A microhistory of decline. Attitude of Jews in and around Dzierżoniów towards Poland in the years 1967−1968

The article presents the fate of the Jewish population settled in Lower Silesia, Poland, during the anti-Semitic campaign of 1967–1968, focusing on two towns: Dzierżoniów and Bielawa. Through an analysis of archival sources, the text reconstructs the fate of individual members of this community, including its leaders, beginning in 1967 (during the Six-Day War) and continuing through the following months, till the events of March 1968. The paper takes a special interest in the attitudes of Jews towards Poland, as well as in the government anti-Semitic campaign and accusations of disloyalty to Poland. It also presents the experiences of hostility, as well as the consequences of stigmatization by anti-Semitism. The analysis exemplifies the impact of the anti-Semitic campaign on a small, provincial Jewish community, living far from Warsaw and the student protests in 1968 or the centre of communist authority.