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FOREWORDTOTHESECONDEDITION
Thisbookwaswritteninseveralstages.Itsfirstversionwasmy
doctorthesiswrittenundertheguidanceofProfessorAntoniMączek,
whichIdefendedin1999attheHistoricalInstituteofWarsaw
University.ItbecameastartingpointofthebooktitledMiędzy
demokracjąaoligarchią.WładzegminżydowskichwPoznaniu
iSwarzędzu(odpołowyXVIIdokońcaXVIIIwieku)
whichwas
publishedin2000.ItsEnglishtranslationtitledTheJewish
Community.AuthorityandSocialControlinPoznańandSwarzędz,
1650-1793waspublishedin2008.Itwasamodifiedversionofthe
Polishtext,takingintoconsiderationthecommentsthathadbeen
madebyitsreviewersandafewnewarchivaldiscoveries.Italsotried
totakeintoaccounttheneedsofanon-Polishreader,lessfamiliar
withtherealitiesoftheancientCommonwealth.
Thebookpredominantlyreliesonthearchivalsourcesproducedby
twoJewishcommunitiesinWielkopolskainPoznańandSwarzędz
whichareampleandverywellpreservedcomparedtothoseofother
Commonwealth’scommunities.Italsofeaturesbroaderphenomena
characteristicofthewaytheJewishself-governmentfunctionedatthe
locallevel.Itisalsoworthunderscoringthatthestateofestates,
whereindividualestatesexercisedseparaterightsandweredifferently
organized,wasaverygoodgroundforthegrowthofsuchself-
government.
ThissecondEnglisheditionofthebookislargelyduetothe
unflagginginterestinthehistoryandcultureofthePolishJews.That
interestisnotamerefad,butaphenomenonthathasbecome
apermanentfeatureofhistoricalwriting.Thereisalsoanoticeable
trendforscholars,whoareincreasinglybetterpreparedintermsof
researchtoolsandlanguage,tofocusonthatareaofstudy.Which
translatesintoanewperceptionoftheplaceandroleoftheJews
withoutwhomthesocio-economiclandscapeoftheancient
Commonwealthwouldhavebeenhighlyincompleteandsparse.Itis
becomingmorewidespreadinPoland,too,asevidencedbythe
emergenceofvariousmuseumswhichfeature/underscorethe