by tskzTo mark the 75th anniversary of the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland, we have prepared a series of articles about the history of our Association. Over the next ten months, we will publish these articles in ‘Dos Yiddish Wort’ and, in a slightly condensed version, on our website.
The Central Committee of Polish Jews (Centraler Komitet fun di Jidn in Pojln) used to be the main organisation representing Jewish survivors in the post-war Poland. The Committee’s activities were centred on the rebuilding of Jewish society, destroyed by the Holocaust, the provision of humanitarian aid and the representation of Jewish interests on the international arena.
The Interim Central Committee of Polish Jews was founded in autumn 1944 in Lublin, which was the first major city liberated by the Red Army. At that time, the capital city of the Lublin Province became the organisational hub for the surviving Jewish community. The Committee was founded in response to the urgent need to arrange support for displaced and orphaned survivors who were returning from concentration camps, hiding places and emigration. The interim Committee was headed by Emil Sommerstein, a native of Lviv, a former member of parliament and a self-professed Zionist. In February 1945, the Committee moved its seat to Warsaw and became a fully-fledged institution committed to helping Polish Jews.
The CKŻP used to operate in many different fields, trying to revive Jewish community life in Poland, and provide for the basic needs of survivors. The Committee’s key tasks included humanitarian aid, restoration of culture and education, and restitution of Jewish property. New canteens, orphanages, nursing facilities and community care homes started to proliferate like mushrooms.
The CKŻP also actively supported the development of new schools, theatres, libraries and other types of cultural institutions. The Committee used to gather the necessary financial and material resources in the course of cooperation with international organisations. CKŻP also focused on promoting the Yiddish language and supporting the Jewish press, including the newspaper ‘Dos naje lebn’ of which the Committee was the publisher. In 1947, the ‘Idisz buch’ i.e. the only book publishing house of the Jewish minority in Poland, was established on CKŻP’s initiative.
CKŻP used to actively support the process of emigration to Palestine, United States and other countries. They also helped organise departures as part of the so-called Bricha Movement i.e. the illegal emigration of Jews from Poland through Western Europe to Palestine.
The Committee maintained its local branches throughout the country, which enabled direct contact with survivors and more efficient management of aid. It cooperated with other Jewish organisations, such as the Jewish Cultural Society, as well as with the Polish communist government, although these relations were often difficult. There was a relatively high level of pluralism within the CKŻP – the organisation’s executive board was made up of representatives of different Jewish political parties.
Even though the communist state formally supported CKŻP, its activities were constrained by the increasing control on the part of the authorities. Increasing emigration and the decreasing number of Jews remaining in Poland weakened the organisation’s role. The communist authorities, being distrustful of all independent initiatives, gradually limited the autonomy enjoyed by the CKŻP.
In autumn 1948, the communist regime commenced their efforts aimed at “putting an end to the institutional separatism of the Jewish community in Poland”. As a consequence, the majority of Jewish institutions operating under CKŻP’s auspices had to be closed down. In 1950, the Central Committee of Polish Jews was dissolved, and its mission was taken over by the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSKŻ), which used to be then fully controlled by the communist authorities. This process symbolised the end of a certain era in the history of Polish Jews when all their attempts aimed at restoring their lives in Poland were superseded by mass migrations abroad, and cultural assimilation of those who still decided to stay.
Even though CKŻP existed for only six years, its contribution in the process of restoration of Jewish life in Poland cannot be overestimated. Apart from providing material and mental support to thousands of survivors, the organisation has also helped to nurture the memory of the Jewish culture and heritage in the difficult post-war period.
By Marta Rydz
The project has been financed by the Ministry of Interior and Administration.
