The Neighbors Respond
The Controversy over the Jedwabne Massacre in Poland
1st Edition
Published on 11. April 2009
504 pages
978-1-4008-2581-3 (ISBN)
Description
Neighbors--Jan Gross's stunning account of the brutal mass murder of the Jews of Jedwabne by their Polish neighbors--was met with international critical acclaim and was a finalist for the National Book Award in the United States. It has also been, from the moment of its publication, the occasion of intense controversy and painful reckoning. This book captures some of the most important voices in the ensuing debate, including those of residents of Jedwabne itself as well as those of journalists, intellectuals, politicians, Catholic clergy, and historians both within and well beyond Poland's borders.
Antony Polonsky and Joanna Michlic introduce the debate, focusing particularly on how Neighbors rubbed against difficult old and new issues of Polish social memory and national identity. The editors then present a variety of Polish voices grappling with the role of the massacre and of Polish-Jewish relations in Polish history. They include samples of the various strategies used by Polish intellectuals and political elites as they have attempted to deal with their country's dark past, to overcome the legacy of the Holocaust, and to respond to Gross's book.
The Neighbors Respond makes the debate over Neighbors available to an English-speaking audience--and is an excellent tool for bringing the discussion into the classroom. It constitutes an engrossing contribution to modern Jewish history, to our understanding of Polish modern history and identity, and to our bank of Holocaust memory.
Antony Polonsky and Joanna Michlic introduce the debate, focusing particularly on how Neighbors rubbed against difficult old and new issues of Polish social memory and national identity. The editors then present a variety of Polish voices grappling with the role of the massacre and of Polish-Jewish relations in Polish history. They include samples of the various strategies used by Polish intellectuals and political elites as they have attempted to deal with their country's dark past, to overcome the legacy of the Holocaust, and to respond to Gross's book.
The Neighbors Respond makes the debate over Neighbors available to an English-speaking audience--and is an excellent tool for bringing the discussion into the classroom. It constitutes an engrossing contribution to modern Jewish history, to our understanding of Polish modern history and identity, and to our bank of Holocaust memory.
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Antony Polonsky | Joanna B. Michlic
The Neighbors Respond
The Controversy over the Jedwabne Massacre in Poland
Book
12/2003
Princeton University Press
€55.80
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Antony Polonsky | Joanna B. Michlic
The Neighbors Respond
The Controversy over the Jedwabne Massacre in Poland
Book
12/2003
Princeton University Press
€51.00
Article not available at the moment
Persons
Antony Polonsky is Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His books include The Great Powers and the Polish Question. Joanna B. Michlic is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the International Institute of Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, and the author of Minority as an Enemy (forthcoming).
Content
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
PART I: THE INITIAL REPORTING INTRODUCTION 47
Andrzej Kaczynski
"Burnt Offering," Rzeczpospolita, 5 May 2000 50
Gabriela Szczesna
"The Blood of Jedwabne," Kontakty, 7 May 2000 60
Maria Kaczynska
"In Memory and Admonition," Gazeta Wspólczesna, 11 July 2000 64
PART II: THE MORAL DEBATE INTRODUCTION 69
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka
"Prophecies Are Being Fulfilled," Prawda, May 1942 72
Joanna Tokarska-Bakir
"Obsessed with Innocence," Gazeta Wyborcza, 13-14 January 2001 75
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
"A Need for Compensation," Rzeczpospolita, 26 January 2001 87
Antoni Macierewicz
"The Revolution of Nihilism," Glos, 3 February 2001 93
Hanna Swida-Ziemba
"The Shortsightedness of the 'Cultured,'" Gazeta Wyborcza, 6 April 2001 103
Jerzy Slawomir Mac
"Homo Jedvabicus," Wprost, 22 July 2001 114
PART III: OFFICIAL STATEMENTS INTRODUCTION 121
Living in Truth: Special Statement by Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek regarding the Slaughter of Jews in Jedwabne in 1941, April 2001 125
Address Delivered by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., 5 April 2001 126
Address by President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski at the Ceremonies in Jedwabne Marking the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Jedwabne Tragedy on 10 July 2001 130
Findings of Investigation S 1/00/Zn into the Murder of Polish Citizens of Jewish Origin in the Town of Jedwabne on 10 July 1941, pursuant to Article 1 Point 1 of the Decree of 31 August 1944 133
"Jedwabne-Let Us Be Silent in the Face of This Crime: Piotr Lipinski Talks with Professor Andrzej Rzeplinski," Gazeta Wyborcza, 22 July 2002 137
PART IV: THE DEBATE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
INTRODUCTION 147
"A Poor Christian Looks at Jedwabne: Adam Boniecki and Michal Okonski Talk with Archbishop Henryk Muszynski," Tygodnik Powszechny, 25 March 2001 155
Interview with the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, on the Murder of Jews in Jedwabne, 15 May 2001 166
Rev. Stanislaw Musial, "We Ask You to Help Us Be Better," Gazeta Wyborcza, 23 May 2001 173
PART V: VOICES OF THE INHABITANTS OF JEDWABNE
INTRODUCTION 181
"We Are Different People: A Discussion about Jedwabne in Jedwabne," Wiez, April 2001
186
Marta Kurkowska-Budzan, "My Jedwabne" 200
PART VI: MEMORIES AND METHODOLOGIES: THE HISTORICAL DEBATE
INTRODUCTION 209
Tomasz Strzembosz
"Collaboration Passed Over in Silence," Rzeczpospolita, 27 January 2001 220
Jerzy Jedlicki
"How to Grapple with the Perplexing Legacy," Polityka, 10 February 2001 237
"A Roundtable Discussion: Jedwabne-Crime and Memory," Rzeczpospolita, 3 March 2001 247
Anna Bikont
"We of Jedwabne," Gazeta Wyborcza, 23 March 2001 267
Bogdan Musial
"The Pogrom in Jedwabne: Critical Remarks about Jan T. Gross's Neighbors" 304
Jan Gross
"Critical Remarks Indeed" 344
"Jedwabne without Stereotypes: Agnieszka Sabor and Marek Zajac Talk with Professor Tomasz Szarota," Tygodnik Powszechny, 28 April 2002 371
Dariusz Stola
"Jedwabne: How Was It Possible?" 386
PART VII: THE DISCUSSION OUTSIDE POLAND
INTRODUCTION 403
David Engel
"Introduction to the Hebrew Edition of Neighbors" 408
Israel Gutman
"Do the Poor Poles Really Look at the Ghetto? Introduction to Hebrew Edition of Neighbors" 414
István Deák
"Heroes and Victims" (Extracts), New York Review of Books, 31 May 2001 421
Richard Lukas
"Jedwabne and the Selling of the Holocaust," Polish American Journal, May 2001 430
Adam Michnik
"Poles and the Jews: How Deep the Guilt?" New York Times, 17 March 2001 434
Leon Wieseltier and Adam Michnik
"Washington Diarist: Righteous" and an Exchange of Letters, New Republic, 9, 17, and 24 April 2001 440
CHRONOLOGY 451
EXPLANATORY NOTES 459
INDEX 471
INTRODUCTION 1
PART I: THE INITIAL REPORTING INTRODUCTION 47
Andrzej Kaczynski
"Burnt Offering," Rzeczpospolita, 5 May 2000 50
Gabriela Szczesna
"The Blood of Jedwabne," Kontakty, 7 May 2000 60
Maria Kaczynska
"In Memory and Admonition," Gazeta Wspólczesna, 11 July 2000 64
PART II: THE MORAL DEBATE INTRODUCTION 69
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka
"Prophecies Are Being Fulfilled," Prawda, May 1942 72
Joanna Tokarska-Bakir
"Obsessed with Innocence," Gazeta Wyborcza, 13-14 January 2001 75
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
"A Need for Compensation," Rzeczpospolita, 26 January 2001 87
Antoni Macierewicz
"The Revolution of Nihilism," Glos, 3 February 2001 93
Hanna Swida-Ziemba
"The Shortsightedness of the 'Cultured,'" Gazeta Wyborcza, 6 April 2001 103
Jerzy Slawomir Mac
"Homo Jedvabicus," Wprost, 22 July 2001 114
PART III: OFFICIAL STATEMENTS INTRODUCTION 121
Living in Truth: Special Statement by Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek regarding the Slaughter of Jews in Jedwabne in 1941, April 2001 125
Address Delivered by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., 5 April 2001 126
Address by President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski at the Ceremonies in Jedwabne Marking the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Jedwabne Tragedy on 10 July 2001 130
Findings of Investigation S 1/00/Zn into the Murder of Polish Citizens of Jewish Origin in the Town of Jedwabne on 10 July 1941, pursuant to Article 1 Point 1 of the Decree of 31 August 1944 133
"Jedwabne-Let Us Be Silent in the Face of This Crime: Piotr Lipinski Talks with Professor Andrzej Rzeplinski," Gazeta Wyborcza, 22 July 2002 137
PART IV: THE DEBATE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
INTRODUCTION 147
"A Poor Christian Looks at Jedwabne: Adam Boniecki and Michal Okonski Talk with Archbishop Henryk Muszynski," Tygodnik Powszechny, 25 March 2001 155
Interview with the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, on the Murder of Jews in Jedwabne, 15 May 2001 166
Rev. Stanislaw Musial, "We Ask You to Help Us Be Better," Gazeta Wyborcza, 23 May 2001 173
PART V: VOICES OF THE INHABITANTS OF JEDWABNE
INTRODUCTION 181
"We Are Different People: A Discussion about Jedwabne in Jedwabne," Wiez, April 2001
186
Marta Kurkowska-Budzan, "My Jedwabne" 200
PART VI: MEMORIES AND METHODOLOGIES: THE HISTORICAL DEBATE
INTRODUCTION 209
Tomasz Strzembosz
"Collaboration Passed Over in Silence," Rzeczpospolita, 27 January 2001 220
Jerzy Jedlicki
"How to Grapple with the Perplexing Legacy," Polityka, 10 February 2001 237
"A Roundtable Discussion: Jedwabne-Crime and Memory," Rzeczpospolita, 3 March 2001 247
Anna Bikont
"We of Jedwabne," Gazeta Wyborcza, 23 March 2001 267
Bogdan Musial
"The Pogrom in Jedwabne: Critical Remarks about Jan T. Gross's Neighbors" 304
Jan Gross
"Critical Remarks Indeed" 344
"Jedwabne without Stereotypes: Agnieszka Sabor and Marek Zajac Talk with Professor Tomasz Szarota," Tygodnik Powszechny, 28 April 2002 371
Dariusz Stola
"Jedwabne: How Was It Possible?" 386
PART VII: THE DISCUSSION OUTSIDE POLAND
INTRODUCTION 403
David Engel
"Introduction to the Hebrew Edition of Neighbors" 408
Israel Gutman
"Do the Poor Poles Really Look at the Ghetto? Introduction to Hebrew Edition of Neighbors" 414
István Deák
"Heroes and Victims" (Extracts), New York Review of Books, 31 May 2001 421
Richard Lukas
"Jedwabne and the Selling of the Holocaust," Polish American Journal, May 2001 430
Adam Michnik
"Poles and the Jews: How Deep the Guilt?" New York Times, 17 March 2001 434
Leon Wieseltier and Adam Michnik
"Washington Diarist: Righteous" and an Exchange of Letters, New Republic, 9, 17, and 24 April 2001 440
CHRONOLOGY 451
EXPLANATORY NOTES 459
INDEX 471
