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various Polish editions (English edition:
Uprising in the Warsaw
Ghetto,
1975).
PUBLICATION RISE
After the events of 1968 the Jewish population of Poland was
reduced to approximately 6,000 . Now there are virtually no more
Jews living in Poland — hardly enough Jews, seemingly, to war
rant any particular interest in Jews on the part of Poles. Conse
quently, the recent wave of Judaica publications, which shows no
signs yet of cresting, comes as something of a surprise to the inter
ested reader. These include works both on the Holocaust and on
Polish Jewish culture.
Recent Holocaust books in Polish have included, notably, sev
eral accounts of aid rendered by Poles to persecuted Jews, e.g.;
Konspiracyjna Rada Pomocy Zydom w Warszawie 1942-1945
(The
Clandestine Relief Council for Jews in Warsaw; 1982), by Teresa
Prekerowa;
Kryptonim “Zegota”; z dziejow pomocy Zydom w Polsce
(Code-name “Zegota”; on the history of aid to Jews in Poland
1939-1945 ; 1983), by Marek Arczynski and Wieslaw Balcerak:
Polacy-Zydzi, 1939-1945
(Poles and Jews, 1939-1945 ; 1971), by
Stanislaw Wrorisi and Maria Zwolakowa;
Za to grozita smierc
(This
was punished with death: Polish aid to Jews during the Nazi occu
pation; 1981), edited by Wladysfaw Smolski; and
Gehenna ludnosci
Zydowskiej
(The Jewish population’s Gehenna; 1983), by
Eugeniusz F^fara. Books on the suffering of Jews in rural dis
tricts, among Polish peasants, have also appeared, including the
classic, 1,200-page work on the subject, by Wladyslaw
Bartoszewski and Zofia Lewinowna:
Tenjest z ojczyzny mojej
(1966,
2nd enlarged edition: 1969 ; British edition:
Righteous among
nations: how Poles helped theJews 1939-1945 ,
lxxxvi, 834 p., 1969;
U.S. edition:
The Samaritans: heroes of the Holocaust,
442 p., 1970).
In this connection two memoirs dealing with survival on Aryan
documents ought to be mentioned:
Na aryjskich papierach
(1983 ;
English edition:
A private war,
1985), by Bronislaw Szatyn (Bruno
Shatyn), and
Cudem przeZylismy czas zaglady
(It was a miracle we
survived the Holocaust; 1983), by Leokadia Schmidt. Each of
these authors renders an honest account, without in any way dis
torting reality, by portraying how Jews survived as Poles, among
Poles.
Among other important Holocaust-related books are: “W
nocy
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