Józef Feldman (wartime pseudonym: Józef Sokołowski; born on 1 August 1899 in

Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...

, died on 16 June 1946 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

) was a Polish historian of Jewish ethnicity, professor of the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

in Kraków and a member of the

Polish Academy of Learning The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning (, PAU), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of sciences (the other being the Po ...

Life and career

1917–1939

He was the son of Wilhelm Feldman, a writer, playwright, literary critic and historian, and Maria Kleinman, a translator of Western literature. His family was of

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

ethnicity. He graduated from secondary school (Gimnazjum no 4) in Kraków in 1917, then studied law (1917–1919) and history (1919–1922) in the Jagiellonian University, among others under the direction of

Władysław Konopczyński Władysław Konopczyński (26 November 1880 – 12 July 1952) was a leading Polish historian''Encyklopedia Polski'', p. 305. and publisher of primary-source materials.''Encyklopedia powszechna PWN'', vol. 2, p. 539. Life Władysław Konopczyń ...

and

Stanisław Kot Stanisław Kot (22 October 188526 December 1975) was a Polish historian and politician. A native of the Austrian partition of Poland, early in life he was attracted to the cause of Polish independence. As a professor of the Jagiellonian Unive ...

. During 1918-1920 he served as a volunteer in the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

. In 1922 he was appointed assistant in the Seminar of History of the Jagiellonian University, in 1923 he defended his doctor thesis ''Polska w dobie wielkiej wojny północnej 1704-1709"'' 'Poland in the Time of the Great Northern War 1704-1709''elaborated under the supervision of Stanisław Kot. In 1927 he passed examination for post-doctoral degree based on his study ''Polska a sprawa wschodnia 1709-1714'' 'Poland and the Eastern Question 1709-1714''and became senior reader in the Department of Universal History of the Jagiellonian University. Since 1937 he was associate professor, and at the same time took over the management of the Department of Modern History of the Jagiellonian University and was the chief thereof until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and since the end of the war. He lectured the universal history and the diplomatic history of the 19th century and 20th century; since 1929 he additionally lectured the same subjects at the School of Political Sciences in Kraków. He was a visiting lecturer in Paris, was involved in the activities of the International Congress of Historical Sciences in Warsaw in 1933 as well as in Zurich in 1938, was one of the initiators of the International Institute of the History of the French Revolution in Paris. His friends included historians

Marian Kukiel Marian Włodzimierz Kukiel (pseudonyms: ''Marek Kąkol'', ''Stach Zawierucha''; 15 May 1885 - 15 August 1973) was a Polish major general, historian, social and political activist. One of the founders of Związek Walki Czynnej in 1908 and promi ...

Stanisław Kutrzeba Stanisław Marian Kutrzeba (1876–1946) was a Polish historian and politician who was Professor of the Jagiellonian University from 1908, and then until the end of his life the Chair of Studies in Polish law. He was chair of the Law Department ( ...

as well as foreign scholars.

1939–1945

During

he was wanted by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

because of his pre-war scholarly researches of German-Polish relations, which criticized German policy towards Poland. Some time he worked as archivist in the

Ossolineum Ossoliński National Institute (, ZNiO), or the Ossolineum is a Polish cultural Foundation (non-profit), foundation, publishing house, archival institute and a research centre of national significance founded in 1817 in Lwów (now Lviv). Located ...

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, then he went into hiding in the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery in Hanaczów near Lviv. Then he moved to Warsaw. He took part in the

underground education Underground education or clandestine education refers to various practices of teaching carried out at times and places where such educational activities were deemed illegal. Examples of places where widespread clandestine education practices took ...

(he lectured in the then underground

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

and in the Warsaw Pedagogic School). War experience accompanied by studies upon Christian philosophy made him a deeply believing catholic. During the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

in 1944, unfit for military service because of his heart disease and myopia, he served in the ranks of the monastery in

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Kalwaria Zebrzydowska () is a town in southern Poland with 4,429 inhabitants (2007 estimate). As of 1999, it is situated in Lesser Poland or Małopolska (in Polish). Previously, the town was administered within the Voivodeship of Bielsko-Biała ...

1945–1946

In 1945 he returned to his post at the

, in the same year he became a corresponding member of the

. In 1946 became a member of the

Polish Historical Society Polish Historical Society (, PTH) is a Polish professional scientific society for historians. History Founded in 1886 in Lwów by Ksawery Liske as a local society, its scientific journal became the '' Kwartalnik Historyczny'', which was first pu ...

. He died in 1946.

Historical research

Fields of interest

His main areas of study included: * history of Polish-German relations, * international diplomatic history, * history of Poland and France in the 18th century. Most valued and republished part of his production includes researches on German-Polish relations and the times of

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

German-Polish relations

He paid much attention to the policy of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

towards Poles; after a series of partial studies he published a monograph ''Bismarck a Polska'' 'Bismarck and Poland''(1938, then republished in 1947, 1966 and 1980), in which he gave a comprehensive and critical analysis of Bismarck's policy regarding Polish question; the monograph was also of political importance as it influenced public opinion by an exposure of historical sources and continuity of the anti-Polish policy of Germany. During World War II the book was prohibited and hunted down by German occupation authorities.

Times of Augustus II the Strong and the Great Northern War

He was a pioneer (after his predecessor

Kazimierz Jarochowski Kazimierz Jarochowski (1828–1888) was a Polish historian, publicist of the Dziennik Poznański ''Dziennik Poznański'' () was an information and current affairs newspaper that was originally founded as a magazine. It was published in 1859� ...

