My Brother's Keeper: Recent Polish Debates on the Holocaust

by Polonsky,Antony

• ISBN13: 9780415042321
• ISBN10: 0415042321
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1990-02-02
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

What responsibility do the Polish people share for the mass murder of the Jews, which took place largely on Polish soil? In this major contribution to the history of the Holocaust, Antony Polonsky brings together in translation the most important arguments in this very public and controversial debate. The volume's contributors grapple with the complex moral issues and painful questions which are history's legacy: What could the Polish people have done, and what were they willing to do? Many have argued their innocence and utter helplessness before the Nazis, while others resolutely refuse excuses for standing by, or even aiding, the slaughter.My Brother's Keeper?meets these dilemmas head-on, in a tough and troubling debate.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Poor Poles Look at the Ghetto	p. 34
Appendix	p. 49
The Deep Roots and Long Life of Stereotypes	p. 53
A Reply to Jan B&lslash;Oński	p. 59
Guilt by Neglect	p. 69
The 'Just' and the 'Passive'	p. 72
The Mission That Failed	p. 81
'The Black Hole'	p. 98
Do Not Speak for Me, Please	p. 110
Differing Ethical Standpoints	p. 118
In a Sense I Am an Anti-Semite	p. 123
Polish Reasons and Jewish Reasons	p. 134
The Eighty-First Blow	p. 144
Pilate's Gesture	p. 150
The Disseminator of Anti-Semitism?	p. 155
The Hidden Complex of the Polish Mind	p. 161
Ethical Problems of the Holocaust in Poland	p. 184
Index	p. 239
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