Jew with a coin: Difference between revisions
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The figurines were first described in articles from 2000 whose authors state the phenomena is recent, the figurines probably date back to the times following the [[Revolutions of 1989#Poland|transition of government in 1989]].<ref name="Tartakowsky"/> According to Ruth Ellen Gruber, the figurines, were hand-crafted in the 1990s. However, as of 2011 many of figurines are mass produced in standardized forms that are widely available and popular.<ref name="Gruber">[https://books.google.com/books?id=K5437Vh3YEUC&pg=PA324&dq=Zydki+jewish&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhgL7686riAhWYSxUIHeWdAj8Q6AEINDAC#v=snippet&q=Anatewka%20coin&f=false Philosemitism in History], chapter by Ruth Ellen Gruber, Cambridge University Press, page 324</ref> |
The figurines were first described in articles from 2000 whose authors state the phenomena is recent, the figurines probably date back to the times following the [[Revolutions of 1989#Poland|transition of government in 1989]].<ref name="Tartakowsky"/> According to Ruth Ellen Gruber, the figurines, were hand-crafted in the 1990s. However, as of 2011 many of figurines are mass produced in standardized forms that are widely available and popular.<ref name="Gruber">[https://books.google.com/books?id=K5437Vh3YEUC&pg=PA324&dq=Zydki+jewish&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhgL7686riAhWYSxUIHeWdAj8Q6AEINDAC#v=snippet&q=Anatewka%20coin&f=false Philosemitism in History], chapter by Ruth Ellen Gruber, Cambridge University Press, page 324</ref> |
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In 2017 [[Rafał Pankowski]], co-founder of the anti-racism [["Never Again" Association]], condemned the sale in the [[Parliament of Poland]] of "lucky Jew" figurines as "deeply rooted in negative stereotypes". Following Pankowski's condemnation, the figurines were removed from sale from the parliament 's souvenir shop.<ref>[https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/polish-parliament-gift-shop-removes-jewish-figurines Polish parliament gift shop removes Jewish figurines from sale], [[The Art Newspaper]], 15 December 2017</ref><ref name="JTA20180818">[https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-lucky-jew-imagery-is-so-popular-in-poland/ Why ‘Lucky Jew’ imagery is so popular in Poland], Times of Israel (JTA reprint), 18 August 2018</ref> A few years earlier similar concerns lead to the souvenir being removed from sale in the hotel hosting an international conference.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rp.pl/Spoleczenstwo/310189884-Afera-wokol-Zyda-z-pieniazkiem-w-polskim-parlamencie.html|title=Afera wokół Żyda z pieniążkiem w polskim parlamencie|website=www.rp.pl|language=pl|access-date=2019-05-24}}</ref> |
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==Ethnographic analysis== |
==Ethnographic analysis== |
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Revision as of 03:15, 25 May 2019
Jew with a coin (Polish: Żyd z pieniążkiem),[1][2][3] "Little Jews" (Polish: Żydki)[4], or Lucky Jew (Polish: Żyd na szczęście")[1] are images and figurines of Jews holding coins, usually accompanied by a written proverb.[1] The motif was first described in articles from 2000, and probably date back to the times following the transition of government in 1989.[1] Originally hand-crafted, many are now mass-produced in standardized forms.[5] As of the early 21st century, they are popular items in Poland.[4][6][2]
Scholars offer differing interpretations on the nature and origin of the motif. While the images draw upon traditional antisemitic caricature of Jewish moneylender,[7][8] opinions vary on the nature of this motif ranging from harmless folklore or nostalgia, promoting Polish-Jewish dialogue, to offensive or antisemitic.[9][6][4][10]
History
Research by Erica Lehrer, who curated the Souvenir, Talisman, Toy exhibit at the Ethnographic Museum of Kraków, shows that while figurines of Jews existed in the past in Poland the contemporary figurines connecting traditionally dressed Jews with coins is recent. Prior to World War II, Jewish figurines were present in Christmas and Easter rituals and in particular in the Emaus Easter market fair in Krakow. During the communist era in Poland figurines of Jews at work as well as suffering in the Holocaust were available for sale in the Cepelia ethnic art stores. [4] According to Bożena Umińska-Keff, while Jews were connected to money in the past in Poland, the rise of the coin imagery in post-communist Poland is not coincidental as Jews have become associated with success in the West.[4]
