New York Times 25 Nov 1942 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały, 2017
The Home Army intelligence intercepted letters written by German officers and clerks to their families as well as those sent from Germany to friends and relatives on the front line. On the basis of that correspondence the Polish underground draftedspecial intelligence reports, which were sent to London. The selection of letters devoted to the Holocaust presented in this article can make it easier to describe and understand the stances and opinions of “ordinary Germans” regarding the “final solution.”
An Incident in World War II: The Destruction of the Jews in Ostrow-Lubelski
Part 1 of this paper describes the events in a small town in Poland, Ostrow Lubelski, during the Second World War, ending in the liquidation of the Jewish community and many deportees to the town, on 11 October 1942. The materials for this part of the study have come from many sources, including Yizkor [remembrance] books with chapters by survivors; a letter from a deportee from Poznan [German: Posen] describing conditions there; and testimony of two non-Jewish residents during those events. The results show Ostrow Lubelski to have been a microcosm of the methods and techniques used by the Germans for the genocide, including starvation, working to death, random murders, and, finally, deportation to the death camps. Part 2 is an attempt to recognize and define the sources of the Nazi ideology. It appears that the Nazis added nothing new to ideas and trends that existed from at least the nineteenth century on. These include, the industrialization and urbanization of Germany; Jewish emancipation; the Eugenics movement, not confined to Germany alone; anti-semitic attitudes; a mystical racism with an Aryan mythology; a sense of an existential threat from an alien race and the consequent demonization of the Jews; and, finally, the practice genocide in Southwest Africa in the early 1900s. The sources of Nazi thinking, in short, were a complex mixture of all of these. One-dimensional thinking about sources is neither appropriate nor sufficient.
Early news of the Holocaust from Poland
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 1997
London, what the latter made of it, and how and when they made it known to wider circles. The author argues that delays in publicizing the genocide resulted from a variety of factors, and that a lack of sufficient intelligence data and widespread disbelief played a more important role than any conscious policy.
Pogrom Cries – Essays on Polish-Jewish History, 1939–1946
2017
All organizations, individuals or national groups, who have harmed the Polish Nation, must be justly punished" (WiN 10, c� 33, 3278)� Considering the context of declarations that justify collective responsibility in advance, the conditions imposed on the Jewish Poles for entering the Polish nation, could have proved difficult to meet� A. Fear of Communism personified by Jews The reports compiled by WiN in 1945 describe Jews as a homogeneous group: "The society's attitude towards the Government of National Unity is unanimous� We all share the opinion that the people in charge of the government have been sent mostly by Russia and obey orders from Moscow� No one, except for the Polish Worker's Party [Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR] recognizes the Government of National Unity� All Poles know that this country is ruled by Jews and the NKWD 18 " (WiN 7, c� 42, 3558)� 11 August 1945 (WiN 42, c� 27, 5240)� We do not know what form the "provocative behavior" of the Jewish officer took, although we do know that the reports mention several incidents of that kind� E. Fear of "racial pollution" The author of one report describes undefined Jewish Poles as "well-fed, welldressed, crowding holiday and entertainment sites, doing their best to thrive, all of which makes a striking comparison with the very tough life led by the Polish peasants and workers" (WiN 9, c� 73, 5228)� The author is also anxious about the effects of mixed marriages in which "typical Jewish features in no way disappear": "according to opinion of Jews themselves, interbreeding of the Jewish race with Poles, even with an acceptance of Christianity, does not result in a loss of the features of the Jewish race" (WiN 8, c� 73, 3799)� Considering the above statement, it becomes difficult to ignore a concealed fear of "race pollution"� The same fear was apparent in Springfield, Illinois, in 1908, and was expressed in a parallel question: "Can we assimilate the negro? The very question is pollution"� 25 In this context there are several reports of underground segregation initiatives relating to Jewish and non-Jewish Poles� One dating from the summer of 1945 states: "In Łódź, the anti-Jewish action assumed a clearly defined character� Jews received written warnings