Bogna Wilczyńska
Studia Judaica, Nr 2 (36), 2015, pp. 293 - 319
https://doi.org/10.4467/24500100STJ.15.013.4604The article is an attempt to analyze the phenomenon of Jewish football in interwar Kraków. On the basis of books on the topic, newspaper articles and recollections of witnesses, the author describes the significant role of the Jews in the development of football in Poland. The primary focus, however, is the importance of competitive sports for minority representatives, especially in the context of their relationship with the Catholic majority. The main objective of this paper is to present Polish-Jewish relations in interwar Kraków from the perspective of the four competing clubs: Jutrzenka, Maccabi, Wisła and Cracovia. The teams not only battled on the sports field but also represented the entire spectrum of ideological views and attitudes. Differences between the left-wing Jutrzenka, Zionist Maccabi, democratic Cracovia and nationally-oriented Wisła reflected important antagonisms between Poles and Jews, as well as divisions within ethnic groups.