Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning (52 page)

In the world that Hitler
According to Otto Ohlendorf, the commander of
Einsatzgruppe
D, Himmler said that responsibility rested with Himmler and Hitler alone. See Rzanna, “Eksterminacja.”

Every Jew who survived
Cf. Dwork and Van Pelt,
Holocaust
, 348.

Almost every Jew
Hanna Krall recalls forty-five people who helped her, in one way or another. Bartoszewski and Lewinówna,
Ten jest
, 299.

In
Einsatzgruppe
D
Christian Ingrao has developed this theme, especially in his
Les chasseurs noirs
.

In 1938 in Germany
Los Altos Town Crier
, 15 April 2009; Ralph Bernstein, personal communication, 15 April 2013;
Justiz und NS-Verbrechen
, vol. 37, 2007, Lfd. Nr. 777, 397, 398, 405, 407–9, 417, 431, 438, 439; Angrick,
Besatzungspolitik
, 422. About twenty-six thousand Jews were sent to camps in November 1938. Goeschel and Wachsmann, Introduction, 28.

Most German Jews emigrated
Rumbula: Michel’son,
Ia perezhila
, 84.

No one can know
See Snyder, “Commemorative Causality.”

Only about three percent
For this and other reckoning, see Snyder,
Bloodlands
. Experience: Głowiński,
Black Seasons
, 170.

The degree of statelessness
Bremen police:
Bremens Polizei
, 124. See also Russ, “Wer war verantwortlich,” 486, 494, 503. Cf. Browning,
Ordinary Men
, 165, 202.

A lesser known
Maubach, “Expansion weiblicher Hilfe,” 93–94.

A few German women
Koslov,
Gewalt im Dienstalltag
, 482–84.

Further east
Lower,
Hitler’s Furies
, 163 and passim, for all of the conceptual issues.

If statelessness drew
YIVO, RG 720, Hirshant Papers, 1/52, Syda Konis. For meditations on forced labor, see Pollack,
Warum;
Buber-Neumann,
Under Two Dictators
, 331.

The end of states
Body and soul: Hryciuk,
Polacy we Lwowie
, 59.

In eastern Europe
Matz, “Sweden,” 106–9; Jangfeldt,
Hero of Budapest
, 161. Fifteen thousand to twenty thousand is the estimate in Dwork and Van Pelt,
Holocaust
, 316–18.

Wallenberg, an exceptional
One exception is the French case of Le Chambonsur-Lignon.

One such man
Chan, “Ho Feng-Shan,” 1–15, quotations at 5 and 15.

After the German occupation
See Wasserstein,
Ambiguity
, 165; McAuley, “Decision,” 4, 7, 32; Fralon,
Good Man
, 60, 79.

A diplomatic rescuer
April 1940 number: Dieckmann,
Deutsche Besatzungspolitik
, 1:145.

In the 1930s
For Daszkiewicz’s memoir see MWP, Kolekcja Rybikowskiego, syg. 6233 [Leszek Daszkiewicz], “Placówka wyw. “G,” 3, 4, 7–10, 18, 21, 22. On Rybikowski, see Pięciach, “Szpieg ze Sztokholmu” and for background, see Dubicki, Nałęcz, and Stirling,
Polsko-brytyjska współpraca wywiadowcza
, 100, 305, 342.

One of Rybikowski’s
MWP, Kolekcja Rybikowskiego, syg. 6233 [Leszek Daszkiewicz], “Placówka wyw. ‘G,’ ” 21.

The scheme that the Polish
MWP, Kolekcja Rybikowskiego, syg. 6233 [Leszek Daszkiewicz], “Placówka wyw. ‘G,’ ” 22.

In the chaos
Quotations here from MWP, syg. 1675, Sugihara memoir, 9; Rybikowski’s memoir, at MWP, Kolekcja Rybikowskiego, syg. 6233 [Leszek Daszkiewicz], “Placówka wyw. ‘G,’ ” 70.

Once they had done
MWP, Kolekcja Rybikowskiego, syg. 6233 [Leszek Daszkiewicz], “Placówka wyw. ‘G,’ ” 50–52, 64, 67. On Sugihara, his colleagues, and his actions, see also Pepłoński,
Wywiad
, 231–33; Kuromiya and Pepłoński,
Mitędzy Warszawą a Tokio
, 393; Levine,
Sugihara
, 117, 132, 218, 273; Sakamoto,
Japanese Diplomats
, 107, 114, 395.

