Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present Review

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(More customer reviews)With the partitions and the Nazi and Soviet occupations, no other European nation has suffered as Poland has, which makes it extremely difficult for Polish Catholics to admit to any malevolence of their own.
Polish monarchs welcomed Western Europe's Jews to Poland in the Middle Ages but this was not for altruistic reasons. The nobility desperately needed the Jews' acumen in finance and trade. Over the centuries, anti-Jewish sentiment grew in Poland, fueled by economic rivalry and the Polish Catholic Church.
At the end of the nineteenth century, a growing number of Poles envisioned an independent Poland whose citizens would be exclusively ethnic Polish and Catholic. This "Poland for Poles" ethno-nationalism, spearheaded by Roman Dmowski and his National Democratic Party, tapped into centuries-old, popular anti-Jewish sentiment. By the 1930's, anti-Semitism was not only prevalent among the masses, it was becoming increasingly institutionalized throughout independent Poland.
There were boycotts of Jewish businesses, restrictions on Jews attending university, segregation of Jews in classrooms, increasing Catholic-on-Jew violence, restrictions on Jewish religious practices passed into law, discussions of deportations, hiring and promotion restrictions in the public sector, etc.
Michlic ably examines the rise of institutionalized anti-Semitism in Poland in the 19th and 20th centuries. There can be no arguing with the extremely well-researched contents of her presentation. This book would be quite an education for Polish and Polish American conservatives, who deny anti-Semitism most zealously, and hold to it most dearly.
The editor of a Polish American weekly recently proclaimed that "Poles are not anti-Semitic" (Am-Pol Eagle, 4/8/2010), pointing to the thousands of Polish Catholics who participated in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust. The ignorance of this argument is beyond comprehension although it is widely disseminated throughout Polonia, even by academics who should know better. It's quite obvious that anyone who holds to this opinion has an extremely parochial understanding of Polish history, 1918-1945.
Polish chauvinists constantly point to the fact that Poland leads other former Nazi-occupied countries in the number of Righteous Among Nations awarded by Yad Vashem (6195 as of 6/12/10) without acknowledging that half of Europe's Jews lived in the country at the beginning of the Second World War. In reply to Poles who purposely misinterpret the number of Righteous by country for their own purposes, Yad Vashem states on its website, "The number of rescuers in the different countries depends on a multitude of factors and therefore does not necessarily indicate the attitude of the local population to the Jews and their murder. Moreover, in view of the great difference in circumstances between different countries and regions, one should proceed with great caution when making such comparisons."


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In this provocative and insightful book, Joanna Beata Michlic interrogates the myth of the Jew as Poland's foremost internal “threatening other,” harmful to Poland, its people, and to all aspects of its national life. This is the first attempt to chart new theoretical directions in the study of Polish-Jewish relations in the wake of the controversy over Jan Gross’s book Neighbors. Michlic analyzes the nature and impact of anti-Jewish prejudices on modern Polish society and culture, tracing the history of the concept of the Jew as the threatening other and its role in the formation and development of modern Polish national identity based on the matrix of exclusivist ethnic nationalism. In the late nineteenth century and throughout the greater part of the twentieth, exclusivist ethnic nationalism predominated over inclusive civic nationalism in Polish political culture and society. Only in the aftermath of the political transformation of 1989 has Polish civic nationalism gradually gained predominance. As civic nationalism has become more assertive, Polish scholars have begun to unearth and critically examine the legacies of Polish anti-Semitism and other anti-minority prejudices. Michlic conducted extensive research in Polish, British, and Israeli archives for this book. Poland’s Threatening Other contributes to modern Jewish and Polish history, the study of nationalism, and to a new school of critical inquiry into the nature of anti-Jewish prejudices. Download a list of textual corrections (PDF) here.

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Bieganski: The Brute Polak Stereotype in Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture (Jews of Poland) Review

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(More customer reviews)Among other things, the Talmud records edited discussions between rabbinic scholars on legal and literary-interpretive topics. Two particular rabbi-scholars frequently appear in tandem, commenting and responding to each other's opinion. These two are named Rava, and Abbaye. One day in Talmud class my Talmud teacher, a devout Polish Jew, commented that "Rava and Abbaye go together like ham and eggs". I saw the jaw of one of my classmates literally drop, nearly hit the floor. "But Rabbi", he stuttered, "what do you know of ham and eggs?". My teacher replied "I never tasted them, but I've heard they go together well". So too Poles and Jews. They seem to go together. Poles and Jews. Jews and Poles. But this taste is bitter, complicated, with a lingering confused finish on the palate.
At least they used to go together. These days, Jews and Palestinians are edging their way into the spot traditionally reserved for Poles and Jews. Israel and the Zionist lobby are making sure of that. Where were Poles will be Palestinians. And some day, sadly, tragically, someone will have to write a book about Jewish-Palestinian relations, stereotypes, etc., and that writer will be called names, variously and such as "anti-Semite", "self hater", "Jew lover", "Zionist spy", "traitor", etc., names such as Danusha Goska will be called for writing "Bieganski".
In "Bieganski" Goska writes a serious book, treading on sacred, crushed bone-, ash- and gold teeth- filled ground, and our journey with her, not surprisingly, is frequently unpleasant. The sites she guides us to in the courageous "Bieganski" are illuminating, and shocking: amazing quotes from current newspaper articles, from the New York Times and Washington Post etc., quoting esteemed, mostly WASP American scholars and commentators saying the most outrageous, nasty things about Poles, Bohemians, Hungarians, 'Bohunks', describing them as brutish protohumans who can only be assumed of eating their own while smacking greasy bulging lips with stupid, sated Slavic simian smiles. Goska points us, with sniper-scope accuracy, to the systematic, disgusting, and pervasive anti-Polish bias in contemporary Hollywood film, literature, and popular major media outlets, television, and newspapers.
But the stuff we read in "Bieganski" is not esoteric; this racism is as mainstream as ham and eggs, as ordinary as Rava and Abbaye doing their intellectual joustings across the centuries of Talmudic discourse. Yet we can barely keep our breakfast down; we want to vomit up that ham, those eggs in disgust. Revulsion. How could we accept such trayf, such unkosher hatred?

And Jews, how do Jews feel about Poles? "Bieganski" incorporates unusual interviews Goska personally conducted with American Jews, speaking off-the-cuff about their stereotypes of Poles. Jews? Poles? We feel what we were taught, and what has been reinforced and encouraged by our WASP overlords and by our Jewish, anti-Polish dayschool teachers; Poles are subhuman, they are fed antisemitism in their mother's milk, we are superior to them. We go to visit modern Poland to see how poor and stupid and undeveloped the Poles are, and to see the Nazi death camps on Polish soil, and we know that the Poles are undeveloped and poor and stupid in cosmic punishment for the so-called "Polish Holocaust", which was a Nazi Holocaust conducted on occupied Polish soil, and which targeted Catholic Poles as much as it targeted Jews. But of course the Poles are to blame. And the mass murder of Poles, Polish Catholics, by Nazis from the west, and by Soviets from the East, is completely ignored, relegated to the ash heap of history, irrelevant, unworthy of mention.
So why will author Dr. Goska likely need to hire a bodyguard now? Why, for writing "Bieganski" will she be reviled, by Jews, by Poles, by African Americans? Why is it that no mainstream publisher would touch her book "Bieganski" for fear that they might lose support from generous financial backers? Why will Goska now be labelled, variously, as an "anti-Semite", a "Polish apologist", a "right-wing whacko", a "racist", a "self-hating Pole", a "Jew lover" and a "Zionist spy", all at the same time?
You'll just have to read the book and figure it out for yourself. It will be an exhilarating ride, eye-opening, jaw-dropping, intellectually rich and deep yet smooth as a Cuban cigar with a glass of dark, dark rum. "Bieganski". Mark my words. This one's a keeper. You'll be talking about it with your friends for years. "Bieganski". An exploration of the brute within.