) of scholarly research of the history of Poland in time of the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

during the reign of

. He published a series of monographs: ''Polska w dobie wielkiej wojny północnej 1704-1709'' 'Poland in the Time of the Great Northern War 1704-1709''(1925) continued in ''Polska a sprawa wschodnia 1709-1714'' 'Poland and the Eastern Question 1709-1714''(1926) and ''Geneza Konfederacji Tarnogrodzkiej'' 'The Origins of the Tarnogród Confederation''published in "Kwartalnik Historyczny" (1928), and a monograph of king ''Stanisław Leszczyński'' (1948, republished in 1959 and 1984). Feldman was the author of the statement, that the period of the Wettin dynasty in Poland was featured not only by a decline of the country, but it was also the beginning of progressive thought and inner rebirth of the nation. The new tendency can be traced in the Tarnogór Confederation.

Other research

In his work ''Sprawa polska w roku 1848'' 'The Polish Question in 1848''(1933) he presented an outline of Prussian and Russian policy towards the situation on lands of partitioned Poland during the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. Józef Feldman researched the scholarly production of

Michał Bobrzyński Michał Hieronim Bobrzyński (Michael Bobrzynski) (30 September 1849 – 3 July 1935) was a Polish historian and conservative politician. Life Bobrzynski was born at Kraków in Galicia. He was educated there, graduating from the '' gymnasi ...

Szymon Askenazy Szymon Askenazy (December 24, 1865, Zawichost – June 22, 1935, Warsaw) was a Polish Jews, Jewish-Polish historian, educator, statesman and diplomat, founder of the Askenazy school. He was the first Polish representative at the League of Natio ...

and

Wacław Tokarz Wacław Tokarz (7 June 1873 in Częstochowa - 3 May 1937 in Warsaw) was a Polish historian and military officer. A Colonel of the Polish Army and a professor of both the Warsaw University and Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian Univers ...

. He was an editor of the ''Cambridge History of Poland'' (1941) and prepared a new revised edition of his father's, Wilhelm Feldman, classical monograph ''Dzieje polskiej myśli politycznej 1864-1914'' 'History of the Polish Political Thought 1864-1914''(1933, reprinted in 1992).

List of publications

Józef Feldman published over 160 studies, including: * ''Polska a Prusy'' 'Poland and Prussia''(1924) * ''Sprawa dysydencka za Augusta II'' [''The Dissident Question in the Time of

''] (1924) * ''Polska w dobie wielkiej wojny północnej 1704-1709'' 'Poland in the Time of the Great Northern War 1704-1709''(1925) * ''Polska a sprawa wschodnia 1709-1714'' 'Poland and the Eastern Question 1709-1714''(1926) * ''Geneza Konfederacji Tarnogrodzkiej'' 'The Origins of the Tarnogród Confederation''published in "Kwartalnik Historyczny" (1928) * ''Czasy saskie'' [a selection of historical sources of the times of Wettin dynasty in Poland, published in the series "Biblioteka Narodowa" by

publishers] (1928) * ''Bismarck a Komisja Osadnicza'' [''Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck and the Prussian Settlement Commission, Settlement Commission''] (1928) * ''Mocarstwa wobec powstania styczniowego'' [''The Powers Towards the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

''] (1929) * ''Traktat wersalski jako etap zmagań polsko-niemieckich'' 'The Treaty of Versailles as a Stage in the Polish-German Struggle''">Treaty_of_Versailles.html" ;"title="'The Treaty of Versailles">'The Bismarck Towards the Catholic Church''">Treaty of Versailles as a Stage in the Polish-German Struggle''(1930) * ''Bismarck wobec Kościoła katolickiego'' [''Otto von Bismarck">Bismarck Towards the Catholic Church''(1932) * ''U podstaw stosunków polsko-angielskich 1788-1863'' [''The Origins of Polish-English Relations''] (1933, in: "Polityka narodów") * ''Antagonizm polsko-niemiecki w dziejach'' [''Polish-German Antagonism in History''] (1934) * ''Kraków i ziemia krakowska'' [''Kraków and the Kraków Land''] (1934, together with Roman Grodecki and Kazimierz Lepszy) * ''

Stanisław Leszczyński Stanisław I Leszczyński (Stanisław Bogusław; 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at various times Prince of Deux-Ponts, Duk ...

'' (1934) * ''Na przełomie stosunków polsko-francuskich 1774-1787, Vergennes wobec Polski'' Vergennes Towards Poland''">Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes">Vergennes Towards Poland''(1935) * ''Nowsze kierunki badań nad Wielką Rewolucją'' 'Newer Trends in Researches of the Great French Revolution''(1935) * ''Rewolucja francuska a Europa'' 'The French Revolution and Europe''(1936, in: ''Wielka historia powszechna'') * ''Dwa wizerunki cesarskich Niemiec'' 'Two Faces of the Imperial Germany''(1937) * ''Bismarck a Polska'' 'Bismarck and Poland''(1938, 1947, 1966, 1980) * ''Udział Polski w badaniach nad historią nowożytną'' 'Poland's Participation in Researches on Modern History''(1937) * ''Rozkład kultury mieszczańskiej'' 'Decay of Middle-Class Culture''(1946) * ''Stanisław Leszczyński'' (1948, 1959, 1984)