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20th Century and Beyond

Post-war Poland

Post-World War II antisemitism saw a return to the tradition of blood libel rhetoric in claims against the Jewish people. Research suggests somewhere between 650-750 Jews were killed upon returning home to Poland following the war, and blood libel was one predominant reason that spurred many acts of violence against Jews, which was the case for the Kielce pogrom.[1]

One of the most well-known cases of blood libel following World War II was in the Polish town of Kielce in July of 1946. The pogrom, which began on July 4, 1946, was in response to the reported kidnapping of Henryk Błaszczyk. The young boy upon returning to his home suggested that residents of 7 Planty street, a Jewish house in Kielce, kidnapped him. It was after this suggestion that the pogrom, which killed 42 Jews and injured 40, began.[2]

An antisemitic belief in Poland following the war was the blood libel accusation that Jews killed Christian children and used their blood for healing purposes. Postwar propaganda suggested that the Christian blood would be used to heal and strengthen the Jews following the Holocaust.[3]

Zofia Nałkowska, a Polish writer, wrote in her journals, Dzienniki VI, that this blood libel followed the idea that “ritual murder performed by ‘Jews who needed blood [transfusions to fortify themselves] after returning from camps.”[4]

Polish society still draws on the antisemitic blood libel accusations into the 21^st century. A survey conducted by the Center for Research and Prejudice in Poland stated that in both 2009 and 2013 at least 10 percent of the population surveyed agreed with the idea that Jews used Christian blood for ritual purposes. That number rose from 10 percent in 2009 to 13 percent in 2013.

21^st Century Blood Libel Accusations in Britain

In February of 2009, Caryl Churchill, a British playwright, debuted her 10-minute play, “Seven Jewish Children” at the Royal Court Theatre in London. The play, which was in response to the Israeli military strike on Gaza in 2008 and 2009, received harsh criticism about its content. The British weekly magazine, The Spectator, called the play “a ten-minute blood-libel.”[5] The Washington Post wrote that other playwrights wrote their own plays in response to this production including the New Jersey playwright, Deb Margolin, who wrote a play entitled “Seven Palestinian Children.”[6]

Churchill writes in her play:

“Tell her, tell her about the army, tell her to be proud of the army. Tell her about the family of dead girls, tell her their names why not, tell her the whole world knows why shouldn't she know? tell her there's dead babies, did she see babies? tell her she's got nothing to be ashamed of. Tell her they did it to themselves. Tell her they want their children killed to make people sorry for them, tell her I'm not sorry for them, tell her not to be sorry for them, tell her we're the ones to be sorry for, tell her they can't talk suffering to us.” [7]

Critics suggest that in Churchill’s writing she may be insinuating that children were killed on purpose or perhaps targeted during the Gaza incident in 2008-2009.[8]

The vice chairman of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, Jonathan Hoffman, called the play “a modern blood libel, drawing on old antisemitic myths.”[9]

Political cartoons are another way 21^st century British society has expressed antisemitic, blood libel claims. In 2003 the British newspaper, The Independent, published a political cartoon that showed former prime minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, eating a Palestinian baby.[10] In 2006, The Guardian published a political cartoon that showed a fist with six Stars of David punching a child’s face.[11] The anti-Zionist cartoon exemplified the blood libel image of Jews taking blood from children.

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[1] Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann et al., Seeking Peace in the Wake of War: Europe, 1943-1947 (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015), 192.

[2] Gross, Fear: Anti-semitism in Poland After Auschwitz ; an Essay in Historical Interpretation (New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007), 105.

[3] Gross, 126

[4] Gross, 74

[5] Monica Hesse, "Tackling 'Seven Jewish Children,' a Short Play That's Long on Debate," The Washington Post, March 17, 2009, , accessed December 14, 2016, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/16/AR2009031603255.html.

[6] Hesse, 1

[7] Caryl Churchill, Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza (London: Nick Hern Books, 2009), 7.

[8] Alvin H. Rosenfeld and Alvin H. Rosenfeld, Resurgent Antisemitism: Global Perspectives (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013), 35.

[9]  Rosenfeld, 36.

[10] Rosenfeld, 68.

[11] Rosenfeld, 69.

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[1] Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann et al., Seeking Peace in the Wake of War: Europe, 1943-1947 (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015), 192.

[2] Gross, Fear: Anti-semitism in Poland After Auschwitz ; an Essay in Historical Interpretation (New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007), 105.

[3] Gross, 126

[4] Gross, 74