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In this controversial study, Goska exposes one stereotype of Poles and other Eastern Europeans. In the ''Bieganski'' stereotype, Poles exhibit the qualities of animals. They are strong, stupid, violent, fertile, anarchic, dirty, and especially hateful in a way that more evolved humans are not. Their special hatefulness is epitomized by their Polish anti-Semitism. Bieganski discovers this stereotype in the mainstream press, scholarship, film, in Jews' self-definition, and in responses to the Holocaust. Bieganski's twin is Shylock, the stereotype of the crafty, physically inadequate, moneyed Jew. The final chapters of the book are devoted to interviews with American Jews, which reveal that Bieganski and Shylock are both alive and well among those who have little knowledge of Poles or Poland.

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Sparks Amidst the Ashes: The Spiritual Legacy of Polish Jewry Review

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(More customer reviews)Whether or not one agrees with everything he says, one can feel enlightened and uplifted by Sherwin's refreshingly-different and generally-balanced analysis of Polish Jewry and Polish-Jewish relations. He writes: "Indeed, the contemporary view of Poland as a land endemically inhospitable to Jews runs sharply counter to much of historical experience." (p. 55). And, it turns out, contrary to the claims of Jan Thomas Gross, far from all Poles attempted to erase all memories of Jews: "The Jews of Makow are gone...The cemetery was destroyed by the Nazis. The tombstones were used for construction. Remnants of these tombstones still pave parts of the road near the bus depot. After the war, the Poles of Makow salvaged what they could of the shattered tombstones and built a monument to the Jews of Makow." (p. 76).
Sherwin soundly repudiates the common notion that Poland is little more than a giant cemetery of Jews (p. 6). His travels throughout Poland uncover a surprisingly-large remnant of Jewish artifacts. Much of his book consists of detailed descriptions of the achievements in philosophy and religion of past Polish Jews, especially by the Hasidim. His entire work has a flavor of mysticism.
Rabbi Sherwin believes that most of American Jewry has turned to a lachrymose view of history (p. 87), forgetting this rich tradition and replacing it with poor substitutes: "The `myth' of death/rebirth, Holocaust/Israel tends to replace belief in God as the foundation of Jewish faith...Concerning American Jews, a number of Jewish scholars have observed that faith in Israel and in the Jewish people has replaced or superseded belief in God...The ideology of survivalism, coupled with the dual dogmatic pillars of Jewish civil religion of Holocaust-destruction and Israel-rebirth, folded nicely into an increasingly secularized Jewish self-identity." (pp. 85-86). Sherwin goes as far as suggesting that American Jewry is in danger of eventually self-destructing through the neglect of its heritage (p. 87, 90, 100).
Sherwin repeatedly stresses the reciprocity of Polish-Jewish prejudices, mentioning, for example, the Jewish belief that Christians are idol worshippers (p. 18). He also comments: "Perhaps the Jewish stereotype that Poles are anti-Semites was as problematic as the Polish stereotype that Jews are atheists and communists." (p. 32). But why do Polish anti-Semitism and Jewish Polonophobia persist? Sherwin believes that both Poles and Jews retain unexamined views of each other that have been handed down two or more generations from their ancestors, and usually without personally knowing anyone of the other group (pp. 129-130).
Sherwin freely acknowledges what many Poles had long suspected: "In the popular American and Israeli understanding of the Holocaust, the Poles all but replace the Germans as the perpetrators of the Holocaust, as the archenemies of the Jews throughout the thousand-year Jewish presence in Poland." (p. 84). He cites a visit to Auschwitz (p. 82) during which Israeli students were all but told that Poles were co-responsible with the Nazi Germans for the Holocaust, and suggests that this was being done not with the direct intention of denigrating Poles but for the forging of a post-Holocaust Jewish identity. (Even so, the outcome is identical.)
Sherwin criticizes what he considers the exaggerations of Polish aid to Jews during the Holocaust, but unfortunately makes no attempt to analyze the extent of this help. He also elaborates on the seemingly-paradoxical fact that prewar Polish anti-Semites often played a major role in the wartime rescue and hiding of Jews (p. 129).
Sherwin addresses the reality and limits of the Zydokomuna (Jewish Communism): "In this regard, it must be admitted that both for idealistic and self-serving reasons, proportionately more Jews than non-Jews were involved with the communist powers. But the popular Polish perception that Jews outnumbered non-Jews in the party or the state apparatus is patently false."(p. 136).
Sherwin recognizes the fact that contemporary Jewish attitudes may actually give rise to what may be called "secondary anti-Semitism": "However, to be sure, the pervasive Jewish stereotype of all Poles as anti-Semites may well encourage young Poles initially devoid of anti-Jewish sentiments to become anti-Semites." (p. 135). He also writes: "While the `competitive martyrology' of Jews and Poles results in nothing except the amplification of tensions, few Jews have acknowledged the devastating impact that the Nazi occupation had upon the non-Jewish population of Poland. (p. 133).
Sherwin includes various tidbits of little-known information, including the strongly philo-Semitic orientation of Kosciuszko (p. 143), and the fact that Hasidic dress is actually modified Polish clothing (p. 101). Rabbi Moses Isserles of Krakow once taught that philosophy originated with the Jews, and was only later copied by the Greeks (p. 37).
While not written for this purpose, some old rabbinical teachings discussed by Byron L. Sherwin find correspondence to Christian thinking. For example, the teachings of the Rabbi of Kotzk (Kock?) on the good works produced by genuine faith (p. 122) recount the Reformation teachings of good works as a fruit of genuine faith. Musar's warnings against an excessively mechanical obedience to the Law (p. 120), and that to the detriment of moral and ethical virtue, are reminiscent of the teachings of Jesus Christ against the Pharisees. And, contrary to the common view that the Jewish conception of God is one where He is less personal than in the Christian conception of God, Sherwin cites some Hasidic teachings (p. 114-115) that point to a very intimate human-God communion, even using such terms for God as "our little Father", "my darling", and God being not in heaven as much as "In our guts." A superb book!

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For hundreds of years, Poland served as the epicenter of Jewish life. As a result of the Holocaust, though, Poland has become a "Jewish Atlantis." Yet, the majority of Jews in the world today have their genealogical roots in the historical lands of Poland. In this book, Sherwin demonstrates how the unprecedented works of intellect and spirit produced during the Jewish "Golden Age" in Poland can provide contemporary Jews with the spiritual and intellectual resources required to ensure Jewish continuity in the present and future. Sherwin introduces us to the vast range of mystical speculation, evocative stories, talmudic dialectics, theological ideas, and social realities that were muted by the destruction of Polish Jewry during the Holocaust. Sherwin critiques the tendency among contemporary Jews to disregard the precious legacy bequeathed by Polish Jewry, and presents a plan for re-creating Jewish life after the Holocaust that draws from the wisdom of the spiritual magnates and from the communal experience that characterized Jewish life in Poland. Sherwin concludes with a controversial proposal for the future of Polish-Jewish relations.

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Art of the Totem: Totem Poles of the Northwest Coastal Indians Review

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(More customer reviews)Art of the Totem republishes archaelogical work done in the 1930's on Totem poles of the Northwest Coastal Indians. This short paperback is brief on text, but long on black and white and some color photos of Totem poles and other Native American art. Location maps of various totem pole sites are also included. This book contains many more photographs than equivalent length books on the subject, but does not contain much information on the various characters found in the Totem and their symbolism or history.

