Adam Michnik Discusses Antisemitism in 20th Century Poland

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In this talk, Adam Michnik offers his interpretation of the history of antisemitism and the efforts to resist it in twentieth-century Poland. Introducing Michnik is Andrzej Rojek, Chairman of the Board for the Jan Karski Educational Foundation.

Polish-Jewish relations have once again become an important topic. In February this year, the Polish parliament passed a law making it an offence, with up to three years imprisonment or a fine, for anyone who accuses the Polish state or people of participating in the Holocaust or other Nazi crimes. This attempt to re-write history and criminalize historical discourse caused the greatest diplomatic crisis between Poland and Israel in decades and the law has been widely criticized by Jewish communities around the world. In Poland, it triggered both expressions of antisemitism and protests against it, ultimately leading to a revision of the law that removed the prison sentence.

We are yet again faced with questions about the sources of antisemitism in Poland: at the turn of the twentieth century, in the interwar years, and after the war, especially during the 1946 Kielce Pogrom and in March 1968. The need to better understand this history motivated Adam Michnik and Agnieszka Marczyk to co-edit Against Anti-Semitism: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Polish Writings (Oxford University Press, 2017). In this current climate, a look at the history of antisemitism in Poland is more relevant than ever.

About the Speakers

Adam Michnik (October 17, 1946) is Editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, the biggest daily in Poland. Michnik is a historian, co-founder of KOR (Committee for the Defense of Workers) 1976, was detained many times during 1965-1980, was a prominent "Solidarity" activist during the '80s, spent a total of six years in Polish prisons for activities opposing the communist regime, was a member of the Round Table Talks 1989, and was a member of the first non-communist parliament 1989-1991. Laureat of many prizes and titles: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, The Erasmus Prize, The Francisco Cerecedo Journalist Prize as a first non-Spanish author, Grand Prince Giedymin Order; Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur; Michnik was also the recipient of a doctorate honoris causa from The New School for Social Research in New York, from the University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, from Connecticut College; honorary senator of the University of Ljubljana, honorary professor of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. In September 2011, Michnik was awarded with the Goethe Medal by the Goethe-Institut. In 2012, he received the degree of doctor honoris causa of the University of Klaipeda and the University of Ljubljana. For support for the freedom of Lithuania and Lithuanians support in the fight against Soviet aggression Lithuanian Parliament unanimously awarded him the prestigious Freedom Award (January 13, 2015). In September 2015, he received the Adam Mickiewicz award granted for contribution to the development of French-German-Polish cooperation within the framework of the Weimar Triangle.

Michnik is the author of: Kościół, Lewica, Dialog (Church, the Left, Dialogue), Paris 1977; Z dziejów honoru w Polsce. Wypisy więzienne (from the History of Honour in Poland. Prison Notes), Paris 1985; Między Panem a Plebanem, Warszawa 1995; Wściekłość i wstyd, Warszawa 2005; and W poszukiwaniu utraconego sensu, Warszawa 2007 and together with Agnieszka Marczyk Against Anti-Semitism: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Polish Writings (Oxford University Press, 2017). 

Andrzej Rojek is a Board Chairman of Jan Karski Educational Foundation. He has been active in global finance since 1986. He retired as the Managing Director at Advent Capital Management. Previously, Andrzej Rojek founded Lydian Asset Management, the global hedge fund, in 1999. Mr. Rojek served as a managing director and partner at Bankers Trust and also with the convertibles groups at Merrill Lynch.

A US citizen born in Poland in 1956, Mr. Rojek graduated with honors from the University of Warsaw in 1979 with a degree in economics. He received his master’s degree in economics from Columbia University in 1985. Andrzej Rojek serves presently as a trustee of the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York. He is involved in numerous charitable initiatives in Poland (Museum of History of Polish Jews) as well as in the U.S. (Polish Studies Chair at Columbia University). In 2012, Mr. Rojek was decorated by the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, with a Knight’s Cross of the Order for Merit of the Republic of Poland for his work with the Jan Karski U.S. Centennial Campaign.