The Holocaust changed the Polish landscape, as well as its figurative representations. Jewish figurines began to timidly reappear in museum competitions, in Cepelia (a folk art cooperative), and at Krak\u00f3w market stalls after World War II, in a completely different context, now marked by the stigma of loss. As a reflection of pre-war tradition, they returned permanently in the 1970s, influenced by competitions for traditional works made by former artisans or visual artists. <\/p>\n\n
The figurine of a Jew holding a coin or a money pouch appeared in Poland in the 1990s in the commercial offerings of souvenir shops and market stalls, during a period of rapid transformation. It quickly became a symbol of prosperity and a good luck charm, permeating the souvenir industry and now being available in virtually all souvenir shops and at fairs in Krak\u00f3w.
With the emergence of the \u201cJew with a coin,\u201d vendors offering traditional figurines of Jews at Emaus stalls began promoting them with slogans based on association\u2014\u201ca Jew for good luck.\u201d In this way, a false belief developed in the public consciousness that the phenomenon of the \u201cJew with a coin\u201d is an old Krak\u00f3w tradition originating from Emaus.
Thus, the “Jew for Good Luck” fits within a broad spectrum of discriminatory attitudes, where the mockery, vilification, and caricature of the figure bear the hallmarks of anti-Semitism. In response to these controversial souvenirs, representatives of the artistic community, Members of the European Parliament, academics specializing in ethnology, sociology, history, and Jewish studies, urban activists, and Jews from Poland and around the world have written appeals. The phenomenon has been the subject of numerous academic publications, studies, conferences, as well as festivals and artistic interventions. A few years ago, the phenomenon was documented in an exhibition curated by Canadian researcher Erika Lehrer at the Krak\u00f3w Ethnographic Museum. The city also received extensive correspondence from tourists who were outraged and disturbed by the presence of such items in a city that had suffered so much from the Holocaust and the loss of a significant portion of its population. Criticism also comes from prominent experts, including Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, press publications, and statements from the literary world and columnists. <\/p>\n\n
The first roundtable meeting on this topic was organized in November 2020 by the Villa Decjusza, FestivALT Association, Jewish Association Czulent, and the Autonomia Foundation. The images of the “Jew with a coin” were also one of the key topics of discussion at the Krak\u00f3w Multicultural Festival. The conclusions from these meetings and discussions are clear. The presence of such objects, as well as the inscriptions placed on market stalls, such as “\u017bydki” (“Little Jews”), “\u017bydki na szcz\u0119\u015bcie” (“Jews for Good Luck”), and “\u017bydek za 5 z\u0142” (“Jew for 5 PLN”), have decidedly negative social and cultural consequences and, as a result, harm the image of Krak\u00f3w.
The next step involved consultations conducted by representatives of the city, cultural institutions, and civil society, as well as the organization of another roundtable meeting.<\/p>\n\n
The meeting, organized by the Villa Decjusza Institute of Culture and the Krak\u00f3w Mayor’s Representative for Culture, was attended by representatives of the Krak\u00f3w City Council, the Departments of Culture and National Heritage, the Tourism Department, the Department of Social Communication, the Administrative Affairs Department, managers of municipal areas and roads, representatives of the academic, museum, congregation, and trade associations, craftsmen, museums (including the Museum of Krak\u00f3w and the Ethnographic Museum), as well as representatives of the Jewish community. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n At the meeting, a number of opinions were presented that clearly confirmed the antisemitic dimension of the “Jew with a coin” figurine. It was established that the presence of these figurines in souvenir shops and at markets is unequivocally perceived as evidence of a lack of reflection and sensitivity in the area of so-called “difficult heritage.” They are also compared by the Jewish diaspora from around the world and many researchers to other antisemitic phenomena, such as the burning of a Jewish effigy, the custom of beating Judas, or the presence of Jewish caricatures in far-right pamphlets and publications. <\/p>\n\n Participants in the Round Table declared that the city, which as a result of World War II lost nearly all of its Jewish residents, must take all possible steps to prevent the presence of this phenomenon in public spaces. The inappropriateness of this fact was emphasized due to the complexity of Polish-Jewish relations, as well as the cultural-social consequences and the city’s image and reputation. A commitment was made to undertake all necessary actions to counter this phenomenon through close cooperation among various units and departments of the City Hall, efforts in information, communication, and education for all parties involved, as well as social engagement in addressing the issue of difficult heritage. <\/p>\n\n Only through the collaboration of entrepreneurs, tourism organizations, guides, city representatives, educational institutions, cultural institutions, particularly museums, can the local community be sensitized to the consequences of irresponsibly offering antisemitic merchandise. Additionally, it was emphasized that there is an urgent need to promote and support traditional craftsmanship among sellers, stall owners, and market organizers in a spirit of understanding the complexity of the phenomenon and the emotions it provokes. Owners of commercial infrastructure or event organizers responsible for stall rentals and the annual selection of exhibitors have the ability to make decisions about the merchandise they offer and its origin. The participants of the meeting call for reflection on this issue and for taking all possible actions to bring about a positive change in the way people think and to raise awareness of the described phenomenon, ultimately leading to a change in our shared reality. This phenomenon is socially and culturally harmful, difficult to accept, and painful for some of our residents, as well as for a significant number of tourists visiting our city in search of the truth about the times of coexistence and, later, the extermination of their ancestors. A city that has experienced such a tremendous tragedy of the Holocaust, with the loss of a significant portion of its citizens at the hands of the Nazi occupiers, must be aware that certain items sold are seen through the lens of these tragic events. The participants of the meeting agreed that events organized in public spaces serve as a showcase and are an element of our culture and tradition through which we are perceived not only by residents, but also by tourists and visitors, whose opinions influence the international image and potential\u2014also tourism-related\u2014of the City of Krak\u00f3w. Villa Decjusza, Krak\u00f3w, April 22, 2021.<\/p>\n\n Signataries (in alphabetical orderj):<\/strong> The appearance of figurines representing Jews \u2013 neighbors, is dated by ethnographers to the 19th century. These figurines were hand-carved from wood and then painted. They typically depicted Jews in traditional attire, reading books, playing instruments, or engaging in trade. The mythologized and reduced representation of one-tenth of the Polish society at the time was not the only group shown in the imagination of folk artists \u2013 fairs and market stalls were often filled with figurines of Krakowiaks and Highlanders, representatives of various professions, each attributed with mystical meanings. Jews, as inseparable neighbors, appeared in iconography and folklore; beekeepers would place hives in the shape of bearded figures wearing yarmulkes, constructs symbolizing food, prosperity, and good fortune. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,245,251],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy-and-systemic-change","category-legal-assistance-and-interventions","category-statements-and-comments"],"yoast_head":"\n