Open Access

Miłosz K. Cybowski

• Erica Lehrer's "Jewish Poland Revisited. Heritage Tourism in Unquiet Places" is an ethnographical study of contemporary Poland. Or, to put things more accurately, it is a study of contemporary Kazimierz, Cracow's prewar Jewish district. Unlike other Jewish places across Poland (for example Muranów, the Jewish part of Warsaw, destroyed during the war), buildings in Kazimierz survived the war almost intact. However, the majority of its Jewish population perished in the nearby Auschwitz death camp, leaving the district devoid of its rich pre-war Jewish culture. Lehrer's interest in Kazimierz began in the 1990s, when the area was slowly transforming from the city's slum (as it had been perceived throughout the communist era) into a trendier and more Jewish place. The post-1989 years saw a rising number of Jewish tourists flocking into the area, as well as the growing interest in Jewish history and culture among non-Jewish Poles. Lehrer's attempt to analyse both Jewish and Polish sides of the problem can beErica Lehrer's "Jewish Poland Revisited. Heritage Tourism in Unquiet Places" is an ethnographical study of contemporary Poland. Or, to put things more accurately, it is a study of contemporary Kazimierz, Cracow's prewar Jewish district. Unlike other Jewish places across Poland (for example Muranów, the Jewish part of Warsaw, destroyed during the war), buildings in Kazimierz survived the war almost intact. However, the majority of its Jewish population perished in the nearby Auschwitz death camp, leaving the district devoid of its rich pre-war Jewish culture. Lehrer's interest in Kazimierz began in the 1990s, when the area was slowly transforming from the city's slum (as it had been perceived throughout the communist era) into a trendier and more Jewish place. The post-1989 years saw a rising number of Jewish tourists flocking into the area, as well as the growing interest in Jewish history and culture among non-Jewish Poles. Lehrer's attempt to analyse both Jewish and Polish sides of the problem can be divided into two parts. The first half (chapters two and three) is concerned with the outsiders' view of Kazimierz and Poland while the second half (chapters four, five and six) discusses aspects of Polish involvement in the local heritage and tourism.…