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Kraków pogrom
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The Kraków pogrom refers to the events that occurred on August 11, 1945, in the city of Kraków, Poland, which resulted in one dead and five wounded victims.
nd 68,000–80,000 Jews lived in Kraków before the German invasion of Poland in September, 1939. Resulting from the Holocaust and further migration only 500 were present by January 1945 immediately after the arrival of the Soviet Red Army.
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The Kraków pogrom refers to the events that occurred on August 11, 1945, in the city of Kraków, Poland, which resulted in one dead and five wounded victims.
Background
Around 68,000–80,000 Jews lived in Kraków before the German invasion of Poland in September, 1939. Resulting from the Holocaust and further migration only 500 were present by January 1945 immediately after the arrival of the Soviet Red Army. This number gradually increased as nearly 2,000 prewar inhabitans of the city retured home. Many Jewish refugees returned to Kraków from the Soviet Union, including those who came from the neighbouring villages and towns.
By May 1945, the number of Jews in the city reached 6,637.
The return of the Jewish population was not always welcomed, especially by the anti-Semitic elements in the populace. The safety of the Jewish community in Kraków was becoming a very serious problem, even though "no serious antisemitic events were recorded in the rural and small-town regions." In his report for 1-10 August, the Cracow city administrator (starosta grodzki) noted the "insufficient supply of food." In June 1945, the voivode of Kraków described growing tensions in his report:
Unrest
On June 27, 1945, a Jewish woman was brought to a local Milicja Obywatelska police station falsely accused of attempting to abduct a child. Despite the fact that the investigation revealed that the mother had left her child in the care of the suspect, rumours started to spread that a Jewish woman abducted a child in order to kill it. A mob shouting anti-Jewish slogans gathered at Kleparski square, but a Milicja detachment brought the situation under control. Blood libel rumours continued to spread. False claims that thirteen corpses of Christian children allegedly had been discovered were disseminated. By 11 August, the number of rumoured "victims" had grown to eighty. Groups of hooligans who gathered at Kleparski Square had been throwing stones at the Kupa Synagogue on a weekly basis. On 11 August an attempt to seize a thirteen year old boy who was throwing stones at the synagogue was made, but he managed to escape and rushed to the nearby marketplace screaming "Help me, the Jews have tried to kill me". Instantly the crowd broke in into the Kupa synagogue and started beating Jews, who had been praying at the Saturday morning Sabbath service; and the Torah scrolls were burned. The Jewish hostel was also attacked.. Jewish men, women and children, were beaten up on the streets; their homes were broken into and robbed. Some Jews wounded during the pogrom were hospitalized and later were beaten in the hospitals again. One of the pogrom victims witnessed:
During the pogrom some Poles, mistaken for Jews, were also attacked. The centre of these events was Miodowa, Starowislna, Przemyska, and Jozefa Streets in the Kazimierz quarter. The riots were most intense between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., calming down around 2 p.m., only to regain strength in the late afternoon when the Kupa synagogue was set on fire. Polish policemen and soldiers actively participated in these events Among twenty-five of those accused of inciting racial hatred, robberies, and violence against Jews, twelve were officers
Casualties
There is one record of a death relating to Kraków events in the archives of the Forensic Medicine Department in Kraków. The victim was 56-year old Auschwitz survivor Róza Berger, shot while standing behind closed doors.
Polish historian Dr Anna Cichopek stated in her university Master Thesis later published as a book that all historical sources confirmed this one death. However,
she also noted that in an archival photo of a funeral there were five coffins visible, thus suggesting that there might have been five fatalities; she also claimed in her book that the New York Times in 1946 had noted a death of a man (Anszel Zucker), and Polska Agencja Prasowa noted a death of another unknown woman (in addition to Róza Berger) and five wounded.
Polish historian, Dr Julian Kwiek, who has published existing Polish documents regarding the Kraków event stated that he is not familiar with the documents quoted by Cichopek from outside the scientific literature. He stated that one death is confirmed in all historical sources, therefore it is questionable whether this event truly falls under the definition of a pogrom, even though most other sources refer to the event as such.
Another historian, Dr Dariusz Libionka from the Center for Holocaust Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, suggested that the photos showing the coffins were taken in the Spring (April 24, 1946) of the following year and came from the Krakow funeral of five Jews shot on April 21, 1946 by partisans of Józef Kuras "Ogien" near Nowy Targ. In many cases – Libionka suggested – it would have been more appropriate if Anna Cichopek relied on existing studies rather than on archival material. He stated, that Polska Agencja Prasowa noted one dead person and five wounded. Dr Libionka questioned the source of information regarding Anszel Zucker's death. According to him it should have been concluded that the Kraków pogrom resulted in one dead and five wounded victims.
Sources
Julian Kwiek, "Wydarzenia antyzydowskie 11 sierpnia 1945 r. w Krakowie: dokumenty", in Biuletyn Zydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego, nr 1/2000 str. 77–89.
Anna Cichopek, Pogrom Zydów w Krakowie, 11 sierpnia 1945 r., Zydowski Instytut Historyczny, 2000.
Anna Cichopek (2003). The Cracow pogrom of August 1945, in Joshua D. Zimmerman: Contested Memories: Poles and Jews During the Holocaust and Its Aftermath. Rutgers University Press, 87.
Magdalena Tytula, Kielce na Kazimierzu, in Gazeta Wyborcza (local 'Gazeta w Krakowie'), August 11, 2000
Darisz Libionka, Recension of Anna Cichopek's book "Pogrom Zydów w Krakowie", in Pamiec i Sprawiedliwosc, nr 1/2002 str. 179-182
Tomasz Konopka Smierc na ulicach Krakowa w latach 1945-1947 w materiale archiwalnym krakowskiego Zakladu Medycyny Sadowej - "Pamiec i Sprawiedliwosc", IPN, 2005, nr 2, p. 148
Bozena Szaynok (2005). "The Role of Antisemitism in Postwar Polish-Jewish Relations", in Robert Blobaum: Antisemitism And Its Opponents In Modern Poland. Cornell University Press. Retrieved on 21 March 2007. p. 272
Marcin Zaremba "Psychoza we krwi" in Polityka 05.07.2006 reprint in Onet.pl
of Stefan Grajek, Po wojnie i co dalej? Zydzi w Polsce, w latach 1945-1949], (translated from Hebrew by Aleksander Klugman), Zydowski Instytut Historyczny, Warszawa 2003
External links
Tomasz Konopka,
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