Eine Gesellschaft im Zustand der Anomie: Polen 1944-1946. Ein Kommentar

Society in a State of Anomie – Poland 1944-1946 Abstract In this text the author refers to the book “The Great Fear” (Die grose Angst) by Marcin Zaremba, which talks about the psychological condition of Polish society in the first years after the war, a society that was influenced by “fear”. This fear was caused by the traumatic war experience, the Red Army, chaos, the black market, supply difficulties, hunger and inflation, criminality, epidemics, political repression, and safety issues. All these factors led to a condition of anomie. Thus the author claims that Zaremba’s book is situated within post-heroic historiography, and he compares it with works by Georges Lefebvre, Jean Delumeau and Jan T. Gross. The text also deals with antisemitism in Poland just after the war and compares it with the situation in other European countries.