ABSTRACT

In recent years, a lively debate has developed in Poland on the question of what responsibility the Poles share for the mass murder of the Jews, which took place largely on Polish soil. This debate was sparked off by the showing in Poland of Claude Lanzmann's film, Shoah , which revealed how deeply-rooted anti-Jewish prejudice could still be found in the Polish countryside. Anti-semitism is something which Poland has preferred to forget. But before the Second World War hostility to the Jews was widespread and this climate of pervasive anti-semitism may have facilitated the Nazis' murderous plans. But Poles now, with great courage, are facing this dark side of their past. This book, translated and edited by a leading British historian of Poland, Antony Polonsky, is a major contribution to the history of the Holocaust. It gathers together the most important contribution to the current debate, revealing the agony many Poles feel about their lack of action during the war.

chapter 1|33 pages

INTRODUCTION

chapter 2|15 pages

THE POOR POLES LOOK AT THE GHETTO*

chapter |4 pages

APPENDIX

chapter 4|10 pages

A REPLY TO JAN BLONSKI*

chapter 5|3 pages

GUILT BY NEGLECT Ewa Berberyusz

chapter 11|11 pages

IN A SENSE I AM AN ANTI-SEMITE*

chapter 12|10 pages

POLISH REASONS AND JEWISH REASONS*

chapter 13|6 pages

THE EIGHTY-FIRST BLOW*

chapter 14|5 pages

PILATE’S GESTURE*

chapter |6 pages

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS