Social communication and the roots of anti-Jewish violence in the Kingdom of Poland

Abstract

During the late 1800s, the Russian Empire faced two waves of anti-Jewish violence. This led to an upsurge in communication both for and against pogroms in the western area of the Empire, which had formerly been a part of Poland. Our research has examined two archives of leaflets and reports on pogrom communication from 1881 to 82 and 1903 to 06 and revealed that the pro- and anti-pogrom narratives display structural similarities across the two decades. Our analysis indicates that the established intergroup relations that led to the violence were the underlying common factor behind these narratives. Although their objectives seemed different, pro- and anti-pogrom communications ultimately aimed to promote Polish identity.