Erica Lehrer – „Lucky Jews”

In Poland today, “Lucky Jews” outnumber Polish Jews. Figurines and images of Jews holding money have proliferated in Poland with the country’s transition to capitalism. These good luck charms hang in homes and sit by cash registers in shops and restaurants across the country. Are these images positive or negative? Do they divide Poles and Jews, or bind them together?

Are they souvenirs, talismans, toys? Holocaust ghosts or patron saints of Polish capitalism? By exploring what Jewish figurines mean to 

>> Visit the online exhibit at www.luckyjews.com

Erica Lehrer is an American cultural anthropologist and curator. She is the author of Jewish Poland Revisited: Heritage Tourism in Unquiet Places (2013). She teaches at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.