Native Foreigners: Jewish-Polish Poetry Between the World Wars by Jerzy Gregorek, Aniela Gregorek

The book Native Foreigners: Jewish-Polish Poetry Between the World Wars by Jerzy Gregorek offers an interesting exploration of the works of three prominent Polish-Jewish poets: Julian Tuwim, Mieczysław Jastrun, and Antoni Słonimski. Written in a vibrant and easy-to-read style, the book covers how the poets navigated their dual identities and the complex cultural, political, and religious panoramas of the times.

The book starts with a brief overview of Poland’s turbulent history in the interwar period. Facing both Soviet and Nazi incursions, Poland saw its Jewish population diminish significantly during this time due to the Holocaust. This chapter gives the reader essential context for the book and serves as a backdrop for the poets’ individual journeys.

The rest of the book is divided into three interlinked parts. The first section focuses on the poet Julian Tuwim and his connection to the Polish-Jewish literary tradition. Tuwim was born in what was at the time the Russian Partition of Poland, and his publications include many of the poems which are still considered a solid part of the Polish literary canon. Gregorek argues that Tuwim’s work serves as a bridge between Jewish and Polish culture. Gregorek then goes on to discuss how Tuwim’s work both criticizes and celebrates Polish culture.

The second part focuses on Mieczysław Jastrun and his relation to the culture of interwar Poland. Gregorek draws on Jastrun’s own writings to discuss how, even though he was born Jewish, he embraced Polish culture and became one of its foremost proponents. His poetry serves as evidence of his double-town identity, as he expresses his admiration of Polish culture while at the same time not shying away from its darker aspects. Gregorek also looks at the influence of European modernism on Jastrun’s work and contends that his writing provides a complex view of Polish Jewry.

The third section of the book analyzes the poetic works of Antoni Słonimski. Słonimski was a prominent Jewish voice who spoke out against antisemitism and for the alliance between Poland and the Soviet Union during the interwar period. Gregorek uses Słonimski’s work to explore the tensions between modernism and the traditional Polish-Jewish culture. Słonimski’s writing is seen by Gregorek as a great example of how an artist can combine tradition and modernism to create a larger and more important whole.

In the conclusion, Gregorek makes the point that the three poets in question were “native foreigners”- Poles of Jewish origin who lived as citizens of multicultural Poland. He posits that their works serve as evidence of how culture can exist in a state of flux and how the boundaries between “us” and “them” are not always so clear. As evidence of this, he notes how the three poets' works often overlap and interact, pointing to the fact that it is impossible to view any culture as a single monolithic entity.

In Native Foreigners: Jewish-Polish Poetry Between the World Wars, Jerzy Gregorek gives us a powerful window into the world of these three poets, one which shows us both the beauty and pain of having a dual identity. The book is not only a fascinating exploration of an important period in Polish history, but also a testament to the power of poetry to bring people of different backgrounds together.