Kraków pogrom

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Template other The Kraków pogrom was the first anti-Jewish riot in post World War II Poland, that took place on 11 August 1945 in the Soviet-occupied city of Kraków, Poland. The incident was part of anti-Jewish violence in Poland towards and after the end of World War II. The immediate cause of the pogrom was a blood libel rumour of a ritual murder of Polish children by Jews in the city. A false allegation that a child had been abducted by a Jewish woman had grown to allegations that Jews had killed up to 80 children over the course of weeks. These allegations led to attacks on Jews, as well as some Poles mistaken for Jews, in the Kazimierz quarter, and other parts of the Old Town, and the burning of the Kupa Synagogue. At least one person was killed and an unknown number were injured.

Background

Before the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, around 68,000 to 80,000 Jews lived in Kraków. In January 1945, there were only 2,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors in the city who had not fled following the arrival of the Soviet Red Army. Some Jewish refugees returned to Kraków from the Soviet Union and from neighbouring villages and towns.Template:Sfn By May 1945, there were 6,637 Jews in the city.

The return of these Jews was not always welcomed, especially by the antisemitic elements in the populace. Anti-Jewish violence in Kraków was a serious problem according to the Soviet-installed starosta in the city, even though "no serious antisemitic events were recorded in the rural and small-town regions."Template:Sfn In June 1945, the new communist voivode of Kraków described in his report alleged growing tensions to his superiors.Template:Sfn In his report for 1–10 August, the Kraków city administrator (starosta grodzki) noted the "insufficient supply of food."Template:Sfn

Unrest

On 27 June 1945, a Jewish woman was brought to a local Milicja Obywatelska police station and falsely accused of attempting to abduct a child. Despite the fact that the investigation revealed that the child's mother had left the child in the care of the suspect, rumours started to spread that a Jewish woman abducted the child in order to kill him.Template:Sfn A mob shouting anti-Jewish slogans gathered at Kleparski Square, but a Milicja detachment brought the situation under control. Blood libel rumours continued to spread. False claims that thirteen corpses of Christian children had been discovered were disseminated. By 11 August, the number of rumoured "victims" had grown to eighty.Template:Sfn Groups of hooligans who gathered at Kleparski Square had been throwing stones at the Kupa Synagogue on a weekly basis.Template:Sfn On 11 August, an attempt to seize a thirteen-year-old boy who was throwing stones at the synagogue was made, but he escaped and rushed to the nearby marketplace screaming "Help me, the Jews have tried to kill me."

Instantly the crowd broke into the Kupa Synagogue and started beating Jews, who had been praying at the Saturday morning Shabbat service,Template:Sfn and the Torah scrolls were burned. The Jewish hostel was also attacked.Template:Sfn Jewish men, women, and children were beaten up on the streets; their homes were broken into and robbed. Some Jews wounded during the pogrom were hospitalized and later were beaten in the hospitals again. One of the pogrom victims witnessed:

During the pogrom some Poles, mistaken for Jews, were also attacked.Template:Sfn The centre of these events was Miodowa, Starowiślna, Przemyska, and Józefa Streets in the Kazimierz quarter.Template:Sfn The riots were most intense between 11 am and 1 pm, calming down around 2 pm, only to regain strength in the late afternoon when the Kupa Synagogue was set on fire.Template:Sfn

Polish policemen and soldiers actively participated in these events.Template:Sfn In total, 145 suspects were arrested including 40 militiamen and 6 soldiers of the Wojsko Polskie (Polish Army). In September and October 1945, 25 people were charged with inciting racial hatred, robberies, and violence against Jews. Twelve of those charged were officers.Template:Sfn Ten of the accused were sentenced to prison. According to the report prepared for Joseph Stalin by the NKVD in Kraków,Template:Sfn Polish militiamen had sanctioned the violence.Template:Sfn

Casualties

There is one official record of a death relating to Kraków events in the archives of the Forensic Medicine Department in Kraków. The victim was 56-year-old Auschwitz survivor Róża Berger, shot while standing behind closed doors.

References

• An interview with Andrzej Chwalba, Professor of history at the Jagiellonian University (and its prorector) in the online version of the Jagiellonian University's Bulletin Alma Mater. The article concerning World War II history of the city ("Occupied Krakow"), makes references to the fifth volume of History of Krakow entitled "Kraków in the years 1939–1945," see bibliogroup:"Dzieje Krakowa: Kraków w latach 1945–1989" in Google Books (Template:ISBN) written by Chwalba from a historical perspective, also cited in Google scholar.

External links

• Tomasz Konopka, Historia Krakowa pisana protokołami sekcyjnymi Template:Webarchive Template:In lang