Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland [Paperback]

 

 

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Many of the reviewers who have tackled this book have done so as Polish nationalists, or as opponents of Gross' often somewhat questionable methodology, or as both, using his methodology to push a Polish nationalist interpretation of the events Gross narrates. That the agenda with many of these negative reviews is to repudiate Gross' insistence on the role that everyday Poles played in the Jedwabne, and thus his insistence that some Poles at least publicly admit they, or their families, or their communities, played an active role in the Holocaust. This is undoubtedly a contentious position, but it is, I believe, a correct one, and one supported tentatively by the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland; his methodology might be somewhat questionable, but it is hardly easy to disprove as well, despite the insistence of his many detractors. The period when this book was written and researched was at the end of a decade of (justly) resurgent Polish nationalism, frequently (and understandably) conservative and Catholic, but also a time when prominent parties, individuals and groups insisted with vitriol that no Poles had played any part in the Holocaust, and that anyway, the Jews were all Bolshevik conspirators anyway (and thus, in some way, deserved their fate). For that reason alone it needs to be important, needs to be read, despite the many flaws.

Many reviews here have already pointed out the major flaws with his book: reliance on evidence that was sometimes extracted by torture, and his significant minimization of the role of the German Army, state and police. What rarely goes noted, in the rush to condemn this book for 'tarnishing' Poland's image, or for blaming at least some massacres of Jews on Poles, is how typical and pedestrian, and Polish nationalist, Gross' position is. This book says more about the politics of Polish anti-Stalinism than it does about anti-semitism in Poland. Gross writes next to nothing about the pre-war Polish state, and the official and potent anti-semitism of the Edward Rydz-Smigly 'regime,' a dictatorship without a dictator; many Zionists, for example, viewed Poland as the centre of world anti-semitism (a painful misreading of the situation, certainly), and feared the possibility of pogroms (see chapter 19 of Joseph Marcus' "A Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939").

Gross devotes only a few pages to a Goldhagen-esque invective against a vague and long-standing Christian anti-semitism, but says nothing more about Poland between 1900 and 1941. He is much more concerned with blaming the Soviet Union for the massacre in Jedwabne. If you read carefully in the last few chapters, he inserts his pet theory, derived from his major work on eastern Poland/Belarus/Galicia, "Revolution from Abroad" and from the highly questionable theories of Eric Voegelin, which are already moralizing and uninteresting derivatives of Hanah Arendt's writings on totalitarianism, that totalitarian Russia "substituted the rule of law for that of individuals" and destroyed the moral core of Poles, reducing them to fragmented, atomised, greedy and powerhungry people with no integrity and no conscience. Voegelin's theories, of course, are those of a philosopher, and are impossible to prove because they rely upon the inner turmoil of people whose thoughts we can almost never access, and because it relies on a Christian conservative understanding of human nature. To Gross' credit, his position IS more sophisticated then "the Jews helped the Commies, so they deserved their fate" rhetoric that occasionally bubbles up, a position he casts aside as untenable.

But to blame 22 months of Soviet occupation for massacres of a genocidal nature is a deeply dirty trick. It blames the Soviets, who despite the brutality of their rule, did NOT encourage or attempt the massacre of Jews or any other ethnicity, for massacres committed outside and beyond their purview, in a warzone, with Nazis giving open encouragement. As an explanation, it might have worked, in conjunction with a closer examination of pre-war Polish anti-semitism, but on its on, it reveals only the author's (justified) anti-Stalinism. He does not cite examples from towns in German-occupied Poland, nor other cases that might disprove his sweeping thesis. Indeed, it's a surprise that it has generated such intense debate: he gives Poles a free hand, not through Nazi terror but through Soviet totalitarianism, as he does to the post-war pogroms in Poland (again, on totalitarianism). And it is, like so much else public and historical debate in eastern Europe, consumed with hostility and hatred against the Stalinist Polish state and the Soviet Union, and a surprisingly simple, even if cloaked in deep thoughts, understanding of the world that despite castigating Poles for murdering Jews, ultimately blames someone else for it.

While interesting reading, and somewhat overdone in terms of the gory detail, one is still lead to not fully take at face value all that is stated by Gross as "fact" in the book.

By his own admission in the chapter titled "New Approach To Sources", Gross offers us the new way of studying history by suggesting that we should accept "...what we read in a particular account as fact, until we find persuasive arguments to the contrary, we would avoid more mistakes than we are likely to commit by adopting the opposite approach, which calls for cautious skepticism toward any testimony until independent confirmation of it's content has been found".

If all "historians" were to follow that approach than our historical texts (which are based on empirical evidence) might be full of false information. I am not suggesting that the events described in the book did not happen at all (to the contrary there is independent confirmation of some of what is written), but I am suggesting that all historical subjects be treated with the same "cautious skepticism". The Holocaust of the WW II era should not be afforded any different treatment, just because it may be politically correct to do so.

Gross has cheated the process by which a historical thesis is made, investigated, proven, and documented, by simply taking a few uncorroborated testimonies at face value. As a respected historian and Professor at New York University, Gross should both know better, and should be ashamed of his behavior as a "historian" in the writing of this book.

After reading Nighbors, when sharing the story with friends very few people knew about this. Most people know of the Holocaust and the horrific things Jewish people and others endured, but this small village went, for the most part, unnoticed. Congrats to Jan T. Gross for bringing it to the forefront.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Poles killing Jews in German occupied Poland.
Gross's book Neighbors illustrates the latent anti-Semitism prevalent in pre-war Poland and the murderous result when the Poles took action against their Jewish neighbors. Read more

Published on Jun 23 2004 by Kevin M Quigg

1.0 out of 5 stars Gross Misrepresentation
As interesting as the book may or may not be, let alone the questionable methodology employed by Gross, I find the customer comments much more telling. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Lies vs anti-semitism
The Holocaust should be presented honestly. In 1941 about 300 of Jewish inhabitants of Jedwabne, small town in eastern Poland, was burned alive in a small barn. J.T. Read more

Published on July 11 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Exactly Logical in Its Reasoning
This book is worthwhile for those who need apparent support for their anti-Polish prejudices. It includes the Germans, who would be all too happy to try to dilute their guilt, as... Read more

Published on Mar 31 2003

2.0 out of 5 stars THE BOOK OF POLISH RIGHTEOUS GENTILES?
There appears to be no market for the other story. When I was in Isreal in 1972, the huge majority of trees on the Blvd of the Rigtheous Gentiles were of Christian Poles. Read more

Published on Mar 24 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars As expected many in the polish community deny it.
although most of them can hardly express themselves they have seen fit to hurl insults at this wonderful book. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2003 by bobo

5.0 out of 5 stars As expected many in the polish community deny it.
although most of them can hardly express themselves they have seen fit to hurl insults at this wonderful book. Read more

Published on Feb 7 2003 by bobo

1.0 out of 5 stars Let's get the facts straight
This book is a rather poor effort in describing an event of World War 2. Gross only looks at one side of the issue... Read more

Published on Jan 9 2003

2.0 out of 5 stars "Cautious Skepticism"
While interesting reading, and somewhat overdone in terms of the gory detail, one is still lead to not fully take at face value all that is stated by Gross as "fact" in the... Read more

Published on Nov 20 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating Study Of Local Massacre During The Holocaust!
I first became aware of the controversy over this historically based event with a report on "60 Minutes" a number of months ago in which the author of the book and a variety of... Read more

Published on Oct 22 2002 by Barron Laycock

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