Rethinking Poles and Jews

Rethinking Poles and Jews focuses on the role of Holocaust-related material in perpetuating anti-Polish images and describes organizational efforts to combat them. Without minimizing contemporary Polish anti-Semitism, it also presents more positive material on contemporary Polish-American organizations and Jewish life in Poland.

Since Polish Catholics embraced some anti-Jewish notions and actions prior to WWII, many intertwined the Nazi death camps in Poland with Polish anti-Semitism. As a result, more so than local non-Jewish population in other Nazi-occupied countries, Polish Catholics were considered active collaborators in the destruction of European Jewry. Through the presentation of these negative images in Holocaust literature, documentaries, and teaching, these stereotypes have been sustained and infect attitudes toward contemporary Poland, impacting on Jewish youth trips there from Israel and the United States.

This book focuses on the role of Holocaust-related material in perpetuating anti-Polish images and describes organizational efforts to combat them. Without minimizing contemporary Polish anti-Semitism, it also presents more positive material on contemporary Polish-American organizations and Jewish life in Poland. To our knowledge this will be the first book to document systematically the anti-Polish images in Holocaust material, to describe ongoing efforts to combat these negative stereotypes, and to emphasize the positive role of the Polish Catholic community in the resurgence of Jewish life in Poland. Thus, this book will present new information that will be of value to Holocaust Studies and the 100,000 annual foreign visitors to the German death camps in Poland.

Part 1 Foreward
Part 2 Preface
Part 3 Introduction: Confronting Negative Stereotypes: Polish Behavior in Wartime and Contemporary Poland
Part 4 Anti-Polish Stereotypes
Chapter 5 Introduction: Anti-Polish Stereotypes
Chapter 6 Poland and the Poles in the Cinematic Portrayal of the Holocaust
Chapter 7 Cinema in the Crossfire of Jewish-Polish Polemics: Wajda'sKorczak and Polanski'sThe Pianist
Chapter 8 American Press Coverage of Poland's Role in the Holocaust
Chapter 9 Measuring Anti-Polish Biases Among Holocaust Teachers
Part 10 Contextual Understanding and Dialogue
Chapter 11 Introduction: Polish-Jewish Relations in America
Chapter 12 Polish-Jewish Relations during the Holocaust: A Changing Jewish Viewpoint
Chapter 13 Polish and Jewish Historiography of Jewish-Polish Relations during World War II
Chapter 14 The Holocaust: A Continuing Challenge for Polish-Jewish Relations
Chapter 15 Polish-Jewish Relations since 1984: Reflections of a Participant
Part 16 Contemporary Poland
Chapter 17 Introduction: Polish-Jewish Relations in Poland: Where Have We Come From and Where Are We Headed?
Chapter 18 The Evolution of Catholic-Jewish Relations after 1989
Chapter 19 Antisemitism in Contemporary Poland: Does It Matter? And For Whom Does It Matter?
Chapter 20 Polish Historians Respond to Jedwabne
Chapter 21 March of the Living: Confronting Anti-Polish Stereotypes
Chapter 22 Gentiles Doing Jewish Stuff: The Contributions of Polish Non-Jews to Polish Jewish Life