Neighbors vs. Neighbors: Controversy in Poland

After reading Jan Gross’s book Neighbors I found myself asking what would I have done? Although I am not sure when my ancestors came to the United States, my mother’s family is Polish. I am not Jewish and after finishing Neighbors I was weighed down by the knowledge that it is possible, had I been living in Jebwabne in 1941, I would have been asked to participate in the massacre. I think Gross made a mistake when he did not include a discussion of fear and the will to survive that many must have had, as reasons why ethnic Poles may have turned on their Jewish neighbors. I know that these two entities can be powerful motivators, and are often behind acts which seem beyond comprehension. I think too that it is hard to understand all the circumstances surrounding the events, and that to unearth the facts is never going recreate the adequately.

Neighbors was so controversial in Poland when it was published because many believed it went too far in holding ethnic Poles responsible for the massacre at Jebwabne on July 10, 1941. Publish just over fifty years after the massacre occurred, there were many in Poland who had lived through the war, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Jan Gross, having never lived through the war (he was born almost twenty years after the end), may have found it easy to place blame whereas those ethnic Poles who had lived through the war were perhaps crying foul because Gross had not adequately explained what may have led the residents of Jebwabne to turn on their Polish neighbors; it was this and also the fact that Gross appeared to be placing the blame solely on Polish shoulders that many expressed anger at his book.

Historians also found the book controversial due to the sources that Gross consulted while writing the book. As a student of history I know the importance of documenting sources and also being certain that what is being written is the whole truth, however Gross in Neighbors, did not consult nearly enough sources to satisfy historians, and by his own admission his research was incomplete. Gross presents a single side of the story of the massacre at Jebwabne in Neighbors, one which is controversial and caused great controversy, but I think that was his point. I do not believe that Gross wished to be vicious and accuse every single ethnic Pole living in Poland during the war of war crimes, however I feel that he wrote Neighbors as a way of calling attention to an important, albeit forgotten part of World War II scholarship. If this was indeed his intention, we can say that he was successful because people such as historian Marek Chodakiewicz wrote responses to Neighbors immediately and in Neighbors itself, Gross writes how in 2000 the Institute of National Memory launched an investigation into the massacre at Jewbwabne; although people were reluctant to accept Gross’s book as true, it seems as if they are willing to sponsor investigations to discover the truth.

"Flight and Rescue": The Story of a Dutch businessman, a Japanese diplomat and 2100 Polish-Jewish Refugees

After browsing through the various exhibitions available online through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum I chose to explore the exhibit titled “Flight and Rescue” under the category of “Rescue and Resistance”. A more positive story than most to emerge from the dark days of the Holocaust, “Flight and Rescue” is about the journey of 2100 Polish-Jews from war torn Europe to the Far East. What proved to be the intriguing part of this story for me was the fact that these efforts were spear headed in the beginning by two very different men: Jan Zwartendijk and Chiune Sugihara.  Just from reading their names it is possible to discern that these two men were not of the same nationality, however it came as a surprise to me just how opposite in their stances during World War II those nations were:  Mr. Zwartendijk was a Dutch businessman and Mr. Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat. Given that the Netherlands was an Axis occupied country almost from the beginning, and Japan was a major Axis power, it would not seem plausible for these two men to work together to save Jewish refugees. However despite never having met and the various opinions their governments may have had, they were able to save 2100 Polish-Jews from annihilation during the Holocaust by arranging travel visas for them to reach the relative safety of the Far East.

This story of the Dutch businessman and Japanese diplomat banding together to facilitate the flight of a group of Jewish refugees is just one contradiction of many to emerge from the horror of the Holocaust. Most of what is taught in history classes about the Japanese role in World War II focuses around the attack on Pearl Harbor; before viewing this exhibit I had never been exposed to a story about the Japanese at this time which painted the Japanese government in a favorable light. We also tend to be taught that the United States was the ultimate pinnacle/ perpetrator of freedom however, several times throughout the exhibit the refugee quotas for the United States were lower than those of other countries, such as states under the jurisdiction of the British government. This exhibition not only chronicles the struggle of Polish-Jewish refugees to find sanctuary outside of Europe but it also demonstrates how even states allied with Germany were want to adhere to that country’s (Germany’s) systematic destruction of groups of peoples.

