Dostoevsky and the Word “Jew”: A Quantitative Analysis of F.M. Dostoevsky’s Greatest Novels

The relationship of F.M Dostoevsky with Jews attracted the attention of numerous scholars throughout the years, many of whom attempted to grapple with the views of the great writer and their origin. In this article we will attempt to show this relationship by analyzing six of Dostoevsky’s greatest novels, written through the entirety of his career. We are analyzing these novels using Distant Reading in conjunction with Close Reading, tools that are commonly used in the field of digital humanities, which enabled us to show visually the extent of F.M. Dostoevsky’s engagement with this topic. The study poses two research questions: 1. To what extent did the writer use the more denigrating term “Zhid”? 2. Can we see a correlation between the writer’s portrayal of Jews with the definition of Anti-Semitism as it was known during his era? The obtained results show that there is clearly a correlation between the definition of anti-Semitism as it was understood at the time of Dostoevsky and the “Jew” as depicted in his novels, as the financial motif is paramount in the depiction of Jews as this is the central topic in 49% of the negative sentences in which the word “Jew” appears, with 59% of these sentences classified as stereotypes. The negative financial stereotype constitutes 32% of the entire corpus. In addition, we found the term “Zhid” is commonly used by the writer, a variation of which constitutes 75% of the total terms used to depict Jews.

‘Out of Poland, Not to Israel, but Out of Poland’: Factors Influencing the Decision to Leave Poland after March 1968: On the Basis of Research from the 1970s

In this article the author explores the question of Jews’ emigration from Poland to Israel after the events of the anti-Zionist campaign of 1968. On the basis of émigrés’ accounts recorded in the 1970s, the author has reconstructed the complex mosaic of factors influencing their decision to leave Poland and choose Israel as their final destination. The most important among these factors were: the ‘anti-Zionist campaign’ and anti-Semitism of the period, as well as the resulting sense of alienation and stigmatization; the large number of people leaving the country, in particular those with family ties and relationships; disappointment with communism; and the Warsaw Pact’s invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The legacy of the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the context of sports tourism

The IV Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Ga-Pa) are regarded by researchers as a test stage for the international demonstration of the German Reich’s economic power in relation to the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin, which were organized half a year later. Through the Games, Adolf Hitler sought to test all of his resources and means, thereby testing the country’s readiness to host another major sporting event. Despite numerous controversies related to the intense exposition of Nazi politics and anti-Semitism, the Olympic Games were remembered among the international public as a professionally organized event, among others thanks to the modern and extremely functional sports facilities of the time. The aim of this paper is to characterize the Olympic legacy of Ga- Pa, which due to its numerous remnants and nowadays well-maintained historical sports base contributes to the development of sports tourism in Germany. This account is briefl y preceded by an account of the preparation and course of the IV Winter Olympics.

SOVIET PERIOD OF HISTORY AND HOLOCAUST IN ORAL HISTORY STUDIES: BETWEEN OFFICIAL AND PERSONAL MEMORY

The aim of this paper is to examine the mechanisms of action of individual and collective memory on the features of remembering/ forgetting / interpreting complex pages of history. The use of oral historical memories has allowed to trace the level of influence of stereotypes and dominant (official) historical narratives that were formed both in the Soviet period and in the independence era. The methodological basis of the study is the tools of oral, social history and the history of everyday life. Scientific novelty. The article is written on the basis of oral historical evidence. The article focuses on the issues that break stereotypes about Jews formed during the Soviet period. The collected evidence constitutes an important source of information that explains the peculiarities of the formation of social memory and political factors that determine the agenda of historical policy in a given period. Conclusions. The article considers several blocks of problems that reflect the most typical stereotypes, fixed at the level of consciousness, behavioral attitudes, partially presented (or omitted) facts from history, which to some extent destroy them. The memoirs used in the article, which were collected in the framework of the project "Voices" in 2020 in Zhytomyr region (in which the author has participated), reflect the similarity of general ideas, assessments, tone, and memory stereotypes about anti-Semitism, the legitimacy of the Holodomor’s status of the genocide directed exclusively against ethnic Ukrainians, the role and place of Jews in the victory over Nazism, the peculiarities of evacuation, and the issues of preserving and honoring the memory of those killed during the Holocaust. At the same time, those memoirs demonstrate the differences between collective and individual memory, which preserves plots that to some extent destroy stereotypical attitudes that have long been ingrained in the mind and, accordingly, influenced the formation of social memory. The analysis of the interviews shows that oral history has significant source potential for studying various issues and sections of Soviet and modern history that await their researchers.

Judaism, Enlightenment, and Ideology

The co-existence of Enlightenment and ideology has long vexed Jews in modernity. They have both loved and been leary of Enlightenment reason and its attending scientific and political institutions. Jews have also held a complex relationship to ideological forms that exist alongside Enlightenment reason and which have both lured and victimized them alike. Still, what accounts for this historical proximity between Enlightenment and ideology? and how does this relationship factor into the emergence of modern anti-Semitism? Can Jewish communities participate in contemporary societies committed to scientific developments and deliberative democracies and neither be targeted by totalizing systems of thought that eliminate Judaism’s difference nor fall prey to the power and seduction of ideological forces that compete with the Jewish life-world? This article argues that Hegel’s discussion of the Enlightenment in the Phenomenology of Spirit as a social practice of critical common sensism provides an immanent critique of Max Horkheimer’s and Theodore Adorno’s analysis of the absolutism of the Enlightenment that can bolster Jewish communal and philosophical hope in the commensurability between Judaism and the contemporary expressions of Enlightenment reason, even if it does not fully eradicate the challenges presented by ideology for Jewish communities and thinkers.