Long pasts and bright futures: Six Cities as a guide to Polish Jewish pragmatism

This article examines the creation and content of the six short films dedicated to Jewish life in Polish cities, directed by Shaul Goskind and produced by his brother Yitzchok Goskind in the late 1930s. Seemingly paradoxically, these films depict the richness and rootedness of Polish Jewish life, yet they were evidently inspired by Revisionist Zionism and its insistence that Jewish life had no future in Poland. The films also function as guidebooks for American Jews with Polish roots, pointing out important aspects of Jewish and non-Jewish heritage and tracing a path through the cities familiar from tourist guides of the time. Above all, the films reflect the pragmatism and flexibility of the filmmakers; their work demonstrates a willingness to explore multiple avenues for Jewish life in Poland and an interest in, but not strict adherence to, various ideological programmes. The mix of apparent political influences in the films calls into question the fractiousness of interwar Polish Jewish politics and present a case for a more utilitarian view of the ways in which political movements functioned in cultural life.