MEMORY IN THE INTER-ETHNIC ENVIRONMENT: 'DIFFICULT QUESTIONS' IN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE POLISH AND JEWISH YOUTH

The article examines Polish-Jewish youth encounters as a sociological phenomenon, revealing the processes of approaching collective memories of both groups. The authors presents data collected during Polish-Jewish meetings, as well as qualitative analysis of letters and 'difficult questions' written by young Poles and Jews. The main issues of Polish and Jewish collective memories are shaped by the adult discourse, that strongly influences the youth inter-group discourse. However, the main differences that underlie most of the 'difficult questions' in Polish-Jewish dialogue are based on the different ways of approaching the past: individualised and emotional among young Jews, but collectivist, depersonalised and rather neutral among young Poles. These differences show, that not only the content, but also the form (pragmatics) of collective memory has to be studied by the sociologist in order to understand the role of history in inter-ethnic relations.