Rewolucja etniczna od góry i od dołu: polska prowincja w obliczu kryzysu uchodźczego drugiej połowy lat trzydziestych. Przypadek Zbąszynia i Polenaktion (1938–1939)

The article shows the process of progressive ethnicization of public life on the example of a small town in the Wielkopolska region, with particular reference to the arrival of a larger group of Jews with Polish passports, deported by the authorities of the Third Reich, from two perspectives: the emergence of official discourse (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and provincial discourse (with particular reference to the town of Zbąszyń). The author assumes that the language of ethnic stigmatization, in many cases with elements of radical antisemitic rhetoric, significantly permeated and ultimately shaped both these discourses and later formed social practices. The new social imaginary which developed on this basis excluded ethnic outsiders in principle, and Jews in particular. There was little room left for humanitarian aid, gestures of compassion and empathy, or solidarity, as there were either no representatives for such emotions in the public space, or they were categorized as strangers or aliens/enemies.