Introduction 
POLIN, which was established in 1986 as a yearbook, seeks to provide a resource for the growing number of scholars who seek authoritative historical and cultural material on Polish Jewry. It aims to encourage research on an inter-disciplinary basis and has sought contributions from many disciplines - history, sociology, politics, anthropology, linguistics, literature and folklore - and from a wide variety of viewpoints. Editorial policy is controlled by a five-person collegium, made up of Israel Bartal, Director of the Center for the Study of Polish Jewry and Professor of Jewish History at the Hebrew University, Monika Garbowska, Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the Marie Curie Skłodowska University, Lublin, Antony Polonsky, Chairman, Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Waltham, MA., Michael Steinlauf, Associate Professor of Jewish History at Gratz College, Philadelphia and Jerzy Tomaszewski, Professor of History and Director of the Mordekhai Anieliewicz Centre for Jewish Studies at Warsaw University. The Collegium is assisted by editorial and advisory boards, made up of leading specialists in Polish-Jewish Studies from Poland, Israel, North America and Western Europe.