Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust

John Guzlowski has posted, at his Lightning and Ashes blog, my essay on "Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust." You can read that essay here. 

Good News! New Book by Christina Pacosz

Christina Pacosz is a gutsy, passionate, utterly frank Polish-American poet. The first time I read her work, I felt as if I were reading Kerouac, if he were a Bohunk woman.

In 2012, Seven Kitchens Press will be publishing "How to Measure the Darkness," a new book by Christina Pacosz, and you should buy it, read it, review it on Amazon, and share it with your friends.

More information on "How to Measure the Darkness" here.

A previous blog post about Christina's work on the Missouri Leadbelt Riot, that drove Poles out of the lead mining region of Missouri, can be found here.

The Amazon page for Christina's book "This Is Not a Place to Sing" can be found here.

Below please find a video of Christina reading about her 1986 visit to the Jagiellonian University to study Polish-Jewish relations, about mak, or poppy seed, about women, about women's worth, and about women and aging.

Bieganski on Fox TV Sitcom, "Back to You"

In November, 2007, Fox TV broadcast an episode of the Steven Levitan sitcom, "Back to You" that included this joke: "Bowling is in your Polish blood, like kielbasa, and collaborating with the Nazis."

In response, I sent the letter, below, to Fox.

I will refer to this letter in a future blog post. I'm posting the text here in order to link back.

There is reaction to this letter at a Jewish news site, Vos iz Neias, Yiddish for "What's News?" That reaction can be found here. These posts do not reflect the best in Polish-Jewish relations.

Dear Fox TV,

According to internet reports, the November 14, 2007, episode of the Steven Levitan, Fox TV sitcom "Back to You" contained a "joke" accusing Poles of collaborating with the Nazis. If these reports are true, it is Fox TV's responsibility to eliminate that "joke" from any further broadcasts of that episode, and it is Fox TV's responsibility to publish a retraction.

A "joke" about Polish Nazi collaborators is comparable to a "joke" about Jews orchestrating the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks. It is comparable to a "joke" that denies the reality of the Holocaust. It is no less.

There are rumors and urban legends that do accuse Jews of orchestrating the 9-11 attacks. These rumors and urban legends are factually false. They have currency because they are part of an invidious campaign of anti-Semitic bigotry and hatred. Just so, there are understandings of Poles as Nazis. These understandings, too, are factually false, and are part of vile and dangerous campaigns of bigotry and hatred.

The facts: Poles fought the Nazis first, fought the Nazis longest, and fought them, per capita, the hardest. An abundance of statistics evidences Poles' heroism and sacrifice. Poland had the largest underground resistance army during World War Two; Polish soldiers fought, not just in Poland, but far afield, making significant contributions, for example in the RAF during the Battle of Britain, and in Italy at Monte Cassino. Poles were essential to one of the key factors in the defeat of the Nazis and the Allies' victory, the breaking of the Enigma code. More Poles than members of any other nation rescued Jews; count the trees dedicated to Righteous Gentiles at Yad Vashem.

Poles suffered worse, under the Nazis, than any other national group except for Jews and Gypsies, reports historian Michael C. Steinlauf. Poles were gassed with Zyklon B; Poles were tortured in concentration camps and a special school set up to teach Nazis how to torture; Poles were shot down en masse by Einsatzgruppen; Poles were deported in cattle cars, sterilized, burned alive. Polish churches, museums, and historic monuments were methodically destroyed by German soldiers, even as Germany was losing ground for lack of those soldiers at the front. Poles were denied education; Poles, like the late Pope John Paul II, studied secretly in "flying universities." Poles were executed for crimes like owning a radio, or offering a glass of water to a Jew. Poles were murdered merely to terrorize other Poles.

Given this history, one may ask why "jokes" about Polish collaborators exist. This is why: these jokes are lies concocted to support an alternative history that is no less heinous than Holocaust Denial.

America and Britain did nothing after Jan Karski, a Polish agent, brought, firsthand, eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust to the West. America and Britain betrayed Poland at Yalta. Negative images of Poles assuage that guilt. The West has not been able to confront, morally, the guilt of the Holocaust. Germany, the world's most scientific nation, the world's most modern and secular nation, using Darwinism and Scientific Racism as guides, descended to diabolical depths of insane cruelty and destruction. We, modern, secular, scientific people cannot accept that persons so like ourselves, operating under systems we value, committed such crimes. So, we assign the guilt of that crime to persons unlike ourselves - ethnically distant, and disempowered, Poles. Finally, there is a push, typified by superstar scholars like James Carroll and Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, to equate Nazism with Christianity, specifically, Catholicism. Poland is a Catholic country, and it is the best target for this effort.

