Reviews for Forgotten Holocaust : Poles under German Occupation, 1939-1944

The average rating for Forgotten Holocaust : Poles under German Occupation, 1939-1944 based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-02-24 00:00:00 Derrick Walker Of course I was aware that the Poles suffered horribly during World War II and, as a nation, were the most victimized of all. I already knew that something like 20% of the population of Poland was killed during the war. But that doesn't mean I didn't learn a lot from Dr. Lukas's book. He covers World War II in Poland almost day by day -- though not in chronological order; each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the war (civilian attitudes towards the Germans, the Polish Underground, Poles and Jews, etc) instead. And he is able to enlighten the reader on Polish attitudes towards Jews without trying to either demonize or whitewash either side. The Poles would best be described as feisty. Certainly they have a long history of resisting invasions from one direction or another (it's telling that the first line of their national anthem is "Poland is not yet lost"), and their defiant attitude can be seen throughout the book. The last chapter, describing the Warsaw Uprising, sounds like something out of a good novel -- one by Frederick Forsyth, say. I will also note that this book is a work of superb scholarship with loads of notes and footnotes to back up Lukas's arguments. Well done!

Review # 2 was written on 2010-05-16 00:00:00 Michael Welty Poland lost 15-20% of her population during the war, the most of any country, and they came from all walks of life. These forgotten millions were murdered simply because they were born Polish. Very few people are aware of the fact that 3 million Polish gentiles were murdered by the Germans during World War II. Much of the 1939-1945 Polish history remains to be uncovered, such as the stories concerning resistance units, and the uprising of the Home Army and the suppression by the Soviets. Lucas’ historical volley “Forgotten Holocaust” is aimed at exposing a much overlooked part of WW II history, i.e. the suffering and wholesale slaughter of the Polish people. The tragedy of the Polish experience, is that it has been neglected and distorted by the West (which betrayed much of Eastern Europe at Yalta) and the suppression of this history by the Soviet puppet governments. The truth is beginning to trickle out, but archives are scant, some still being labeled as top secret (e.g. the SOE role in WW II resistance movements). In other cases only oral history survives, but those potential oral historians who are still alive are in their 80s and older. The search goes on in Poland with some alacrity to reconstruct many stories before they die. Lucas’ main goal is to contrast the Polish gentile experience to the Polish Jewish one. The Polish experience was different than the Jewish one, in that Polish Jews were marked for immediate and total extermination while Poles were slaughtered a bit differently. Both were killed in large numbers. What contrasted the Polish gentile experience was that the German genocide of Poles focused on the destruction of the intelligentsia and cultural genocide, while using the others as slaves to wait on those Germans who were resettled into what Hitler viewed as rightfully belonging to Germany (east of the Molotov Ribbentrop line). The total, or near-total, extermination of the Poles was to await the end of the war. An interesting part of the book deals with a different kind of Holocaust, the destruction of families. Polish children who would be Germanized, because of their blond hair and blue eyes, represented about 3% of the Polish population of the Reich-annexed regions and were ripped from their families to be placed in German foster homes and orphanages. According to German crazy ideology, these were not Poles; they were Germans who had become Polonized, and would now be re-Germanized. The book pays scant attention to the Warsaw Uprising, although to be fair, the intent is not to provide a blow-by-blow account of those tragic 63 days. I did find some interesting material herein about weapons stockpiles held by the Home Army. What was fascinating to me was Luccas' description of the underground state. Absolutely extraordinary. All of those thousands and thousands of patriotic Poles running schools, universities, a justice system, cultural and journalism activities under the very noses of the Gestapo in an attempt to keep their country, history and culture alive. Recall that the Germans were trying to do away completely with Polish culture during their occupation; Poles were not considered worthy of education past elementary school and they could not speak their own language (under penalty of prison or death). I came away with an intense appreciation for the tenacity and courage of a peoples who said “Hell no.” It is no accident that the Polish national anthem begins with "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła" (Poland is not yet lost). This is a country that takes its spirit to heart. Moreover, to think of the unity in preserving this vast underground state when at any minute there could have been a wholesale slaughter of its thousands of citizens is an extraordinary feat and one that has not been seen in any country. Much is made of the French underground and resistance, but it must be remembered that the French were divided. Their Vichy government were Nazi collaborators. Whereas the Poles refused to engage in any Quisling activity, although as Lucas points out Germans unsuccessfully approached Prince Janusz Radziwill, and others, as prospective Quislings. BTW, I did not know the meaning of the word quisling before reading this book. So I improved my vocabulary! If I have one criticism of the book, which is very well written and footnoted, it is that Lucas drops words that he assumes we should know – e.g. numerus clausus, philo-Semite. I confess that I think that I have a very good grasp of words, but I found myself consulting google frequently. It would have been nice to put in parentheses what these words mean – at least the first time that they are used. Finally, as one brick in the building of my understanding of all things Polish, this book gave me a great deal of food for thought. What is it about the Poles that in WW II TWO powers tried to destroy the Polish culture and peoples? There was a double tragedy in this time of their history when one realizes that in addition to wholesale slaughter by Nazis, hundreds of thousands of Poles were deported by the Communist Soviets between 1939 and 1941. Most (including most of my father's family) died. The Katyn massacres represented Stalin’s effort to exterminate Polish intelligentsia. Perhaps the answer lies in the Poles' extraordinary tenacity that is anathema to tolitarianism that always seeks to destroy democracy and independent thought.