Roman Melnyk
Scripta Judaica Cracoviensia, Volume 18, 2020, pp. 67 - 84
https://doi.org/10.4467/20843925SJ.20.005.13873This article proposes a study of the usage of the concept of “Galicia” in the leading Jewish political newspaper of interwar Eastern Galicia (southeastern Poland), the Zionist daily Chwila. The use of “Galicia” is analyzed along with its main concurrent in the public sphere, the term “Małopolska” (Lesser Poland). Each term had its realm of usage, while each was caused by a distinct kind of motivation. “Lesser Poland” dominated the political and common sphere as the name of the former Austrian part of Poland, while “Galicia” was reserved mostly for writing about cultural issues and stereotypes. “Lesser Poland” was supposedly accepted by Galician Zionists as a tool to express their loyalty to the newly restored Polish Republic, while “Galicia” was preserved as an instrument for communication with other Galician Jews abroad and their common Austrian past, as well as an instrument of othering them from the outside. Both terms continued to be used in such a way throughout the entire interwar period.