Introduction

POLIN, which was established in 1986 as a yearbook, seeks to provide a resource for the growing number of scholars who seek authoritative historical and cultural material on Polish Jewry. It aims to encourage research on an inter-disciplinary basis and has sought contributions from many disciplines - history, sociology, politics, anthropology, linguistics, literature and folklore - and from a wide variety of viewpoints. Editorial policy is controlled by a six-person collegium, made up of Israel Bartal, Director of the Center for the Study of Polish Jewry and Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew University, Monika Garbowska, Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the Marie Curie Skłodowska University, Lublin, Francois Guesnet, co-chair, Reader in Jewish History, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London, Antony Polonsky, co-chair, Chief Historian, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Michael Steinlauf, Associate Professor of Jewish History at Gratz College, Philadelphia and Jonathan Webber of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. The Collegium is assisted by editorial and advisory boards, made up of leading specialists in Polish-Jewish Studies from Poland, Israel, North America and Western Europe. Since 1994 POLIN has been published by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization.