Jagiellonian University through the eyes of American scholars and students during the interwar period

In the writings of American intellectuals and students during the interwar period, Kraków and Jagiellonian University appear as an example of an old space, sanctified by tradition, with beautiful monuments and culture, where outstanding minds of the era lived, worked, and stood out among the locals. Even if many of these intellectuals noticed the city’s and university’s various faults (filthy streets and tension with Jews), Kraków and the Jagiellonian University remained an arch-Polish place to them. Even though this was the perception of a particular and relatively small group – intellectuals and young students – such perceptions deserve further intellectual study, mainly because the group in question formed various opinions in university, diplomatic, and journalistic circles.