The figurines were first described in articles from 2000 whose authors state the phenomena is recent, the figurines probably date back to the times following the transition of government in 1989.[1] According to Ruth Ellen Gruber, the figurines, were hand-crafted in the 1990s. However, as of 2011 many of figurines are mass produced in standardized forms that are widely available and popular.[5]
Ethnographic analysis
According to Erica Lehrer who curated the Souvenir, Talisman, Toy exhibition, Jews who travel to Poland often see the figurines as "inflammatory and shocking, and mostly it gets read in the context of antisemitism". Lehrer says that while one can not understand the figurines with the coin without referring the history of antisemitic imagery, the figurines are rooted in a long history that is more complex than just antisemitism. According to Lehrer, the folk artists creating the figurines, especially the older ones, treat the figurines with artistic, sensitive treatment. One use of the charms is as tourist keepsakes and tokens of nostalgic or political attempt to connect with Jewish past, whereas a second use is as a good luck charm bringing prosperity. Lehrer states that the figurines are seen in Polish folk society as innocent and even complimentary towards Jewish people.[10][1]
According to historian and sociologist Alina Cała, three points of reference stand out in the figurines. The first is reminiscent of figurines in the traditional Emaus Easter fair, the second is black magic, whereas the third is the traditional antisemitic caricature of Jewish moneylender which was exploited in Nazi and Polish iconography. However, whereas classical moneylender tropes often presented assimilated Jews the current Polish figurines present Jews in traditional Orthodox dress.[7]
Cultural studies scholar Paweł Dobrosielski concurs that the motif associating money with Jews used in such figurines or paintings has antisemitic origins, however according to Dobrosielski this was tamed and redirected to a positive meaning in supporting Poles seeking wealth. Dobrosielski suggests that it may represent a desire to situate Poland in the history of capitalism, stressing the fact that the mercantile Jewish traditions are also Polish traditions. He concludes that this motif has implications for the discussion of "superstitions, capitalism and anti-Semitism" in the Polish society.[1][11]
According to Polish anthropologist Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, the figurines fill a role similar to a series of other domestic demons – in this case protecting Polish homes that were "purified of Jews". According to Tokarska-Bakir, the placement of the figurines in the hall to the left of the doorway is the same as the placement of old Slav ancestors. Tokarska-Bakir that given that Polish society has enriched itself as a result of the "disappearance" of the Jews, the custom is grotesque – a demonism transformed into a triviality. Turning to Sigmund Freud's Totem and Taboo, Tokarska-Bakir contrasts the Polish custom with totemic religion which is the product of guilty sons attempting to atone for the founding murder of legendary horde leaders. Cast in this manner, Tokarska-Bakir considers the grotesque practice as less irrational – the protection of the home by the Jew who was expelled from the home being a twisted sign of moral initiation that the Polish collective consciousness might be preparing for.[2][3]
Sociologist Ewa Tartakowsky ties the popularity of the figurines to the public discourse on the Holocaust in Poland, that began with Jan T. Gross's publication of Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. According to Tartakowsky, even if the figurines are not an expression of antisemitism by the Polish State, they are affected by the dis-inhibition of xenophobic rhetoric and marking of those designated as "enemies of the state". Tartakowsky notes that freedom of expression in post-1989 Poland is reflective of the American model, as opposed to the French one, favoring freedom of expression over the outlawing hate speech. Tartakowsky notes the reappropriation of Jewish figurines is deeply ambiguous, but is troubling due to the modern political context and stereotyping.[1]
According to journalist Benny Mer murdered Jews were a source of enrichment for Poles who charged high prices for hiding Jews and plundered Jewish property. The association of Jews with money may have risen from this process, and may be the cause behind the existence of the figurines in Poland.[4]
Jonny Daniels, activist promoting the dialogue between Jews and Poles, considers this item an “insensitive but ultimately harmless expression of nostalgia”, comparable to the cigar store Indian in the United States.[6]