When Nazi Germany
See Gross,
Revolution from Abroad;
Gross and Grudeińska-Gross,
War Through Children’s Eyes
; and Snyder,
Bloodlands
, chap. 4.

The arrival of these
Begin,
Revolt
, 25; Drymmer, “Zagadnienie,” 74; Korboński, “Unknown Chapter,” 377. On Begin and the Polish army in Palestine: “Palestine: Counter Intelligence: Menahem Begin,” 24 September 1937, NA, KV/2/2251/50a. Uniform and other details of journey: Shilon,
Menachem Begin
, 40–45.

Now that the war
Shilon,
Menachem Begin
, 48. Meridor in Poland: Bell,
Terror Out of Zion
, 44–45. Lankin: Bell,
Terror Out of Zion
, 111. Nechmad and Lankin: Niv,
M’arkhot ha-Irgun
, 172. Lankin’s memoir is
To Win;
on the Polish encounter 31–40. Meridor confirmed that he was number two under British interrogation: NA, KV/2/2251/14a.

During the Second World War
These interactions are well described in Davies,
Rising ’44
. On the reaction of Varsovians to the flight, see Biskupska, “Extermination and the Elite.”

The Polish government in London
Crushing majority:
“Prosze przyjąć jako fakt zupełnie realny że przygniatająca wiékszość kraju jest nastrojona antysemicko.”
Cited in Skibińska and Szuchta,
Wybór żródeł
, 397. For a sober analysis, see Brakel, “Was There a ‘Jewish Collaboration’?”

All the same
See Puławski,
W obliczu Zagłady
, 412 and passim; also Engelking and Leociak,
Warsaw Ghetto
, 667; and Engel,
Facing a Holocaust
.

On November 27, 1942
10 and 17 December: Stola,
Nadzieja
, 174; Bartoszewski,
Warsaw Ghetto
, 49.
Times:
Bajohr and Pohl,
Der Holocaust
, 99; “Extermination” and moment of silence: Saviello, “Policy,” 1, 24, 27.

This warning, issued
Significance: Fein,
Accounting
, 77.

The availability of plausible
Secretary of Drymmer: Jan Karski, “Dziecko sanacji,”
Tygodnik Powszechny
, 24 April 2012. Cf. Żbikowski,
Karski
, 10–11.

Upon his return to Poland
Severe:
“przeważnie bezwzględny, często bezlitośny,”
cited in Skibińska and Szuchta,
Wybór żródeł
, 390. See Ringelblum,
Polish-Jewish Relations
, 77; Leder,
Rewolucja
, 23, 44; Bartov, “Eastern Europe,” 575. Also worth considering is Thomas Bernhard’s
Heldenplatz
, especially at 112.

Most of the Jews
FVA, 1107, Jan K.

In October 1942
Ibid. On Karski and his missions see Karski,
Story of a Secret State;
and Żbikowski,
Karski
.

The concentration camp Auschwitz
Another English translation in Pilecki,
Auschwitz Volunteer
, 13. The Polish original can currently be found at
http://www.polandpolska.org/dokumenty/witold/raport-witolda-1945.htm
. German translation of the Polish original by Jan Skorup at
http://pileckibericht.wordpress.com
. Numbers: Bartoszewski,
Warszawski pierścień
, 124.

Pilecki was a patriot
The passage is in Pilecki,
Auschwitz Volunteer
, 175; I translate here the Polish original.

Some 28,000 Jews
28,000 and 11,600: Paulsson,
Secret City
, 2, 5, 209, 212. 4,000: Bartoszewski and Lewinówna,
Ten jest
, 28. Joint and money belts: Bartoszewski, “Rozmowa,” 35; Bartoszewski,
Warsaw Ghetto
, 59.

Among Żegota’s leaders
PPS: Bartoszewski,
Warsaw Ghetto
, 46. Individuals: Prekerowa,
Konspiracyjna Rada
, 69–75.

At the same time
On Kossak and the debate over antisemitic rescuers, see Podolska, “Poland’s Antisemitic Rescuers.” See also Cała,
Antysemitizm
, 447. Rescue of human beings rather than Jews: also a finding of Tec,
When Light
, 176. Nucleus: Paulsson,
Secret City
, 26, 40; Peleg-Mariańska and Peleg, “Witnesses,” 11; Oliner,
Altruistic Personality
, 6, 142.

Like Pilecki, Karski, and Bartoszewski
Prekerowa, “Komórka,” 521–25, 531.

After the war was over
The phenomenon of assimilated Jews helping other Jews was, at least in Warsaw, not uncommon. Another form of Jewish self-help that saved lives was organization inside the Warsaw ghetto. See Sakowska,
Ludzie
, 117–86.

Anszel Sznajder and his brother
ŻIH, 301/2953.

The Sznajder brothers
The point is made in Croes, “Pour une approche quantitative,” 95.

This bloody irony
The complex histories of Jews in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 are presented in Engelking and Libionka,
Żydzi w powstańczej Warszawie
. Amsterdam comparison: Paulsson,
Secret City
, 230.

The Soviet partisans
See Brakel, “ ‘Das allergefährlichste,’ ” 403–16; Musial,
Sowjetische Partisanen
, 189, 202;
Verbrechen der Wehrmacht
, 495; Slepyan,
Stalin’s Guerrillas
, 157.

Some distinguished soldiers
On Józewski, see Snyder,
Sketches;
and his own memoir at BUW DR 3189. Długoborska: Bartniczak,
From Andrzejowo to Pecynka
, 138–40; Gawin, “Pensjonat.” Koźmiński: Bartoszewski and Lewinówna,
Ten jest
, 310. Gieruła: Stanisław and Lusia Igeł, in Rączy,
Pomóc Polaków
, 280. Stanisław Igeł was in the Home Army.

The Home Army also carried
Papers: FVA, 414, Alice H.; FVA, 538, Norman L.; FVA, 2700, Maria M. Woliński: Libionka, “ZWZ-AK,” 36. On the
Biuletyn Informacyjny:
Libionka, “ZWZ-AK,” 39, 43.

Thousands of Jews either joined
Weapons from Home Army: Libionka, “ZWZ-AK,” 57, 69. Quotation: Engelking and Libionka,
Żydzi w powstańczej Warszawie
, 91.

In the opening days of the Warsaw
Kopka,
Konzentrationslager Warschau
, 82–115.

The Home Army was a continuation
Bandits and death sentences: Libionka, “ZWZ-AK,” 119–23.

The myth of Judeobolshevism
Libionka, “ZWK-AK,” 136.

In villages where communism
Nurse: Ełzbieta Burda, ŻIH, 301/2407.

Though communist ideology
On recruitment of murderers, see generally Slepyan,
Stalin’s Guerrillas
, 209. Amnesty: Penter,
Kohle
, 273. On Brins’kyi, see his
Po toï bik frontu
. Worry of Ukrainian nationalists:
OUN v svitli
, 82. Policeman and girlfriend: ŻIH, 301/2879. On the highly complex methods used by the Soviet partisans, see Burds, “Agentura”; Armstrong,
Soviet Partisans;
see also
Gazeta Wyborcza
, 15 April 2002.

Jews who knew the local terrain
ŻIH, 301/717. For other examples of side switching, see Musial,
Sowjetische Partisanen
, 266–67. Jews also recruited Poles to the Soviet partisans; see the case of Mojżesz Edelstein in ŻIH, 301/810.

Not every local Jew working
For another example of a Jewish recruiter, see ŻIH 301/1795. For encounters with antisemitism, see ŻIH, 301/53, Abram Leder; ŻIH, 301/299, Zoja Bajer; ŻIH, 301/1046, Lazar Bromberg. See also Dieckmann,
Deutsche Besatzungspolitik
, 2:1469. For general reflections, see Weiner,
Making Sense
, 376–382.

Nevertheless, the Soviet partisans
Jewish and non-Jewish communists: Jakub Grinsberg, ŻIH, 301/305. Max: Zoja Bajer, ŻIH, 301/299. The punitive expedition: ŻIH, 301 5737, Rena Guz.

A substantial number of the Jewish
German liquidations in Volhynia: A striking record is the inventory of gasoline and oil used exclusively for travel from ghetto to ghetto to murder remaining Jews. “Ausgabeliste,” DAVO, Fond R-2, Opis 2, Delo 196. Volhynian Jewish partisans, male and female: ŻIH, 301/299; ŻIH, 301/718; ŻIH, 301/719; ŻIH, 301/1811. On family camps see Arad, “Original Form.” Feeling of the deed: Aron Perław, ŻIH, 301/955. Each dead German: Leon Jarszun, ŻIH, 301/1487.

