Poyln, Poyln : a few remarks on the last chapter of Yiddish culture in Poland (1945-1968)

The article focuses on literary images of Poland as a Jewish homeland presented in postwar Yiddish poetry written under Communism (1945-1968) by Polish Jews rescued from the Holocaust. The author put the emphasis on changes visible in the poetry depending on the social and political situation of Jewish writers and intellectuals. There are four main phases when the poets under discussion define their homeland differently: • 1939-1945 - years of the Holocaust; • 1945-1948 – years of both strong anti-Semitic atmosphere in Poland and of hope for rebuilding of Jewish culture in the Socialist Poland; • 1949-1955 – years of Socialist Realism in literature (which was used mainly for propaganda purposes); • 1956-1968 – years of anti-Semitic moods and riots. Each of those phases influences the way how Polish-Yiddish poets, expressing such feelings like: love, longing, disappointment, and despair, present Poland as their homeland.