Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning (47 page)

In the six years after
Müller,
Der Feind
, 43.

After the failure of his coup
Hitler’s tactical reticence: Koonz,
Nazi Conscience
, 11, 12, 21, 25, 22. See also Mosse,
Nationalization
, 183; Confino,
World Without Jews
, 151; Engel,
Holocaust
, 20. On the actual theological compromises that later followed, see Heschel,
Aryan Jesus
.

After his release
Kershaw,
Hitler Myth
, 230, 233, and passim; Sémelin,
Purifier
, 89; Koenen,
Russland-Komplex
, 390, 413, 415; Bloxham,
Final Solution
, 143; McDonough,
Hitler
, 79. On Hitler’s voters, see King et al., “Ordinary Voting Behavior.” Cf. Hagen’s judgment that Hitler was a “dangerously self-confident, indefatigable and politically canny man.”
German History
, 275.

In reality, National Socialism
Quotation:
Deutschösterreichische Tageszeitung
, March 3, 1933. See Koenen,
Russland-Komplex
, 415.

In 1933, Hitler emerged
For a precise discussion see Pauer-Studer, “Einleitung,” 15–17.

In the weeks and months
Exemptions and numbers of Polish Jews: Maurer, “Background for ‘Kristallnacht,’ ” 49–51. Counterboycott: Weiss,
Deutsche und polnische Juden
, 169–79.

An initial inspiration
Second Book
, 27, 37, 66. See Bloxham,
Final Solution
, 59–65; Piskorski,
Wygnańcy
, 34–60; and more broadly Ferrara and Pianciola,
Migrazioni forzate
, 39–95.

Hitler was, to a point
Second Book
, 17. A sophisticated discussion is Tooze,
Wages of Destruction
.

He respected the Balkan Model
Citation from Neumann,
Behemoth
, 139; “sticky mass” from Karin von Schulmann, cited in Harvey,
Women
, 119. Cf. Jäckel,
Hitler in History
, 30: “There is abundant evidence that all the major decisions in the Third Reich were made by Hitler, and there is equally abundant evidence that the regime was largely anarchic and can thus be described as a polycracy. The misunderstanding is to suppose that the two observations are contradictory and that only one of them can be true.”

The theoretical reconciliation
I consider the consequences of this difference in
Bloodlands
.

In 1934, Hitler was
1934: Evans,
Third Reich in Power
, 42. Civil servants: Bloxham,
Final Solution
, 156–57.

The classic definition of the state
The perceptive observer Antoni Sobański also noticed that the uniforms were a way to cover previous affiliations, especially in Berlin.
Cywil w Berlinie
, 53.

Hitler’s third innovation
Cf. Arendt,
Origins
, 131, 155.

The outlines of this
For the larger setting of the SA-SS-
Wehrmacht
interaction, see Evans,
Third Reich in Power
, 21–39. Schmitt: Zarka,
Un détail
, 11.

Whereas the SA had stood
Cf. Wildt,
Uncompromising Generation
, 127.

This mission of deferred supremacy
Ingrao,
Believe
, 65, 101.

After its triumph
Himmler: Wildt,
Uncompromising Generation
, 135. Iron heart: Fest,
Das Gesicht
, 139.

In 1937, Himmler established
Buchheim, “Die Höheren SS-und Polizeiführer,” 563, 570, 585. See Angrick and Klein, “
Final Solution
,” 41; Bloxham,
Final Solution
, 204; MacLean,
Field Men
, 12.

Among the limited responsibilities
Dachau: Goeschel and Wachsmann, “Introduction,” 14; Roseman, “Lives of Others,” 447.

Hitler’s sixth political innovation
See Wildt,
Uncompromising Generation
, 128.

After Hitler’s takeover
This subject, at the heart of Holocaust studies, has been developed superbly elsewhere, and so is treated briefly here. These examples from Husson,
Heydrich
, 50, 65. My argument here follows the analysis of Longerich in
Politik der Vernichtung
. On Schmitt, see Zarka,
Un détail
, 19–20.

At the same time
Weltjudentum:
One of the many acute observations in Klemperer,
Language of the Third Reich
, here at 26–27. Book burnings: Confino,
World Without Jews
, 46–47.

Hitler’s final innovation
SS: Jureit,
Das Ordnen von Räumen
, 395. 1938: Heim, “Einleitung,” 16.

The German calamity of 1918
The fundamental study of statebuilding remains Polonsky,
Politics in Independent Poland
. On the National Democratic mindset, see Porter,
When Nationalism
. Porter notes the significance of chronotopes, making a case similar to the one I try to make in the opening and closing chapters. On the politics of culture, see Shore,
Caviar and Ashes
.

Poland was a new state
Taxes: Rothschild, “Ethnic Peripheries,” 602. Generally: Polonsky,
Jews of Poland and Russia
, vol. 3.

The question of loyalty
Benecke,
Ostgebiete
, 95–100.

Polish patriotism spread
Rothschild made a number of these points concisely in
East Central Europe
.

Their differences
For a forthright study of antisemitic language in the interwar church, see Porter-Szücs,
Faith
.

Dmowski’s opponent
For introductions to the old commonwealth and the period of the partitions that followed, see Stone,
State;
and Wandycz,
Lands
.

Piłsudski’s moment was
The surest guide remains Polonsky,
Politics in Independent Poland
.

When Piłsudski returned to power
See generally Rothschild,
Coup
; Chojnowski,
Piłsudczycy u władzy
. On Agudat, see Bacon,
Politics of Tradition
. On the BBWR and Jews: Dowództwo Okręgu Korpusu II, “Referat o sytuacji politycznonarodowościowej DOK II,” August 1, 1929, CAW, I.371.2/A.88; Dowództwo Okręgu Korpusu II, “Referat o sytuacji politycznonarodowościowej DOK II,” November 10, 1930, CAW, I.371.2/A.88; Spektor, “Żydzi wołyńscy,” 570. On Ukrainians, see Snyder,
Sketches
.

Piłsudski brought a fake
Tomaszewski, “Civil Rights,” 125.

Piłsudski’s fundamental respect
The guide to the intellectual background is Walicki,
Philosophy
.

For Piłsudski neither Russia
A profound study of Piłsudski’s visions of Russia is Nowak,
Trzy Rosje
.

Piłsudski was perfectly aware
On his relationship with Marxism and Marxists, see Snyder,
Nationalism
.

Piłsudski and his comrades
I am in accord with Daniel Beauvois that the basic relationship between the early modern Polish-speaking aristocracy and the Ukrainian populations was a colonial one. But after four centuries, the end of the commonwealth, generations of common experiences under the Russian Empire, and the emergence of modern ideas of socialism and nationalism, it no longer makes sense to use this reductive framework in the twentieth century. Many of the Poles of this milieu were able to see Ukraine by analogy as a fellow nation. The National Democrats saw Ukrainians as pre-national but as human, and as such possibly assimilable to the Polish nation. Here the difference between the Polish and the German elites might be seen as postcolonial versus precolonial.

After Piłsudski’s return to power
See Snyder,
Sketches;
Copeaux, “Le mouvement”; and the continuing stream of publications by Kuromiya and Pepłoński. See also Mędrzecki,
Województwo wołyńskie;
Kęsik,
zaufany Komendanta
; Schenke,
Nationalstaat und nationale Frage
.

The Soviet, Polish, and German
On this transformation, see Viola,
Unknown Gulag;
Khlevniuk,
Gulag;
Werth,
La terreur;
Kotkin,
Magnetic Mountain
.

In Moscow, Warsaw, and Berlin
Collectivization was the central element of the First Five-Year Plan of 1928–1933. It began in earnest in the first weeks of 1930.

This policy brought massive
The sequence of events is described in Snyder,
Bloodlands
, chap. 1, which cites a number of the primary sources. On resistance, see, for example, Graziosi, “Révoltes paysannes.” For a broad sample of published Soviet archival sources, see Zelenin et al.,
Tragediia sovetskoi derevni
.

From the beginning
A village flees: Protokół wywiadowczy, 28 March 1930, CAW, I.303.4.6982. Kiss feet and European states: “Protokół,” 23 April 1930, CAW, I.303.4.6982. Misery and oppression: K.O.P., Placówka Wywiadowcza Nr. 10, “Protokól,” 25 November 1933, CAW, I.303.4.6906.

A deliberate mass starvation
Forces at border: Placówka Wywiadowcza 9 Czortków, K.O.P., “Wiadomości wojskowe,” 3 April 1930, CAW, I.303.4.6982; “Wiadomośći zakordonowe,” Równe, 1 April 1930, CAW, I.303.4.6982.