Literature researcher Bożena Umińska-Keff asserts that the imagery and superstitions surrounding the figurines contain all the basic elements of antisemitism - a non-personalized soulless man embodied by money,[1] and sees the figurines as part of a wider tradition of antisemitic images in Poland (Jewish wizards, Jews making blood from children, Judensau, Żydokomuna, etc.).[12]
According to Simon Wiesenthal Center director for international relations Dr. Shimon Samuels, superstition lies behind the figurines. Samuels likens the figurines to a phantom limb, as while only 20,000 Jews reside in modern Poland, the stereotypical Jewish figurines serve as an item that may be "scratched".[13]
An unattributed scholar quoted in Vice said that this motif effectively means that "Poland has a “new Patron saint of capitalism” — and he’s Jewish".[9]
Usage and customs
The figurines are common and widespread in Poland,[4][1] and are present in homes and shops.[14] According to a 2015 survey in Poland, 65% of respondents identify the figurines and 18% of respondents had such a figurine at home; Recognition of the symbol does not vary with respondent age, indicating that the practice started recently.[1] Another survey from that year suggested that about 18% of the surveyed own a related product. About 50% of the surveyed correctly identified the motif with financial success; others pointed more generally to it being a 'lucky symbol', or just to it being a folk decoration.[11]
The figurines are used as a good luck charm to become rich.[1] As well as good luck charms by football fans who then blame the Jew if their team loses.[13][15] The figurines are often referred to in the pejorative diminutive żydek (singular, żydki plural).[1][5]
The figurines are often given as gifts.[6] Some owners of the images flip them over on the sabbath (Friday night[6] or Saturdays[14])[1] some placing a coin (grosz, 1/100 of a złoty) behind the image,[1] so that money and good fortune may fall upon the family living in the house.[1][6][14] At homes the images are placed in the hallway to the left of the door.[1][2] In addition, the figurines are placed in offices and in shops next to cash registers.[14] According to a 2015 survey in Poland, 50% respondents knew of the superstition of good fortune, 24% of the custom to place a grosz behind the frame, and 13% of flipping it over on the sabbath.[1]
According to Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, the motif is usually accompanied with the saying Żyd w sieni, pieniądz w kieszeni ("Jew in the hall, coin in your pocket"), a saying with roots pre-dating the Second World War. While the original meaning of the saying was that at long as the Jew stayed at the entrance of the house the money in the house remained safe, in contemporary popular usage the meaning has been reversed: the Jew in the hall brings fortune to the house.[1] A recent saying accompanying the motif is Aby kasa w domu była, I się nigdy nie skonczyła, Żyda w domu trzeba mieć ! We pieniędzy będzie strzec ("So that the money stays at home, and that it does not leave, keep a Jew in your house, he will keep the dough"). The saying Kiedy bida, to do Żyda ("When poverty is there, go to the Jew") is also used, referred originally to Jewish moneylenders.[1]
Exhibits and performances
The 2013 Souvenir, Talisman, Toy exhibit at the Ethnographic Museum of Kraków, curated by Erica Lehrer, explored the development of Jewish figurines in general and the Jew with a coin in particular.[7][4] The exhibit was subsequently extended and displayed at the Galicia Jewish Museum.[16][17]
As part of the 2017 Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków, inaugurating Festivalt site-specific events, a trio of street performers dressed in traditional Orthodox garb sat behind a desk, surronded by a mock picture frame, and laden with old-style inkwell, accounting ledger and quill pen. Bringing the figurines to life, the performers offered "good fortune" to passerby in exchange for a few coins.[18] One of the performers, Michael Rubenfeld, continued performing in 2018.[19][6]
In 2019, the Jewish Museum London ran an exhibit titled Jews, Money, Myth exploring antisemitic imagery linking Jews with money. Alongside manifestations of antisemitic imagery dating back to Judas and Thirty pieces of silver, the exhibit featured a display case of the popular Polish "Lucky Jew" ceramic figurines.[20][21]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Tartakowsky, Ewa. Le Juif à la pièce d’argent. (French) La vie des idées (2017).
