Collective memory or collective oblivion? The case of Holocaust memory in three Polish localities

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show the scope and content of the memory of Jewish deportations and the Holocaust today through a study conducted in three Polish towns of varying sizes with a rich Jewish past (Kraków, Nowy Sącz, Muszyna) which I surveyed in 2023. Additionally, I wanted to identify the channels in which the memory of the Holocaust and deportations circulates in the surveyed localities. The research was conducted with representatives of three generations, so it is also important to show how age differentiates the memory of Jewish deportation and the Holocaust. Both age and the size of the locality turn out to be important in differentiating the extent of this memory. Moreover, an important conclusion of the study is that the memory of those events is limited and subject to repression, at risk of falling into oblivion. Relatively speaking, most of the memory of those events is preserved in larger cities among representatives of the middle generation, which is related to the existence of material memory infrastructures there facilitating the formation of local communities of memory of Jews and the Holocaust. Based on the three focus group interviews I conducted, it can be concluded that the dominant channel of memory transfer about local Jewish history and the Holocaust is communicative memory. Conversations about Jews and the Holocaust, if they do occur, generally happen with family members or acquaintances, but relatively rarely at school. Generally, conversations are initiated by people already interested in the topic and here the role of communities of memory, such as the Sądecki Shtetl, is very important.