Born in Krakow in 1914 during WWI, Rafael F. Scharf belonged to a generation whose lives were shaped by the destruction of Jewish Europe. But he later became known as a journalist and publisher in post-war Polish-Jewish scholarship studies, dedicating much of his life to communities destroyed during the Holocaust.
His story reflects many of the defining experiences in Poland during WWII, the pre-war Jewish intellectual life, wartime exile, survival, displacement and the post-war effort to preserve historical memory after the conflict.
Before the war, Scharf studied law at Jagiellonian University and contributed to the Zionist press. After moving to England in 1938, he served in the British Army and later became involved in Nazi war crimes investigations. In later years, his work focused on Jewish cultural memory and Polish-Jewish dialogue after the Holocaust.
Early Life and Education in Krakow
Rafael Felix Scharf was born at a time when Krakow remained one of the most important centres of Jewish cultural and intellectual life in southern Poland. Jewish communities had existed in Krakow for centuries, particularly within Kazimierz, where synagogues, schools, businesses and community institutions formed a central part of the city’s identity before the war.
He attended Hebrew primary school before later studying law and graduating in 1936. These years coincided with major political and social change across interwar Poland following the country’s return to independence after World War 2. Jewish newspapers, intellectual movements and political organisations became increasingly active across cities such as Krakow, Warsaw and Lodz during this period.
Scharf initially pursued legal training, although journalism gradually became his primary interest. Throughout the 1930s, he contributed to the Zionist press, writing on political and social issues as tensions across Europe continued to rise.
Many of the locations connected to Jewish heritage in Poland before WWII can still be explored today, particularly across Kazimierz and the wartime districts later shaped by the German occupation and the Holocaust. Visitors interested in Jewish Krakow and wartime history often explore these areas through our guided Krakow Jewish Ghetto Tour.
Moving to England Before WWII
Rafael F. Scharf moved to England in 1938, only one year before the outbreak of WWII. While living in London, he worked as a correspondent for the Krakow newspaper Nowy Dziennik and studied economics at the London School of Economics. His departure from Poland came during one of the most unstable periods in modern European history, as antisemitism, authoritarianism and political extremism continued to spread across the continent throughout the late 1930s. The wider political collapse that led to the Nazi invasion of Poland is explored further in our blog How Did WW2 Begin?
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the world Scharf had known in pre-war Krakow began to disappear. Within only a few years, much of Jewish Poland had been destroyed through occupation, ghettos, deportations and mass murder carried out during the Holocaust by the German occupiers.
Rafael F. Scharf During WWII
During WWII, Scharf served in the British Army. After his infantry service, he later worked within British intelligence, including the interrogation of German prisoners of war. Following the end of the conflict, he became involved in preparations connected to Nazi war crimes investigations.
Like many Polish Jews living outside occupied Europe, Scharf experienced the destruction of Jewish Poland through the fate of his own family and community. His father died in a labour camp during the German occupation, while his mother survived the war outside the Warsaw Ghetto.
By 1945, much of the Jewish world that had existed across Poland for centuries had been destroyed. Cities such as Warsaw and Krakow were once home to large and vibrant Jewish communities but were left permanently transformed by the devastation of the Holocaust and the wider impact of World War Two in Poland. The destruction of Jewish Poland took place within the wider system of ghettos, labour camps and extermination camps established by Nazi Germany across occupied Europe, including many of the concentration camps built in Poland by Nazi Germany throughout the war. This remains one of the central subjects explored in discussions surrounding why most concentration camps were located in occupied Poland.
This war permanently changed Poland’s social, political and cultural landscape for survivors, emigrants and intellectuals living abroad. These post-war years often became defined by questions surrounding memory, identity and the preservation of a vanished world.
Post-War Life And Cultural Work
After the war, Scharf remained in Britain and later obtained British citizenship. Like many post-war Polish-Jewish emigrants, he did not permanently return to Poland, although the country remained central to much of his intellectual and cultural work throughout his later life.
During the post-war decades, he worked within the printing industry before later becoming involved in the art world. Alongside this professional work, he increasingly supported projects connected to Jewish scholarship, publishing and historical memory.
Scharf co-founded The Jewish Quarterly, which became an influential publication within Anglo-Jewish intellectual life. He later focused much of his work on preserving the cultural and intellectual memory of Jewish Poland after the Holocaust. His work formed part of a wider effort to document communities, traditions and histories destroyed during the war.
Scholarship and Polish-Jewish Dialogue
Years later, he became one of the founders of the Institute of Polish-Jewish Affairs in Oxford and also served for many years as vice-president of the International Janusz Korczak Association. His published work included “Poland, What Have I To Do with Thee?“, an essay released in 1997, which explored subjects connected to Auschwitz, the Warsaw Ghetto, Polish Holocaust history, Janusz Korczak, and the wider relationship between Jews and Poland after the Holocaust.
When discussions surrounding Poland’s WWII history remained politically and emotionally sensitive, his contribution helped encourage broader dialogue surrounding memory, identity and historical responsibility in post-war Europe. Much of his later work reflected a belief that preserving historical memory required continued cultural and intellectual engagement between Poles and Jews long after the war had ended.
Rafael F. Scharf’s Historical Legacy
He died in London on 16 September 2003 and was widely recognised for his contribution to Polish-Jewish scholarship, cultural memory and post-war historical dialogue. In 1993, he received the “Commander’s Cross Order of Merit” from the Republic of Poland. Six years later, he was awarded the Medal “For Merit to Tolerance” in recognition of his contribution to Polish-Jewish understanding, cultural dialogue and the preservation of Jewish historical memory following the Holocaust.
The world Rafael Felix Scharf once knew can still be explored through former Jewish districts, wartime sites, synagogues, memorials and other Jewish historical sites across Poland connected to WWII and the Holocaust. Many of these locations form part of a wider network of historical sites in Warsaw and other former centres of Jewish life throughout Poland.
Exploring these places offers a broader understanding of communities, experiences and the individuals that shaped Polish-Jewish history before and after the war. For travellers interested in visiting these historical locations in greater depth, multi-day tours across Poland provide broader insight into WWII Jewish history in Poland.
