ŚLĄSKIE STUDIA HISTORYCZNO-TEOLOGICZNE

THE QUESTION OF THE HOLOCAUST IN THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES’ DOCUMENTS
Abstract
The World Council of Churches (WCC), the largest ecumenical organization, gathering the Churches of Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old-Catholic traditions, has so far published two documents dealing with the Holocaust. The first one, “The Christian Approach to the Jews" was issued by the General Assembly of the WCC in Amsterdam, in 1948. Remembering the Holocaust and inviting Christians to mission to Jews, it condemned anti-Jewish attitudes and it stated that the Churches in the past had helped to foster an image of the Jewish people as the sole enemy of Christ, which had contributed to the modern anti-Semitism in the secular world. The second document, “The Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian Dialogue", announced by the Central Committee of the WCC in 1982, confirmed that Christian teachings of contempt for Jews and their religion in certain Churches’ traditions proved a breeding ground for the evil of the Nazi Holocaust. “The Considerations" contended that the Holocaust had deep-rooted socio-economic and political aspects. After the extermination of the Jewish people the Churches must learn so to preach and teach the Gospel as to make sure that it shall not be used to saw the seeds of contempt for Judaism and for the Jews. A further response to the Holocaust by Christians is a resolve that it will never happen again to the Jews or to any other people.

“I have fulfilled my holy duty”. Righteous Among the Nations Rev. Wincenty Mieczysław Zawadzki (1894–1975)
Among people honoured by the Yad Vashem Institute with the Righteous Among the Nations medal, the largest group consists of the Poles. One of them was rev. Mieczysław Zawadzki, for many years the parish priest of the Holy Trinity Parish in Będzin. As early as in the first days of September 1939, he saved the lives of many Jews and continued to help them in the subsequent years. Several years after the war, the saved ones contacted the priest and corresponded with him on a regular basis until his death in 1975. This article presents the circumstances that led to rev. Mieczysław Zawadzki’s involvement in helping the Jews of Będzin, placing him among the Righteous Among Nations. Moreover, the text briefly describes his pastoral and social work in the light of the anti – church policy of the Polish People’s Republic authorities.

CHANGES WITHIN THE POLITICAL SITUATION OF POLISH JEWS DURING THE RUSSIAN PARTITION IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY (UNTIL 1862)
Summary
The history of the Jewish people in Poland has been a constant fight for their rights and privileges. It was particularly strong in the 19th century when it started with a few pledges sent by wealthy representatives of the Jewish community to the authorities of the Kingdom. They were denied because of the lack of knowledge of the Jewish culture and tradition as well as for the advantage of the rich bourgeois and the upper class. However, the changes done in the economic and social spheres put forward the Jewish question as the second most important, after the peasantry, social issue of the 19th century. The imperial edict in June 1862 was the first act of the Jewish emancipation in the kingdom. It was a result of the aspirations of the government and it served as a tool to gain Jewish support for the tsarism. The execution of the emancipation act was strongly influenced by the attempts of certain Jewish social classes starting with the poor participating in political manifestations to the representatives defending Jewish interests in the State Council. The result of such attitudes was most importantly a significant participation of different Jewish groups in armed squads, executive insurgent groups and different forms of help in the uprising.