sektorze żydowskim": tożsamość, etos i Struktura instytucjonalna Nusech Pojln. Studia z dziejów kultury jidysz w powojennej Polsce, pp. 27–49, Wydawnictwo Austeria, 2008