This article deals with the construction of the Jewish community's position in the contemporary structure of Białystok as a reviving multicultural city. In the past Białystok was a type of a multicultural city, at least in the customary understanding of this term. During World War II, in effect of the unimaginable genocide of Białystok's Jewish community, the city has been almost completely deprived of its diverse population. In the postwar period wider possibilities of reconstructing Białystok's culturally diverse past generally have not been created. It was not until the political transition that conditions for reviving the socio-cultural diversity of Białystok's inhabitants were developed. The process of reestablishing the presence of the Jewish community in the city's structure became visible and socially important. The position of the Jewish community in Białystok's structure will be presented in four dimensions: the spatial, the institutional, the social, and in the dimension of consciousness. Eventually, in reference to the process of constructing the Jewish community's position in the structure of Białystok, formation of Białystok as a multicultural city will be discussed.
A small proportion of Jews in Poland and Slovakia who survived the Holocaust was exposed to the opposition of the population remaining after the arriving to their home-town and village. In Poland there has had a place numerous pogroms, attacks of various armed gangs, collaborated with the communists and armed assaults with economic overtones. Most anti-semitic manifestations in Slovakia amounted to personal skirmishes, riots in pubs and public places, street fights, threats, slogan painting on the walls and buildings and putting up posters or anti-Jewish demonstrations. The brutal anti-Jewish manifestations in Poland has left many causalities – in estimation there have been killed 300 – 1 500 people, while in Slovakia it´s known only about 16 murders of Jews. The main cause of the anti-Semitism in Poland was the collaboration with the communist regime raised by the Soviet Union. Other reasons to hate the Jewish people were some difficult financial situation of Jewish property taken during the German occupation, complex economic and political situation in the country of the remains of war-time anti-Semitism. The same reasons have resulted in the anti-Jewish sentiments in Slovakia. However, the most important it looks to be the unresolved restitution of Jewish property. The people who have acquired that property during the war or shortly after the war didn´t want to give it up. The Jewish population in Poland responded to anti-Semitism by assimilation, or leaving the country.
Autor opisuje początki kształtowania się instytucji obywatelstwa państwowego na ziemiach polskich. Instytucja ta, wprowadzona pr zez cesarza Napoleona, była interpretowana i stosowana przez władze Księstwa Warszawskiego pod wpływem zarówno wzorów francuskich, jak i tradycji polskiej. Obywatelstwo państwowe otwierało możliwości udziału w życiu politycznym Księstwa grupom społecznym wcześniej tego pozbawionym. Jednocześnie jednak stanowiło narzędzie wyłączania społecznego grup uznawanych za niewystarczająco identyfikujące się z narodem i jego etosem. Podobnie jak to miało miejsce w innych krajach, obywatelstwo państwowe stawało się w ten sposób czynnikiem narodowotwórczym, sprzyjającym powstawaniu państw narodowych. Z polityką państwa w zakresie obywatelstwa wiązała się także polityka wobec cudzoziemców. W szczególnych warunkach Księstwa Warszawskiego polityka ta była akceptująca, ukierunkowana na wspieranie imigracji postrzeganej jako wsparcie dla gospodarki Księstwa. Instytucja obywatelstwa państwowego okazała się trwała i – pomimo krótkiego okresu trwania Księstwa Warszawskiego, a za to długiego okresu zaborów – ciągła. Dlatego właśnie okres wprowadzenia instytucji obywatelstwa państwowego jest tak istotny, wyznacza bowiem początek drogi dalszej ewolucji tej instytucji społecznej.
EN
The author describes the beginnings of the formation of the institution of the citizenship of the state on Polish soil. This institution, introduced by Emperor Napoleon, was interpreted and applied by the authorities of the Duchy of Warsaw, under the influence of the patterns of both the French and Polish traditions. The citizenship of the state opened the possibility of participation in the political life of the Principality of social groups previously deprived of it. At the same time, however, it was the tool of social exclusion of the social groups deemed insufficiently identified with the nation and its ethos. Just as it was the case in other countries, state citizenship thus became a factor of nation-building, conducive to the formation of nation states. The state policy in the field of citizenship entailed a policy towards foreigners. In the specific circumstances of the Duchy of Warsaw, this policy focused on fostering immigration perceived as support for the economy of the Principality. The institution of the citizenship of the state proved to be durable and – despite the short existence of the Duchy of Warsaw and the long period of the partition of Poland – continuous. Therefore, the period of the introduction of the institution of state citizenship is so important because it marks the beginning of the road for further evolution of this social institution.
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