Beyond the Holocaust the exhibition also briefly touches upon modern-day refugees and the plight many displaced peoples still face today. A section at the end of the exhibition explains how the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum makes it its mission to ensure that the legacy of the Holocaust is not forgotten by acting to prevent or bring attention to genocides in the modern era, such as those which have recently occurred in Darfur. I found it interesting that much of the international legislation regarding the treatment and rights of refugees was written and adopted following revelations regarding the treatment of Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.

A Film Unfinished and The Ghetto: Reaction and Reflection

It is hard to judge/ think/ address the documentary film A Film Unfinished. By the admission of those quoted in the film, deception was a key component in the film, The Ghetto, which formed the basis of the documentary. This may be obvious given that The Ghetto was a work of propaganda, but it also makes it hard to place the film in the spectrum of our understanding regarding the Holocaust. Certainly the film is important to the documentation of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime, but just how important may be further determined by archival research on the subject. It is still possible that documents might still be discovered which shed light on the purpose behind The Ghetto (after all a reel of outtakes was discovered almost half a century after the uncovering of The Ghetto) but it is also equally possible that we may never be able to discover to what end the film was serving. What is known is that the Nazis were fanatical about documenting their regime and the randomness of the film would make it appear as if there was indeed a specific purpose behind its creation.

By my way of thinking the biggest contribution The Ghetto made to our understanding of the Holocaust is that makes it clear that contradictions and contrasts were rampant. In the film, the Nazis attempt to paint the Jews of the Warsaw in a negative light by showing how they suffered in reality, and also how they supposedly lived a life of luxury within the walls of the ghetto. (The film flashes from a scene depicting a large pile of trash and human feces, to one showing a multiple course meal in a restaurant.) The seemingly scattered nature of the scenes the German filmmakers chose to shoot are not cohesive enough, one would think, to be remotely convincing as a film of propaganda. Uncovering the reasoning behind the film would more than likely be the greatest contributing factor The Ghetto could make to society’s understanding of the Holocaust, rather than the film itself.

While viewing the film, I had the strongest reactions to the scenes which depicted the grim reality of life and almost certain death that the inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto faced. However upsetting viewing the film was, it was one I knew I had to finish because the Holocaust is an event which should never be forgotten or left to fade into the vaults of history. Like Emmanuel Ringelblum I feel that I owe it to history, to those of the future generations, and also to those who suffered to learn what  I can to make sure that I never allow an event like it ever occur again. The humanity in me demands that I steel myself for the cruelty, but like one of the survivors featured in A Film Unfinished , I also allow myself to cry and not become completely desensitized.

Pictorial Representation: The Essence of the Holocaust

To many this picture may not represent the horror and gruesome nature which categorizes the Holocaust, however  it is a scene which always struck me as bringing many elements together. This picture is actually a still from the episode "Why We Fight" in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Band of Brothers is one of my favorite series and I could watch it several times in a month and not find it boring.

This episode is the second to last and it comes at a time when Easy Company has almost left combat completely behind. Naturally they are delighted to be alive and ecstatic that they might soon be returning to the United States. When the men find this camp they are utterly devastated, and after seeing what they went through and how tough they were even after enduring brutal combat conditions, it is unnerving to see them cry and become stoic. In the image one can see the prisoners still in a camp, locked up as if they are animals, and the body in the middle represents just a portion of the cruelty which also categorized their imprisonment. This picture shows not only the destruction that the concentrations caused but also, what I consider to be the reaction of humanity to that destruction: sorrow and defeat. It is also representative of the Holocaust because it was the remnants, that which was left behind which often in such camps, which society has come to associate with the Holocaust. The soldier represents the end of the war, while the prisoners represent the true cost of the war: a portion of the world's humanity.

Does this image capture the essence of the Holocaust? For the way I choose to view the Holocaust it does; I am sure not everyone will agree. All I know is that when I think of the Holocaust this episode immediately comes to mind and brings together two groups whom sacrificed so much that the Nazis might not succeed. However, the driving forces behind the Holocaust, fear and ignorance, are hard to capture in a single picture, and often manifest themselves differently to each individual person.