Okategoriserade Martin Englund (141) Vi, de fördrivna. Historiska erfarenheter hos polska judar som kom till Sverige 1967-1972

 Abstract [en] We, the Expelled is a study of historical experiences communicated by the Polish Jews who came to Sweden as […]

Published on balticworlds.com on December 16, 2025

 Abstract [en]

We, the Expelled is a study of historical experiences communicated by the Polish Jews who came to Sweden as refugees in 1967–1972 due to the antisemitic campaign in Poland that began in 1967. The campaign reached its crescendo with the regime critical demonstrations in March 1968 and led to the last major Polish Jewish emigration. Grounded on a hermeneutically based oral history, the dissertation presents an analysis of historical experiences communicated in published biographies as well as in life stories and recorded dialogues, which have been collected in collaboration with the Nordic Museum and their digital collection platform Minnen.se.

The dissertation aims to contribute with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of Swedish Polish Jewish history in relation to two central historical events: the Holocaust and the antisemitic campaign. From the analyzed experiences, a chronology of experiences emerges with these two events as organizing and meaning making breaking points. The first and most significant breaking point is the Holocaust. The second is the antisemitic campaign, which resulted in the flight to Sweden. The two breaking points demarcate a time before, a time in between and a time after in the chronology of experience. The analysis of the chronology of experience is based on the narratives that dominate the historical cultural situation in which the historical narration takes place.

The Swedish Polish Jews who are the focus of the dissertation communicate historical experiences not only of the Holocaust and the antisemitic campaign, but also of the Soviet Union under Stalin, life in Poland during the Cold War, structural antisemitism and of Sweden during the heyday of the welfare state. These events are central in the historical culture. At the same time, their experiences deviate from the dominant narratives. In their depiction of the Holocaust, they tell of survival in the Soviet Union in contrast to the dominant narrative about the Holocaust that was established during what has been called the Era of the Witness. During the time in between, in the Polish People’s Republic, they communicate a more multifaceted picture than the dominant narratives, the presence of structural antisemitism plays a significant role. In the concluding part about life in Sweden, however, the historical experiences follow the dominant narrative of the welfare state. By displaying this group’s narration of the past, the study contributes with a Swedish-Polish-Jewish perspective on some of the most central historical experiences of European modernity.

Subject: History
Public defence of thesis: 9 May 2025

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1950814/FULLTEXT02.pdf

 

Florence Fröhlig