saying they should leave Poland or otherwise would be shot� The security authorities cannot identify the source of these warnings but, despite assurances saying they are safe, the Jews are selling their workshops, buying foreign currency and going West� (…) Captain Lec, a writer and director of the CDŻ 26 in Łódź is currently investigating a death threat received by Ryszarda Łatowa, a CDŻ employee� The letter contains notification that 'as a result of keeping in with Jews, she is sentenced to death' � It is signed by 'Colonel Ząb' , and marked with a death's head� Similar letters have been received by all the Jews� Łatowa does not only keep in with the Jews, but also collaborates with the NKWD" (WiN 42, c� 208a, 5221)� 25 Senechal de la Roche, In Lincoln's Shadow, 25� 26 Despite my efforts, I could not decipher the abbreviation CDŻ� 27 Marcin Zaremba, "The myth of ritual murder in postwar Poland and hypotheses", in
“Germans have killed our Jews, so we’re getting rid of them.” The case of Edward Toniakiewicz
Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały, 2017
The author investigates how corpses of murdered Jews were hidden in towns during the occupation. She examines the case of Edward Toniakiewicz and his murder of three Jews he was hiding in his cellar, and whose bodies he then attempted to dump into a nearby pond. The crime came to light due to his neighbour’s curiosity. The investigation was conducted by the Polish ‘blue’ police, and its documentation was used during Toniakiewicz’s trial after the war. This revealing paper acquaints the reader with various aspects of the fate of Jews hiding on the ‘Aryan side’.
Journal of Genocide Research, vol. 22, Issue 2, 2020
The goal of Jeffrey S. Kopstein and Jason Wittenberg's book, Intimate Violence, is to provide a new and more profound explanation for the wave of anti-Jewish violence that erupted in the eastern borderlands (kresy) of prewar Poland in the summer of 1941. The authors take up the task of answering the question of why Christian neighbours, sometimes inspired by German occupation forces but without any direct coercion, had attacked and killed their Jewish neighbours. This question is a very important one. Answers should certainly continue to be sought by other scholars who at the same time should remain sensitive to all the cardinal mistakes and unfounded assertions on display in Intimate Violence.
Fateful Decisions: The Polish Policemen and the Jewish Population of Occupied Poland, 1939-1945
2017
This dissertation analyzes the activities of the Polish police during the Second World War with particular attention paid to their triangulated relationship with the German authorities and Jewish population. To properly situate their activities, the interwar period is also covered, as it forms the historical antecedent of their creation. The position of the dissertation is that the participation of the Polish police enabled the Germans to be more successful in their implementation of the Holocaust in Poland. Alongside this contention, evidence supporting the attempts of some I would like to express gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee for the support, time, ideas and valuable feedback they provided me while studying, researching, and writing this dissertation. Their scholarship has been a model to which I strive. I am indebted to my supervisor, Piotr Wróbel, for his mentorship, guidance, and unwavering support for this project. His encouragement and patience guided me through writing crises and motivated me to see it to the finish line. Thank you to Doris Bergen for being such an important part of my academic journey. She played a tremendous role in shaping this dissertation. Her insightful comments strengthened my analysis and influenced the final version of the project. Thank you to Derek Penslar, who offered his interest in my research and invited me to join the Jewish Studies collaborative program. He encouraged me to widen my knowledge of modern Jewish history, for which I am very grateful. I would like to thank Yüri Kivimäe and Harold Troper for joining my dissertation committee. I know I will benefit from your feedback. Thank you to Antony Polonsky for agreeing to serve as my external examiner. Your expertise will be valuable to my project. I would like to thank the helpful staff at each of the archives and libraries in Poland, Israel, and the United States that facilitated my research. Special thanks go out to Vincent Slatt, a librarian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, who went above and beyond his duties to ensure that my research there was successful. Fellowships and grants from various institutions and organizations provided essential financial support for my research and writing. I would like to acknowledge the support of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the v