Hunt for the Jews: Betrayal and Murder in German-Occupied Poland
"Now, in path-breaking research, Jan Grabowski... reveals what happened to those Jews who tried to hide in rural Poland after the Nazis violently emptied the ghettos." —Maclean's"This well-documented account of the fate of the Jews in Dabrowska Tarnowska, a rural county in southeastern Poland, during the Nazi occupation is a major contribution to our understanding of the last stage of the Holocaust in Poland, which took place after the liquidation of the ghettos in the large towns. In the smaller towns of Poland, the ghettos were more porous and many Jews were able to escape them. Jews who sought shelter among the local population often did not find it. They were often betrayed by the local population and, in some well-documented cases, murdered by Home Army units. How this process took place in this one district is examined in all its complex and often shocking detail in this path-breaking study. It is essential reading for all those interested in Polish-Jewish relations and the Holocaust in Poland." —Antony Polonsky, editor of Poli"One concludes from Grabowski's important study that without the often unforced, and sometimes enthusiastic, support of non-German volunteers and helpers, the Germans would not have succeeded as completely as they did during the Holocaust.... Recommended." —Choice"An important book, not only for the story that it tells but also for the penetrating analysis into human behavior.... Grabowski's enlightening analysis contributes much to our understanding of where escaped Jews tried to find aid and hide, and where, how, and by whom they were exposed, caught, and killed." —David Silberklang, Yad Vashem"In Poland, German occupation meant the obliteration of the central state, the mass murder of political elites, and the Holocaust of the Jews. This important book reveals how German power altered local societies in the countryside, mastering institutions and changing individual incentives so that some Polish policemen and some Polish peasants took part in the murder of Jews. Grabowski is alert to the difficulty of rescue and dedicates his book to the Polish rescuers. But his ultimate concern is the way people are brought over time to do great evil. This short book is perhaps the most important in the recent Polish debates about Polish responsibility for the Holocaust. But it is also an inquiry into human behavior in dark times from which all can learn." —Timothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin"In 1942 and 1943, thousands of Jews escaped transports to death camps and sought shelter in the Polish countryside. Few survivied until 1945. Using previously unexplored archival ducments, Canadian-Polish historian Jan Grabowski argues that the explanation lies not in German control of rural Poland. In fact, the greatest enemies of Poles attempting to save Jews were other Poles: watchful neighbors who denounced rescuers to the police. Grabowski's masterfully told and soberly argued study has helped drive a revolution in Holocaust studies that has gone largely unnoticed in the west, showing that the death machine needed complicity of local populations, based in bigotries inherited from earlier times, as well as fears and opportunities generated by the Nazi occupation. This book stands out for fresh and vital insights into problems that legions of historians have studied for decades. It constitutes a miletone in holocaust studies." —John Connelly, author of From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews"This important, often disturbing, exploration of how genocides happen is on par with works from Hannah Arendt and Gitta Sereny and is enriched by the author's clear compassion for those who were compromised or lost." —ForeWord Reviews"Here is an absolutely essential addition to any Holocaust library or a read for anyone interested in Polish-Jewish relations." —AJL Reviews"A path breaking book, opening new perspectives on how the wartime murder of Jews was carried out in Poland.... It is a lasting and extremely important contribution to Holocaust historiography." —Jan Tomasz Gross, author of Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland"Eschewing facile generalizations about latent or active anti-Semitism, Grabowski considers the motivations of both those who aided Jews and those who attacked them...Grabowski's highly detailed reconstruction challenges the conventional wisdom of dividing the population into victims, perpetrators, and bystanders...Recommended for all serious Holocaust collections." —Library Journal"...[A] grim, compelling work of research...The author followed the fates of 337 Jews who tried to survive in the county, of which 51 managed to hide until liberation, while 286 died between 1942 and 1945. Grabowski breaks down each group with meticulous research." —Kirkus Reviews"Hunt for the Jews bears the seeds of paradigm-shifting findings. The conclusions of the book are explosive and the book is likely to leave a mark on scholarship as a landmark study." —Tomasz Frydel, University of Toronto