A Polish Historianâs Accounting of the Holocaust Divides His Countrymen: âWe Did Not Walk on Waterâ
sigmundcarlandalfred.wordpress.com
Most academic historians labor in obscurity. But in Poland last year, a Princeton professorâs slim volume of Holocaust history became a controversial best seller. The publisher, Znak, saw its e-mail addresses bombarded, its business threatened with a boycott, and the area by its office graffitied. At a news conference, the publisherâs own executive director proclaimed herself opposed to the bookâs publication and apologized to offended readers.
Such is the radioactive celebrity of Jan T. Gross, whom one Polish critic has called âa vampire of historiography.â Mr. Grossâs latest book, just released in English by Oxford University Press, investigates a sensitive topic: how Poles colluded in the pillaging and murder of Jews âat the periphery of the Holocaust.â
Its title, Golden Harvest, stems from a cover photograph that purportedly shows Polish peasants who have been digging through remains of victims killed at Treblinka, where 800,000 Jews were gassed and cremated, to find gold or valuable stones neglected by the Nazis.
From there, Mr. Gross narrates events beyond the barbed wire of Nazi death camps. He describes Poles hunting Jews down, extorting money from them, massacring them, and profiting by taking over their jobs and property. Some 3.3 million Jews lived in Poland before the war began, and about 90 percent had perished by its end.
âThere was a sense of satisfaction that was quite widespread that they are being eliminated from Polish economic and social life,â Mr. Gross says in a phone interview from KrakĂłw, where he is teaching a summer course for Princeton students. âWhen given the opportunity, a large number of Poles participated in victimization of Jews.â