Polish diplomats in Soviet Ukraine
Five million: J. Karszo-Siedlewski, “Sytuacja na Ukrainie,” 2 October 1933, CAW, I.303.4.1881. Weep: J. Karszo-Siedlewski, Kharkiv, 4 February 1933. On the streets: [Józefina Pisarczykówna] to [Jerzy Niezbrzycki], 13 June 1933, CAW, I.303.4.2099. Villages: [Leon Mitkiewicz] to [Second Department, Referat Wschód, Warsaw], 6 June 1933, CAW, I.303.4.1928. Militia: Falk,
Sowjetische Städte
, 298–300. Loyal: [Jerzy Niezbrzycki] to [Piotr Kurnicki], 16 March 1933, CAW, I.303.4.1993.

The withdrawal of the Poles
Ukrainians: [Piotr Kurnicki], Report on public opinion in Soviet Ukraine, 1935, CAW, I.303.4.1993, quotation at 1. The Polish government had reports from its border guards as well as from Ukrainians who had fled the famine. Its sources of information were bountiful. See, for example, the reports from Ukrainians in CAW, I.303.4.5559 and “Zagadnienie Ukrainizacji,” 12 December 1933, CAW, I.303.4.2011.

The political famine
Preemptive attack: Pasztor, “Problem wojny prewencyjnej”; Simms,
Europe
, 346.

For Polish leaders
Memoirs: Müller,
Der Feind
, 75. Hitler and generals: Rossino,
Hitler Strikes Poland
, 2. See also Simms,
Europe
, 361; Cienciala, “Foreign Policy,” 136.

Moscow had its own
Kuromiya,
Stalin
, 141 and passim. For a longer discussion see Snyder,
Bloodlands
, chap. 3.

In the five years between
See Snyder,
Bloodlands
, chap. 3. For an introduction to the Great Terror, see Gellately,
Stalin’s Curse
, 34–46. On numbers of arrests, see Khaustov, “Deiatel’nost’ organov,” 229.

As the Polish Operation began
Naumov,
Stalin i NKVD
, 299.

Naturally, there were Polish
[Jerzy Niezbrzycki], 8 June 1935, CAW, I.303.4.1926.

The end of a political life
I am using “National Democrats” to describe the party known as Stronnictwo Narodowe. On the goals of pogroms, see Cała,
Antysemityzm
, 349; Melzer,
No Way Out
, 22; Korzec,
Juifs en Pologne
, 247; Rudnicki,
Równi
, 148. For a first survey of their extent, see Żyndul,
Zajścia antyżydowskie
.

In 1935, responsibility
Transfer of responsibility: Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 7. OZON: Melzer,
No Way Out
, 27–29; Hagen, “Before the ‘Final Solution,’ ” 373; Jabotinsky,
War and the Jew
, 86. Jewish wife of Miedziński: Wynot, “ ‘Necessary Cruelty,’ ” 1051.

The man responsible
All citizens: HI, Polish Embassy Washington, Jews alphabetical files, Refugees, Warsaw to Washington, 20 May 1938. Beck’s analysis of global political economy:
New York Times
, 30 January 1937; JPI, 34/7, Józef Beck, “Wspomnienia,” 143. Drymmer’s analysis: “Zagadnienie żydowskie,” 66. 150,000: Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 45. First of all:
New York Times
, 14 June 1937.

The question of the settlement
1885,
Madagassez
, Blum, explorers: Brechtken,
Madagaskar
, 16, 57, 98, 120; see also Korzec,
Juifs en Pologne
, 250.

Polish authorities also allowed
1926: Friedman,
Roads
, 44. Blum’s understanding: JPI, 34/7, Józef Beck, “Wspomnienia,” 146. Nationalists: Drymmer,
W służbie
, 153. French nationalists: Marrus and Paxton,
Vichy
, 61. Understanding Zionism: “Palestine: Polish Attitude,” NA, CO/733/352/6.

Hitler’s Jewish policy
130,000: Heim, “Einleitung,” 13. 50,000: Husson,
Heydrich
, 68. Riots: Morris,
Righteous Victims
, 128–38.

London at first reacted
British and German position: Yisraeli,
ha-Raikh
, 2; Yisraeli, “Germany and Zionism,” 158–59. German consul: Herf,
Jewish Enemy
, 27–28; Mallmann and Cüppers,
Halbmond und Hakenkreuz
, 51, 53.

