The political upheavals in East-Central Europe in the 20th century led to a situation where the question of loyalty took on a vital fresh significance for all groups in the population. The changing imperial and nation-state actors likewise formulated their expectations regarding the loyalty and identity of their subjects and citizens. Those expectations were in a dynamic tension between demands by the state, traditional ties and new claims by the various nationalisms. Due to the flexible semantic interpretation of concepts like fidelity and (dis)loyalty, the criteria proposed for their definition were never lasting and were subject to constant change. In this respect, the Jews in East-Central Europe were a part of the community of experience of the environment they lived in. Meanwhile, due to their specific nature as a collective and the expectations they faced from the outside, they found themselves in a special situation. For that reason, the majority societies and state institutions were especially observant and watchful in regard to loyalty and shifts in loyalty by Jews. Frequently such shifts were viewed as an expression of superficial basic convictions and opportunistic behavior.

Poland, with its history of partition and re-establishment as a state, is itself an illustrative example of multiple and fluid modes of self-positioning and can serve to illuminate the dynamic field of tension between national discourses on belonging and loyalty on the one hand, and the institutional demands for loyal basic convictions on the other. Poland’s Jews were not only part of the transition from imperial to national rule, they also played a significant role in helping to shape that transition. The workshop seeks to explore the broad range of Jewish modes of behavior and action, where action in the sense of Polish state sovereignty was as much a possibility as a singular focus solely on the interests of the Jews as a national minority in the state. At the same time, the presentations will seek to go beyond these ideal-typical modes of behavior, exploring the extent to which the plurality of loyalties by individuals or groups does not in fact describe the reality of these processes better. In addition, looking at Polish emigrants in Palestine during the interwar period could provide several comparative parameters for the analysis. These emigrants served to spur a transfer of concepts and traditions of loyalty, thus also coming to the attention of Polish state actors.