Review by Choice Review
This very important small book by Gross (political science, New York Univ.), an expert on Poland, further refutes the myth that the Holocaust may be entirely attributed to the Nazis and their henchmen. Following recent research that implicates the regular German army and military police, this study conclusively proves that in the town Jedwabne the local Polish population--when given permission, but not orders--massacred 1,600 local Jews, virtually all of their Jewish "neighbors." (Seven Jews were hidden by a Polish family.) At least half of the adult men participated in decapitating some, piercing others with sharp spikes, and cremating the majority alive in a barn that was doused with kerosene. The Nazis simply stood by and took pictures. This thoroughly documented volume also gives powerful evidence that primitive methods and ancient antisemitic motifs based on religion (such as the ritual murder libel) played a role alongside mechanized destruction and Nazi racial doctrine. Gross further puts to rest the myth that Jews, in particular, were connected with the Soviet regimes before the Nazi invasion of the USSR and after the war. The evidence suggests that it was the antisemites who opportunistically collaborated with the Soviet regimes. All collections. M. A. Meyer Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
On July 10, 1941, in Jedwabne, Poland, the town's 1,600 Jews were murdered by its 1,600 Christians. The non-Jews armed themselves with axes, clubs studded with nails, and other instruments of torture and chased the Jews into the street. Some Jews were butchered and thrown into a hole they had been forced to dig. Beards of old Jews were burned, newborn babies were killed at their mothers' breasts, and some people were beaten and forced to sing and dance. The Jews that were still alive were herded into a barn that was doused with kerosene and set on fire. After the fire, the townspeople used axes to knock gold teeth from still not entirely decomposed bodies, and in other ways violated the corpses. The sources the author used to chronicle this horrible episode include evidence recorded during trials in 1949 and 1953 and a memorial book of the Jedwabne Jews published in 1980, in which several eyewitnesses described the tragedy of their hometown. --George Cohen
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Claude Lanzman's myth-shattering documentary film Shoah demonstrated that some Polish peasants were keenly aware of the Nazis' mass murder of Jews on Polish soil. This volume takes the real-life horror story a step further, documenting how nearly all of the Jews of Jedwabne, Poland, were murdered on one day most of them burned alive by their non-Jewish neighbors. Drawing on testimony that prompted and emanated from a 1949 Polish trial, Gross carefully describes how apparently normal citizens terrorized and killed approximately 1,600 Jewish villagers. Gross, a professor of politics and European studies at New York University, also attempts to place this heinous crime in historical and political context, concluding that he can explain but not fully understand. How to understand the Polish villagers, led by their mayor, exceeding the July 10, 1941, command of conquering German soldiers to annihilate the Jews but spare some tradesmen? Immediately,according to Gross, local townsmen-turned-hooligans grabbed clubs studded with nails and other weapons and chased the Jews into the street. Many tried to escape through the surrounding fields, but only seven succeeded. The thugs fatally shot many Jews after forcing them to dig mass graves. They shoved the remaining hundreds of Jews into a barn, doused it with kerosene and set it ablaze. Some on the outside played musical instruments to drown out the victims' cries. Yet Neighbors isn't as terrifying as one might expect, since Gross, a Polish ?migr? himself, guides the reader along an analytical path. By de-emphasizing the drama, he helps readers cope with the awful incident, but his narrative occasionally bogs down in his own thoughts. Still, he asserts hopefully that young Poles are "ready to confront the unvarnished history of Polish-Jewish relations during the war." (May) Forecast: The always heated question of the role of Poles in the Holocaust comes to a head here. The book is bound to generate controversy (it has already garnered mention in the New York Times), though its sales will probably be limited. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
