Przytyk pogrom

The Przytyk pogrom occurred against the Jewish community in Przytyk, Radom County, Kielce Voivodeship, in central Poland on March 9, 1936. In the opinion of Jewish historian Emanuel Melzer of Tel Aviv University, it was the most notorious incident of antisemitic violence in Poland in the interwar period, and attracted worldwide attention. As Melzer claims, it was one of the series of pogroms that occurred in Poland during the years immediately before the outbreak of World War II.

Polish historian Piotr Gontarczyk, who dedicated four years for researching the incident, claims that it was not a pogrom, as there was no organized or spontaneous attack on the Jewish population of Przytyk. Gontarczyk in his book "Pogrom? Zajścia polsko-żydowskie w Przytyku 9 III 1936" ("Pogrom? Polish-Jewish riots in Przytyk 9 III 1936", published in 2000) writes that Polish peasants attacked Jews only after a Jewish group had attacked Poles, killing a peasant Stanisław Wieśniak. Professor Paweł Wieczorkiewicz of Warsaw University praised Gontarczyk's work, writing in 2008: "Gontarczyk, using available sources, has disproved the notion which is prevalent in historiography, about the riot, which took place in Przytyk (the alleged pogrom of the local Jewish population)". Another Polish historian, Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, writes that the incident began when a Jewish resident Szulim Chil Leska shot in the back and killed Stanisław Wieśniak, who was an accidental passer-by. This provoked anger among Polish peasants, who attacked Jews.

David Vital, a historian of Tel Aviv University, writes that local peasants were stirred with antisemitic propaganda of Endecja (National Democracy) politicians. A boycott of Jewish shops was organized, and escalated into a wave of violent attacks on Jewish shops, which resulted in the creation of a Jewish self-defense group. Piotr Gontarczyk however argues that the target of the Polish Endecja campaign was to improve the standard of living of Poles, and to support Polish businesses. An economic conflict between Poles and Jews began, in which both sides used all means possible, including violence. At the same time, the Second Polish Republic remained in an economic slump, and Polish peasants, whose profits had been drastically reduced, began to look for other means of supporting themselves. In mid-1935, Polish right-wing political activists in Radom County declared a general boycott of Jewish stores. Local Endecja sometimes resorted to violence, with activists urging Poles to stop buying at Jewish stores. Peasants who broke the boycott were beaten; Jews offering their services in the surrounding villages were also physically attacked. The boycott itself turned out to be very popular among some Polish peasants, who supported the slogan of "Polonization of the trade". Poles began to open their own shops and stalls, while Jews began to lose their traditional sources of income, forced to face new competitors on the market. Jewish merchants used dumping, and as the court in Radom later established: "Jews, who were directly affected by the economic boycott, felt dislike, some of them even hatred, to the peasants, most of whom were supportive of the boycott".

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