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Majestic spires, reminders of the ages past, the carved figures of totem poles pierce the coastal forests. First written as an obscure U.S. government publication in 1932, renowned Canadian anthropologist Marius Barbeau's classic work on the history of the development and significance of Northwest Coast totem pole art is now updated with beautiful colour photographs.

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Rethinking Poles and Jews: Troubled Past, Brighter Future Review

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(More customer reviews)Given this book's title, there is surprisingly little "rethinking" and "brighter future," and surprisingly much "troubled past."
One essay stands out for its freshness and courage. Jewish-American journalist Carolyn Slutsky unabashedly exposes almost unbelievable hostility to Poles nurtured by March of the Living: youngsters were told not to "leave any good Jewish money in Poland" (190); marchers were encouraged to view Poles living near camps as participants in genocide, though those Poles witnessed Polish non-Jews' internment, torture, and murder. In MOL ideology, Poland has been the "evil country" Slutsky says (190). Participants who had positive experiences with Poles, or assessments of Poland, were steered away from those experiences by MOL leaders (192). After her MOL experience, Slutsky went on to live in Poland, and soon met Poles whose family members had been victimized by the Nazis. Ewa, a Polish girl, reported that her grandfather had been killed in Majdanek. Slutsky says her head spun - she finally realized the other side of the story (195). Slutsky ends with an exhortation that MOL try harder to find truth (195).
Mieczyslaw Biskupski carefully outlines the cinematic version of the Holocaust in theatrical films, documentaries, and television miniseries including "Schindler's List," "Holocaust," "Uprising," "Sophie's Choice," "Shoah," and "Shtetl," and compares that depiction with historical fact. Verdict? Poles are now the perpetrators of the Holocaust. In scene after scene, historical fact is distorted to divert guilt from German Nazis and place it on the shoulders of Poles, especially Polish, Catholic, peasants. Please note: all these films are shown in high schools and colleges as Holocaust educational material.
Robert Cherry demonstrates, through surveys, that Holocaust education teachers in the US tend to have anti-Polish biases.
Father John T. Pawlikowski is a Polish American priest and scholar who has been active in Polish-Jewish dialogue for decades. His essay offers a first-person account of his frontline experience, including at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Pawlikowski is frank in recording obstacles he met from both Poles and Jews. Elie Wiesel was wary of him because of his ethnicity. At the same time, Poles demanded why he should represent Polonia (112). Polish Americans often complain about their depiction in scholarship, journalism, and media. Rightly so. But Polish Americans have not done the hard work to correct the stereotypical depictions of Poles, or to educate the public about Poland's history and culture, or even to begin to honor that history and culture (114). Poles must not blame Jews or anyone else, Father Pawlikowski insists; rather, they must look to Poles' own organizing, Poles' own support of scholarship and cultural products. Bravo, Father Pawlikowski.
Lawrence Baron offers an interesting account of how Roman Polanski's "The Pianist," based on the life of Holocaust survivor Wladyslaw Szpilman, and Andrzej Wajda's "Korczak," based on the heroic doctor and child advocate Janusz Korczak, were received in world media. Bottom line: politics and prejudice, rather than aesthetic merit, played a role in the acceptance or rejection of these works of art.
Michael Shudrich, Poland's chief rabbi, speaks as a very visible Jew in today's Poland. He talks about young people in Poland who discover, or begin to invest in, their previously hidden or ignored Jewish roots, and he salutes non-Jews who commit themselves to preserving Poland's Jewish heritage. Shudrich cites Pope John Paul II and his philo-semitism as having a positive impact on Polish-Jewish relations.
There are a few contributions that cling to past hates, and do not offer a road, as the book's subtitle suggests, to a "brighter future." Shana Penn says that print media do not misrepresent Poles (56). Her evidence of this? She used to preside over very tall file cabinets full of clippings (49). Penn is simply wrong in her assertion; print media certainly do misrepresent Poles and Poland. One need only mention the frequently repeated phrase "Polish concentration camps" and absence of mention of Polish suffering under the Nazis, for example in a 12/23/2009 NYT article about the theft of the Auschwitz sign that failed to mention that Poles were interned at Auschwitz, while being sure to list other victims.
Joanna Michlic continues to attribute anti-Semitism to Polish, Catholic, peasant, folk, pre-modern, and patriotic identities. She adduces no evidence to support this assertion. Much evidence could be adduced to call Michlic's conclusion into doubt: the Holocaust, the worst expression of anti-Semitism in history, was inspired and facilitated by modern, scientific, atheistic, Pagan, Western, advanced, ideology and persons. Many Catholic, peasant, folk, pre-modern and patriotic Poles rescued Jews. Michlic needs to jettison her prejudices and go back to actual data.
Eli Zborowski's foreword is very much a throwback to the past, and not part of any movement toward a "brighter future." In his brief piece, Zborowski emphasizes that his family was victimized by Nazis and by Poles. Zborowski's family was helped by Poles; that help is not his focus. Zborowski does not mention, and the book does not emphasize, that Poles suffered during the Holocaust, and that that suffering must be understood in any Polish-Jewish dialogue. Zborowski's victimizatioin is tragic and wrong and his story needs to be attended to and sympathy and restitution must be extended. At the same time, the central placement, in the foreward, of Zborowski's victimization at the hands of evil Poles during the Holocaust is very much not part of any steps toward a brighter future; it skews the entire text and undermines its stated purpose. Steps toward a "brighter future" for Poles and Jews will include mention of Polish suffering under the Nazis, and fearless probing of the complex shared history that preceded the 1939-45 era.

