From 11 November, the Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH) in Warsaw will host the exhibition ” Shoulder to Shoulder? Jews in Polish Independence Efforts 1794-1918′. The Institute will present 150 original prints from the 19th and 20th centuries from the National Library, the Museum of Independence and the National Museums in Krakow and Warsaw.

“A combination of many factors caused that only a few, mostly assimilated and attached to Polishness Jews took up arms in the Polish uprisings. We will try to answer the questions: what processes led to the involvement of Jews in the struggle for Poland’s regaining its independence, and what processes discouraged them from the patriotic uprising? We will talk about the integration of Jews into the Polish majority, as well as about Orthodox Jews who clung to traditional Judaism and the phenomenon of discrimination by Poles”, announce the organizers.

The first part of the exhibition covers the period from the Great Sejm to the “Paskiewicz Night”. It shows the difficult relations between Poles and Jews at the end of the Old Polish era, the first joint actions against Russia during the Kościuszko Uprising, and finally the fight alongside Napoleon and in the November Uprising.

The second part covers the year 1861, when there were several major anti-Russian demonstrations in Warsaw, which were interpreted as a reconciliation between Poles and Jews, the January Uprising and its repercussions. Telling the story of the 1860s, the exhibition extends to 1918, when Poland regained its freedom. The third and most important part of the exhibition is Alexander Lesser’s picture „Burial of the Five Fallen”.

The exhibition will trace the participation of specific individuals in the armed struggle. One such person is Berek Joselewicz, who became a symbol of Polish-Jewish brotherhood and the fight for the independence of the common homeland.

The project “Organisation of exhibitions on Jewish heroism in the history of Poland” was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński