Litvak Self Otherized a Tool of Russia Wynot

Warsaw Between the World Wars, by Edward D. Wynot Jr.. 1983

The Litvak (Litwak) “Other” in Warsaw, a Tool of the Russian Oppressors of Poland

This scholarly book, obviously not for the casual reader, packs an astonishing amount of information into a relatively small volume.

THE JEWS BECOME A TOOL OF THE TSARIST AUTHORITIES, CAUSING THEIR OTHERIZATION

Author Edward Wynot begins his book with a historical survey of Warsaw. He notes how, after the Partitions, many Polish Jews became Russified, losing almost all contact with Polish-ness. (p. 28). These Russified Jews (Litvaks, or Litwaks) became both a witting and unwitting tool of the tsarist Russian authorities. The Litvak migration to Warsaw was partly a Russian anti-national and anti-insurrectionary tool against Poles. Wynot comments, “One was the official Tsarist policy of expanding the Jewish component of the city population at the expense of Polish Christians, in the belief that consequent ethno-religious tensions would render impossible another political challenge from the former capital. Russian authorities encouraged and facilitated the movement of Jews to Warsaw, occasionally supplying financial assistance for the undertaking.” (p. 27). Another factor behind the Litvak migration to Warsaw was the replacement of the feudal economy with an early capitalist one. (p. 28).

THE MANY FEATURES OF PRE-WWII WARSAW

In this book, there is data on such diverse topics as Warsaw’s urbanization, firefighting, sanitation, telecommunications, economics, politics, culture and theater, leading personages, population changes, and much more.

A series of maps (p. 104-105) show the different districts of Warsaw, and feature these in terms of social class and occupational fields. There are many tables in this work. They break down the religion of Varsovians (p. 107), the social and occupational structure of her citizens (p. 101, 103), voting patterns of Varsovians (p. 156), pre-WWII areal growth of Warsaw (p. 124), etc.

Nationality and religious statistics are featured. Jewish economic dominance is obvious. Less obvious nationalities are noted. Did you know, for instance, that 500 Ukrainians lived in Warsaw in 1921, and 1,200 in 1931? (p. 108).

THE LAST DAYS OF FLOURISHING WARSAW

Reading this book may evoke sadness in the reader. Virtually everything that the Poles had built and developed in Warsaw, over many generations, was almost totally destroyed by the Germans shortly thereafter, during WWII–mostly for non-military, genocidal reasons, after the Soviet-betrayed Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

Warsaw had to be rebuilt almost from scratch.