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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.

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Contested Memories: Poles and Jews during the Holocaust and Its Aftermath Review

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(More customer reviews)This book mixes historical facts and stereotyped generalizations. Owing to space limitations, only a few of the latter can be reviewed. The prewar economic boycotts and numerus clausus at universities are mentioned, but not the fact that Polish Jews, at 10% of the Polish population, owned over 40% of Poland's wealth, and were over-represented at universities. These anti-Jewish policies were, using modern parlance, a form of affirmative action designed to get more Polish gentiles into Jewish-dominated institutions.
Although Poland was only one of two German-occupied nations in which the death penalty was imposed for aiding Jews, certain writers (cited by Zimmerman) have attempted to minimize its significance by disingenuously arguing that it didn't decisively constrain Polish behavior. But concealing an inanimate object (e. g., a gun) is far less risky than hiding a human being! We keep hearing that Poles did not "do enough" to save Jews. But who is to be the judge of this, and on what basis is the judgment to be made? As for Poles having failed a moral test, this additionally implies the uniqueness of Jewish suffering, a view that did not develop until long after WWII. How was the average Pole, trying to survive under the lash of the Germans, realize that his conduct would be subject to an ex post facto moralization? No convincing evidence is presented to support reflexive claims that Poles were disinclined to help Jews owing to prewar attitudes (and church teachings). In fact, the acknowledged anti-Semitic beliefs of many rescuers of Jews argue for the opposite.
Polish inaction towards the Jews is simplistically generalized as indifference. Polish help to Jews, Zegota aside, is characterized as "only individual and unorganized". Yet discussion of Zegota (Pawlikowski) makes it clear that the Germans would only have more easily penetrated a larger underground rescue network. Furthermore, substantially more Polish assistance to Jews would have triggered a correspondingly greater German terror against the Polish population with little net additional saving of Jewish lives. Complaints about the AK (Polish Home Army) lacking a systematic program for aiding fugitive Jews are misunderstandings. It was a clandestine guerrilla organization, devoted to military objectives and, exceptions aside, unable to save individual Jewish (or Polish) lives. Poles outside of the AK wanting to fight procured arms themselves, never waiting for outside assistance or "moral support" [for instance, the Peasant Battalions combating draconian German colonization, and rural Poles of Volhynia thwarting genocidal attacks by the UPA (so-called Ukrainian Insurgent Army)]. The AK did not become involved until later.
The usual inaction of Poles and occasional betrayal of Jews is portrayed as a violation that provoked a degree of Jewish pain and anger incapable of being assuaged by the actions of those Poles who did assist Jews. But could not the same be said about Polish reactions to earlier long-term comparable Jewish behaviors? Bearing in mind that loyalty is the expected conduct, the sacrifices of patriotic Polish Jews could not counterbalance the actions of a large fraction of Polish Jews who acted indifferently to Poland's centuries-long struggle for independence, and even supported Poland's enemies. While this book touches on the latter (Lwow 1918, disproportionate Jewish involvement in Communism 1939-1947) it fails to inform the reader about the significant pro-Russian orientation of Polish Jews going far back into the 19th century.
