TY - BOOK
T1 - Changing perspectives on Polish-Jewish relations during the Holocaust
AU - Dreifuss, Havi
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Surveys historiography on Polish-Jewish relations, beginning with Ringelblum's work, written mainly in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, to the present. Notes that some important works on this topic were written in Poland under communist rule; however, since the 1980s there has been a torrent of studies on relations during the Holocaust. New tendencies and methodologies can be discerned in this literature. Dwells on recent trends in research on the relief and help that Jews received from their Polish neighbors. Criticizes Gunnar Paulsson's "Secret City" (2002), arguing that crude mistakes were made in this book regarding the calculation of the number of Jews rescued in wartime Warsaw and the number of rescuers, as well as regarding the assessment of Polish-Jewish relations. Contends that the number of Jews who attempted to find shelter on the "Aryan side" could be as big as 35,000, while the number of those who really hid was 15,000-20,000 at best, rather than 28,000 as Paulsson claims. Of them, only 8,830 survived the war, not 11,500, as Paulsson estimates. The number of Polish rescuers is also greatly exaggerated. Turning to the literature on the activities of Żegota, notes its neglect of the Jews who took part in the rescue activities of this organization, as well as other mistakes. In particular, dismisses as implausible the myth that Irena Sendler personally rescued 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto: at best, the whole of Żegota was able to hide ca. 600 Jewish children in Warsaw and its vicinity. Concludes that up to now a plethora of issues in the domain of Polish-Jewish relations remains unanswered and is awaiting research.
AB - Surveys historiography on Polish-Jewish relations, beginning with Ringelblum's work, written mainly in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, to the present. Notes that some important works on this topic were written in Poland under communist rule; however, since the 1980s there has been a torrent of studies on relations during the Holocaust. New tendencies and methodologies can be discerned in this literature. Dwells on recent trends in research on the relief and help that Jews received from their Polish neighbors. Criticizes Gunnar Paulsson's "Secret City" (2002), arguing that crude mistakes were made in this book regarding the calculation of the number of Jews rescued in wartime Warsaw and the number of rescuers, as well as regarding the assessment of Polish-Jewish relations. Contends that the number of Jews who attempted to find shelter on the "Aryan side" could be as big as 35,000, while the number of those who really hid was 15,000-20,000 at best, rather than 28,000 as Paulsson claims. Of them, only 8,830 survived the war, not 11,500, as Paulsson estimates. The number of Polish rescuers is also greatly exaggerated. Turning to the literature on the activities of Żegota, notes its neglect of the Jews who took part in the rescue activities of this organization, as well as other mistakes. In particular, dismisses as implausible the myth that Irena Sendler personally rescued 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto: at best, the whole of Żegota was able to hide ca. 600 Jewish children in Warsaw and its vicinity. Concludes that up to now a plethora of issues in the domain of Polish-Jewish relations remains unanswered and is awaiting research.
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SN - 9653084224
SN - 9789653084223
T3 - Search and research : lectures and papers
BT - Changing perspectives on Polish-Jewish relations during the Holocaust
PB - Yad Vashem
CY - Jerusalem
ER -