Shmuel Yosef Agnon, born in Poland in 1888, is one of the central figures in Modern Hebrew literature. His concern as an author for the historical past of the Jews of Poland and for all aspects of the relationships between Jews and Poles is inherently woven into his writings.
This monograph is a revised and expanded version of an article entitled, "Between Historical Reality and Literary Fantasy – Polish-Jewish Relations in the writings of S.Y. Agnon", which was first published in Hebrew in Gal-Ed XI (1989), pp. 109-160. The text was translated by Ora Wiskind. For ease of reference all titles of Agnon's work quoted in the text appear in transliterated form; the original Hebrew titles and translations are included. The illustrations present in the text are from the "Yad Agnon" collection.