Recurrent charges of Poles turning in or killing fugitive Jews neglect a number of factors, one of which is the latter's significant involvement in the plunder (and sometimes murder) of Polish villagers. Contrary to Krakowski's claims, Jewish (and, for that matter, also gentile) banditry was very real, and subject to Polish counter-action.
The Jedwabne massacre is presented uncritically, along with the citation of some Polish authors who lament "the loss of Polish victimhood and innocence". But are Poland's centuries of tragic history so easily disposed of? And how many tens of Jedwabnes would be needed to rival the number of Jews killed by Horthy's Hungary or Petain's France? Pinchuk objects, on the basis of the fact that Jews were killed indiscriminately, to the notion of Jedwabne being Polish revenge for the recent Jewish-Soviet collaboration. But the Poles sent earlier to horrible slavery and death in Siberia, largely facilitated by Jewish denunciations, were hardly limited to those Poles guilty in Jewish eyes, and included numerous children. Finally, the evidence does not support Gross' storytelling. There were 200-400 Jewish victims, not 1,600. Very likely, the Germans orchestrated this atrocity, with the Poles relegated to a compelled subsidiary role (perhaps 40 Poles, certainly not "half the town"). Who actually torched the barn is unclear.
Perhaps the weakest part of this book is the rather superficial treatment of continued mutual Jewish-Polish prejudices (Gitelman), with no factoring of its extreme asymmetry. When a Pole makes negative comments about Jews, his audience is relatively small and almost always Polish. In contrast, a vast, diverse audience was exposed to the Polonophobic remarks of such prominent Jews as Carole Burnett, Alan Dershowitz, Yitzhak Shamir, Eppie Lederer (Ann Landers), etc. The Polack joke syndrome is mentioned, but not its origin from Jewish comedians. No mention is made of the usual anti-Polish slant of Holocaust-related films. (The Pianist is the exception that proves the rule. Free of Pole-bashing, it was widely criticized by Jewish commentators for this reason). The widely acclaimed educational cartoon Maus has pigs representing Poles, an inexcusable choice, while comparatively innocuous animals (cats, mice, etc.) represent all other nationalities. British scholar Norman Davies was denied tenure at Stanford University, as a result of Jewish pressure, all because of the opinion that he was "too pro-Polish".
The persistence of Polish anti-Semitism is simplistically attributed to the continued presence of negative characterizations of Jews in the Polish language, even though such characterizations, unfortunately, are virtually universal (e. g., the phrase "To Jew someone down" in the English language). Clearly, this book leaves much to be desired.

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Few issues have divided Poles and Jews more deeply thanthe Nazi occupation of Poland during the Second World War and thesubsequent slaughter of almost ninety percent of Polish Jewry. ManyJewish historians have argued that, during the occupation, Poles atbest displayed indifference to the fate of the Jews and at worst werewilling accomplices of the Nazis. Many Polish scholars, however, denyany connection between the prewar culture of antisemitism and thewartime situation. They emphasized that Poles were also victims of theNazis and, for the most part, tried their best to protect the Jews.This collection of essays, representing three generations of Polish and Jewish scholars, is the first attempt since the fall of Communism to reassess the existing historiography of Polish-Jewish relations just before, during, and after the Second World War.In the spirit of detached scholarly inquiry, these essays fearlessly challenge commonly held views on both sides of the debates. The authors are committed to analyzing issues fairly and to reaching a mutual understanding.