The Polish position differed
A good summary of the Polish position in 1937 is Szembek to London, 18 March 1937, AAN, MSZ 322/18497/35. Boundaries: Drymmer, “Zagadnienie,” 66, quotation at 70. Sinai and Jordan: NA, CO/733/368/5/30 and 34; also on extension “towards the south,” Aveling to Eden, 26 July 1937, NA, CO/733/352/6/46. The British were completely aware of public and official opposition to their policy, but did not seem to suspect where it would lead: Aveling to Eden, 14 July 1937, NA, CO/733/352/6. Arms and training to Haganah: Melzer,
No Way Out
, 142, 152; Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 158. See also
New York Times
, 9 July 1937. It seems there were two distinct aspects of the Polish policy of military support of Zionism: (1) more or less open support of the Haganah, and thus the left wing, with arms and training, arranged by the general staff, with some payment from the Jewish side; and (2) clandestine support of the Revisionists, and thus the right wing, arranged by the consular section of the ministry of foreign affairs, with no payment from the Jewish side.

The world Zionist movement
Evacuation plan: Melzer,
No Way Out
, 136. See also Engel, “Historical Objectivity,” 578.

Jabotinsky wanted Poland
Syria: Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 113.

Jabotinsky’s power base
The basic work on this subject is now Heller, “Rise of the Zionist Right”; for these details see 19, 20, 35, 54, 144, 149, 158, 246. Model: Shindler,
Military Zionism
, 131, 138, 191; Shindler,
Military Zionism
, 129. Dream: Heller,
Stern Gang
, 24.

Both Menachim Begin and another
Shapira,
Land and Power
, 196–202, 242. Romantic poets: Shamir,
Summing Up
, 6; Shilon,
Menachem Begin
, 11, 16.

After Piłsudski’s death
Heller, “Rise of the Zionist Right,” 144, 145, 162. Also Heller,
Stern Gang
, 26; Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 35. On Trempeldor: Zertal,
Israel’s Holocaust
, 13–14.

Yet disagreement about the meaning
Legacies of Piłsudski: Shindler,
Military Zionism
, 138, 205. Confrontation: Shilon,
Menachem Begin
, 18; Heller, “Zionist Right,” 93.

By 1938, the Polish ruling elite
Decisive significance of riots: Segev,
One Palestine
, 384. Origins and name of Irgun: Shindler,
Military Zionism
, 189; Shilon,
Menachem Begin
, 12; Kaplan,
Jewish Radical Right
, 9; Shapira,
Israel
, 128. Betar and Irgun: Shavit,
Jabotinsky
, 56.

Irgun liaised with the Polish
Instructions to Hulanicki: Warsaw to Jerusalem, 8 April 1937, AAN, MSZ 322/B222532/35. See also Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 128, instrument quotation at 135; and Drymmer,
W służbie
, 155–56.

Avraham Stern was a child
Heller,
Stern Gang
, 100–103; Golan,
Stern
, 12. University: M. Schwabe and H. Pflaum to Dr. Magnes, Jerusalem, 19 December 1929, YMA, 1393/1/4/47/333.

Although he was a talented linguist
Poems and literary exercises: YMA, 1393/1/4/43/230; YMA, 1393/1/4/45/282, 302, 303. Reality: cited in Golan,
Stern
, 17.

Hulanicki, the Polish consul
Ideological leader quotation in Hulanicki to Warsaw, 5 January 1937 [1938], AAN, MSZ 322/B18516/32. Plan: Shavit,
Jabotinsky
, 229; Bell,
Terror
, 44. Landing quotation: Lankin,
To Win
, 7. The projected size of the Jewish force varies in the sources; the highest figure I have seen is 45,000: Heller, “Zionist Right,” 95.

Drymmer endorsed
Drymmer, “Zagadnienie,” 71; Korboński, “Unknown Chapter,” 374; Giedroyc,
Autobiografia
, 45; Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 145; Heller,
Stern Gang
, 43; Spector, “Holocaust,” 20; Spektor, “Żydzi wołyńscy,” 573; Snyder,
Sketches
, 66; and Snyder, “Volhynian Jews.”

Although Polish leaders
The shift from one to the other and the attendant anti-Jewish element can be seen in Studentowicz,
Polska idea
, 12, 29, 46, 47; see also Giedroyc,
Autobiografia
, 62–63, for a frank description of the ideas of his milieu, at the time essentially the junior league of the Polish ruling class.