One such person was Tuvia Bielski
On Bielski, see Tec,
Defiance
, 5, 40, 63, 80, 110, 145, 185, 208.

This powerful myth could admit
Chess and disarmament: Libionka, “ZWZ-AK,” 112. Correct understanding: Slepyan,
Stalin’s Guerrillas
, 210.

Although the Polish army
592: Petrow,
Psy Stalina
, 223. Seventeen thousand: Gurianov, “Obzor,” 205.

Between 1945 and 1949
For surveys, see Simons,
Eastern Europe;
and Applebaum,
Iron Curtain
.

Polish soldiers who had spent
Executions: Skarga,
Penser
, 28. Double collaboration at the end of the war: Skibińska, “Self-Portrait,” 459; Grabowski,
Judenjagd
, 93, 109; Gross,
Sąsiedzi
, 115.

Any Marxist could have explained
For articles that are suggestive of some of these interpretations, see Abrams, “Second World War”; and Gross, “Social Consequences.”

The Soviets entered a country
On the Soviet and communist Polish attitudes to the Holocaust, see especially Kostyrchenko,
Gosudarstvennyi antisemitizm;
Brandenberger, “Last Crime”; Szaynok,
Polska a Izrael;
Shore, “Język.” For a longer discussion see Snyder,
Bloodlands
, chap. 11.

Poles who had rescued Jews
Hulanicki: The case is made in Ginor and Remez, “Casualty.” Wallenberg: The latest evidence is in Matz, “Cables in Cipher.”

The Sheptyts’kyi brothers
See Hentosh, “Pro vstavlennia,” 318–25, and Motyka,
Cień Kłyma Sawura
, 80–82, for these details; the state of the art is Himka, “Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky.” For the experiences of rescued children see Rotfeld,
W cieniu
, 53–54, 88; Kahane,
Lvov Ghetto Diary
, 118–55; Lewin,
Przeżyłem
, 155–59.

Yet the Greek Catholic Church
On the origins of the Uniate Church, see Gudziak,
Crisis and Reform
, 209–22 and passim; Koialovich,
Tserkovnaia uniia
, 1:166–68 and passim.

In 1918, the Habsburg monarchy
On Galicia, Ukraine, Poland, and Sheptyts’kyi, see Snyder,
Reconstruction
, chap. 3; Snyder,
Red Prince
, chap. 3; Himka,
Religion and Nationality;
Jobst,
Zwischen Nationalismus und Internationalismus
.

In its experience of alienation
The case is made in Braun and Tammes, “Religious Deviance,” 3, 11; Cabanel, “Protestantismes minoritaires,” 455. On Germany, see Ericksen,
Complicity
, 95 and passim.

By contrast, church leaders
On the famous French example of Le Chambonsur-Lignon, see Sémelin,
Persécutions
, 717–37.

In the occupied Soviet Union
Baptist rescue: Spektor, “Zydzi wołyńscy,” 577; Spector, “Holocaust,” 243; ŻIH, 301/397, Jakub and Esia Zybelberg, Hersz and Doba Mełamud. See also
Sefer Lutsk
, testimony of Fanye Pasht; Ringelblum,
Polish-Jewish Relations
, 242. Lea Goldberg and the Shtundists: ŻIH, 301/1011; also Siemaszko and Siemaszko,
Ludobójstwo
, 793. Cf. Cabanel, “Protestantismes minoritaires,” 446.

The dominant Roman Catholic Church
On the tortuous reconsiderations, see Connelly,
From Enemy to Brother
.

Wilm Hosenfeld, a Roman
Confino,
World Without Jews
, 198.

Aleksandra Ogrodzińska, a Polish
ŻIH, 301/2502, Wala Kuźniecow.

Wonders and visions threaten
YIVO, Hirshant Papers, 3/206.

For the nuns in their convents
Ringelblum,
Polish-Jewish Relations
, 226.

Rufeisen was taken
This account is compiled from ŻIH, 301/3726 (also classified as ŻIH, 301/2827) and FVA, 1834; quotation from the former.

Andrei Sheptyts’kyi
Sheptyts’kyi: Motyka,
Cień Kłyma Sawura
, 86. Iwaniuk: YIVO, Hirshant Papers, 3/206. Priest and Polish Roman Catholics: Rączy,
Pomóc Polaków
, 253, 100.