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Looking at Totem Poles Review

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(More customer reviews)No frills, no gimmicks, just an excellent written and graphic profile of totem poles as a symbol of a North American people. Allows you to enter a community where beliefs in the earth, sky, oceans, mountains and animals continue to be spiritual.

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This work gives a historical, cultural, and artistic account of the ancient craft of totem poles that has grown to be a symbol of the Native Americans of the Northwest Coast.

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The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Totem Pole" is an excellent, lavishly illustrated history of totem poles as cultural objects in the native cultures of the Northwest Coast of North America (where they originated) and well beyond, their banning by the Canadian government in the 1880s, and their renaissance since the lifting of the ban in 1956 (though the Kwakwaka'wakw or Kwakiutl people continued to raise them despite the ban). It also goes far beyond their origin to show how totem poles were adopted by native peoples across North America as cultural symbols and tourist art and how they have become highly valued objects in museums (ranging from Canada's Museum of Civilization near Ottawa to others in New York City, London, Berlin, Madrid, and Tokyo) and parks (ranging from Vancouver, B.C., Canada's Stanley Park, to PepsiCo's Donald Kendall Sculpture Garden in Purchase, NY, to sites in Sweden and Japan, to give just a few examples).
While the book is somewhat academic in its style (the authors are an emeritus professor of Art of the North at the University of Alaska and a professor at Bard College's Graduate Center in New York City), it is easily accessible to the general reader, and its illustrations make it a delight even as a "coffee-table" book. Its seven appendices cover everything from a selected list of books about poles to a list of poles raised in and for native communities and a very extensive list of references (14 pp.) and help to make the book a useful reference, as well as a the main text makes it a delight to read.

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"Writing a poem is like trying to describe a totemic column which passes right through and beyond the world. We see it, but its existence is elsewhere." --Stanley Diamond, Totems--The Northwest Coast totem pole captivates the imagination. From the first descriptions of these tall carved monuments, totem poles have become central icons of the Northwest Coast region and symbols of its Native inhabitants. Although many of those who gaze at these carvings assume that they are ancient artifacts, the so-called totem pole is a relatively recent artistic development, one that has become immensely important to Northwest Coast people and has simultaneously gained a common place in popular culture from fashion to the funny pages.--The Totem Pole reconstructs the intercultural history of the art form in its myriad manifestations from the eighteenth century to the present. Aldona Jonaitis and Aaron Glass analyze the totem pole's continual transformation since Europeans first arrived on the scene, investigate its various functions in different contexts, and address the significant influence of colonialism on the proliferation and distribution of carved poles. The authors also describe their theories on the development of the art form: its spread from the Northwest Coast to world's fairs and global theme parks; its integration with the history of tourism and its transformation into a signifier of place; the role of governments, museums, and anthropologists in collecting and restoring poles; and the part that these carvings have continuously played in Native struggles for control of their cultures and their lands.--Short essays by scholars and artists, including Robert Davidson, Bill Holm, Richard Hunt, Nathan Jackson, Vickie Jensen, Andrea Laforet, Susan Point, Charlotte Townsend-Gault, Lyle Wilson, and Robin Wright, provide specific case studies of many of the topics discussed, directly illustrating the various relationships that people have with the totem pole.--Aldona Jonaitis is director emerita of the University of Alaska Museum of the North and professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. An art historian who has published widely on Native American art, she is the author of Art of the Northwest Coast and Looking North: Art from the University of Alaska Museum, among other titles. --Aaron Glass is an assistant professor at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City, where he teaches anthropology of art, museums, and material culture. He has published on visual art, media, and performance among First Nations on the Northwest Coast and has produced the documentary film In Search of the Hamat'sa: A Tale of Headhunting.

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