There was some continuity
On Drymmer: Weinbaum,
Marriage of Convenience
, 125. Apostle: Józewski, “Zamiast pamietnika,” 10.

The continuities were ideological
Common anti-communism: AAN, MSZ 322/18497/35, Szembek to London, 18 March 1937. Emotional appeal: “Notatka z rozmowy wicedyrektora T. Gwiazdowskiego z. p. Dr. Goldmanem,” AAN, MSZ 322/B18415/21. See also Giedroyc,
Autobiografia
, 62.

Yet there were some telling
See Paweł,
II Rzeczpospolita wobec ruchu prometejskiego
, 62, 65, 282.

In the first Prometheanism
Porter-Szücs,
Faith and Fatherland
, 295.

Unlike the Nazi regime
Hagen, “Before the ‘Final Solution,’ ” 373, 375. Opposition: Wynot, “ ‘Necessary Cruelty,’ ” 1043–44.

This was a misunderstanding
May 1934: Roos,
Polen
, 151. Grand design: JPI, 34/7, Józef Beck, “Wspomnienia,” 93.

It quickly became obvious
Debicki,
Foreign Policy
, 90; Roos,
Polen
, 209; Müller,
Der Feind
, 64.

Göring would later return to Białowieża
Beorn,
Marching into Darkness
, 97.

Cults of personality are open
Quotation: Weinberg,
Foreign Policy
, 404.

The hope was that if Poland
Totalistic states: Kornat,
Polityka równowagi
, 147. Stalin: Kuromiya,
Stalin
, 141 and passim.

Right after Piłsudski’s
Natural ally: JPI, 67/3/9, Jan Szembek, “Uwagi i obserwacje,” August 1936. Propositions to join the Anti-Comintern Pact: Wojciechowski,
Stosunki
, 389; Kornat,
Polen
, 156.

This was a trying time for Polish
Arrest instructions: [To Outpost E-15 in Ukraine], 7 August 1936, CAW, I.303.4.1956.

General instructions from the Warsaw
Military intelligence: [To Outpost K-10, Leningrad], 19 November 1937, CAW, I.303.4.1983.

In summer 1938
Göring in August and discussions of October: Wojciechowski,
Stosunki
, 423, 510. Ribbentrop-Lipski discussion: Lipski,
Diplomat in Berlin
, 453. Texts of Polish fallback negotiating positions on the highway: JPI, 67/76. Weinberg argues that the unwillingness to join the Anti-Comintern Pact was the key issue.
Foreign Policy
, 484.

The side talk between German
Lipski,
Diplomat in Berlin
, 411, 453; Husson,
Heydrich
, 125; Loose, “Reaktionen,” 48.

In these negotiations
Historians of these negotiations often quote Lipski’s remark that Poland would build a monument to Hitler if he found a way to resolve the Jewish question. With knowledge of the Holocaust we can find this remark even more revolting than it, in fact, was. Lipski was expressing the hope that, despite the overwhelming difficulties, Germany could induce some maritime power to open some overseas colony to Polish Jews. It never occurred to him that Hitler’s “resolution” could be total mass murder. The remark is evidence of Lipski’s incomplete understanding of Hitler, which was hardly unique to him, and not of Lipski’s desire for a Holocaust of the Jews. See Lipski to Beck, 20 September 1938, in Lipski,
Diplomat in Berlin
, 411; and Melzer,
No Way Out
, 143. After the invasion of Poland, Lipski enlisted as a private in France and fought against the
Wehrmacht
in 1940.

Most important was what the Poles
See
Staatsmänner
, 557; JPI, 67/3/14, “Krótkie sprawozdanie z rozmowy Pana Ministra Spraw Zagranicznych z p. Himmlerem w Warszawie,” 18 February 1939. The Himmler quotation is from somewhat later, May 1940, but it conveys the basic difference in attitudes. Kühnl,
Der deutsche Faschismus
, 329.

Warsaw’s political vision reached
HI, Polish Embassy London, Jewish Emigration 1938, Consular Department Warsaw [Drymmer] to Jerusalem, 16 December 1938. See also HI, Polish Embassy London, Polish Consulate General in Jerusalem, Jerusalem to Warsaw, 4 July 1939.