Remembering the Unfulfilled Dream of Jewish Life in Post-War Communist Poland

Abstract

This chapter explores the outcomes of the Second World War for the surviving Jews in communist Poland. Based on archival documents and ethnographic fieldwork, it investigates ‘collective remembering’ by focusing on the agency of those performing the past. The author discusses how the past figures in the constitution of the transnational diasporic group of Polish Jews. By analysing return journeys and gatherings, the text highlights the collective rituals that are performed in order to restore past bonds among the post-war generation of Polish Jews.