The Jew with the Gold Coin (English translation), Ewa Tartakowsky translated by Arianne Dorval, 24 April 2017 - ^ a b c d A Jew with a coin conquers Poland (Polish), Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, 18 February 2012.
- ^ a b The Jew with a Coin: Analysis of a contemporary folkloric emblem (AAPJ), Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Why Are the Poles Amassing Jewish Figurines?, Haaretz, Benny Mer, 20 November 2014
- ^ a b c Philosemitism in History, chapter by Ruth Ellen Gruber, Cambridge University Press, page 324
- ^ a b c d e f g Why ‘Lucky Jew’ imagery is so popular in Poland, Times of Israel (JTA reprint), 18 August 2018
- ^ a b c Cała, Alina. "„Pamiątka, Zabawka, Talizman/Souvenir, Talisman, Toy”(wystawa w Muzeum Etnograficznym w Krakowie, 2013 rok, kuratorka: Erica Lehrer)". Studia Litteraria et Historica 3-4 (2015): 265-271.
- ^ Luck Jews? Pictures + Essay by Erica Lehrer in Jewish Museum London's 2019 Jews, Money, Myth exhibition catalog
- ^ a b Hey Poland, What's Up with Those Lucky Jew Statues?, Vice, Ilana Belfer, 10 October 2013
- ^ a b USHMM VOICES ON ANTISEMITISM PODCAST, USHMM, 1 October 2015
- ^ a b PAWEŁ DOBROSIELSKI, [1] „ŻYD Z PIENIĄŻKIEM” JAKO PRAKTYKA POLSKIEJ KULTURY WERNAKULARNEJ Wstępny raport z badań. Narodowe Centrum Kultury Narodowe Centrum Kultury
- ^ A Jew named Jewish (Polish), Bożena Umińska-Keff, 19 May 2012, originally published in Przekrój republished on Rzeczpospolita
- ^ a b Poland's mantelpiece Jews, The JC, 4 December 2014
- ^ a b c d Real Jews are scarce in Warsaw, but ‘lucky Jew’ figurines are everywhere, Times of Israel, 29 December 2014
- ^ Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father, Diana Wichtel, 2018, Awa Press, page 144. link to extract from book in Nzherald, published 16 May 2018
- ^ Souvenir, Talisman, Toy, Krakow Post, 10 September 2013
- ^ Popular Images of Jews in Krakow: Folk art or stereotypical caricatures?, Tablet, Dara Bramson, 18 February 2014
- ^ At Krakow festival, ‘Lucky Jew’ character plays on stereotypes to celebrate lost culture, Times of Israel, 28 July 2017
- ^ Meet the Canadian Who Wants to be Poland’s ‘Luckiest Jew’, 13 August 2018, Vice
- ^ Jews Have Been Seen as ‘All About the Benjamins’ for 2,000 Years, New Exhibition Shows, Daniella Peled, Haaretz, 20 March 2019
- ^ Daniel Finkelstein: Next time I’m asked how antisemitism started, I’ll say ‘go to this exhibition’, The Times, Daniel Finkelstein, 20 March 2019
External links
- Lucky Jews online site for 2013 Souvenir, Talisman Toy exhibition at Ethnographic Museum of Kraków, curated by Erica Lehrer
- Lucky Jews Jason Francisco, description of Festivalt performance at annual Jewish Culture Festival in Kraków.