"Back to You"'s "joke" about Polish Nazi collaborators is as funny as a "joke" about Jews planning 9-11, or a "joke" that denies the reality of the Holocaust. It is a truly evil fabrication with a disgusting intellectual history and a morally corrupt agenda.

Polish Americans and persons of conscience who do not wish the truth of World War Two or the Nazi era to be erased by lies demand that Fox TV eliminate this "joke" from any further broadcast of the episode in question, and demand that Fox TV publish a retraction. Further, we demand that Steven Levitan receive education in the true history of World War Two.

Thank you,

Danusha V. Goska, PhD

Correction: In the past, I had read that that Armia Krajowa, or Home Army, was the largest resistance army in Nazi occupied Europe. New estimates say that it was the second or third largest.

Bieganski on Saturday Night Live

Watch This Space

source: www.cartoonstock.com

I'm preparing a long blog post.

Tentative title: "Bieganski and the Crisis in Polonian Leadership: What You Can Do About Both."

If anyone reads this blog post, it will be controversial.

I keep going over every word, every anecdote, every conclusion.

Should I really say this?

I'm telling true stories about my real life experience, and yours and yours and yours.

I'm disguising details – who, what, when, why, where, how – so that no one can identify the specific people I'm talking about.

These stories should be told, I think, because they clearly indicate obstacles we need to overcome. We should stop allowing these obstacles to continually trip us up and thwart our progress toward desired goals we all say we want to achieve.

I'm suggesting roadmaps for action toward a better future.

If anyone reads this blog post, it will be controversial.

Is there anything I should not say?

Is there anything I should be sure to say?

ADL Poll: Anti-Semitic Attitudes on Rise in America

source

I've been feeling for a while now that anti-Semitism is increasing. "Feeling" is a terribly imprecise measure. I wondered if I were being alarmist, for example in my reaction to the Occupy Wall Street / Patricia MacAllister video.

On November 3, The Anti-Defamation League released the The 2011 Survey of American Attitudes Toward Jews in America. The ADL argues that anti-Semitic attitudes are on the rise in America.

Here is an excerpt on the ADL page:

"Among the more disturbing findings, the ADL survey shows that at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty, age-old myths about Jews and money and Jewish power in business endure.

Nineteen percent (19%) of Americans answered 'probably true' to the statement 'Jews have too much control/influence on Wall Street,' an increase from 14 percent in 2009.

'The sterotypes about Jews and money endure, and the fact that more Americans are now accepting these statements about Jews as true suggests that the downturn in the economy, along with the changing demographics of our society, may have contributed to the rise in anti-Semitic sentiments,' said Mr. Foxman. 'Once again the old anti-Semitic standbys about Jewish loyalty, the death of Jesus and Jewish power remain strong.'"

The most depressing excerpt, for me, is below:

"A surprisingly large number of Americans continue to believe that 'Jews were responsible for the death of Christ.' Thirty-one percent (31%) of Americans agreed with that statement. One-quarter of Americans believe that Jews 'still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust.'"

Many people falsely believe that it wasn't until Vatican Two that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church taught that the entire human race, not Jews, was responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. In fact, that's not true. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church announced as early as the Council of Trent in 1566 that humanity, not Jews, is responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. That people persist in believing that Jews are responsible for Jesus' death is very depressing to me, and a sign that Christians need to work harder on eliminating this toxic heresy and lie.

One aspect of the poll is naïve. The ADL reports:

"According to the ADL poll, the most educated Americans are largely free of prejudicial views. Less educated Americans are more likely to hold anti-Semitic views. The poll found that 22 percent of [those] who graduated high school or completed some high school harbor strongly anti-Semitic views, as compared to 13 percent among those who completed some college, and 9 percent among those who graduated from college."

This is the fallacy that formal education improves people morally. In fact, it is probably simply true that those with a more sophisticated education know how to respond to polls in an expected manner.

Hispanic Americans born outside the US are more likely to be anti-Semitic. African Americans are more anti-Semitic than the population at large.

From the ADL:

"The steady growth of the Hispanic population, now at 15 percent of the adult population, means that Hispanics and African-Americans together now comprise 27 percent of the American population, a number that is sure to grow in the coming years. This population increase of the cohorts with a substantially higher percentage of anti-Semitic beliefs than the total population also means that anti-Semitic propensities in the coming years will be a challenge, according to the ADL poll.

'At a time when you have conflicting trends in American society – on the one hand the rise of an African-American president, on the other hand a rise in anti-Hispanic and anti-Muslim sentiment – the question is whether this uptick in anti-Semitic sentiments signals a broader trend in attitudes toward Jews or not. Only time will tell.'"

Those who care about the Bieganski, Brute Polak stereotype will care about this.

"Bieganski" argues that Polish identity is not the problem. Rather, anti-Semitism is the problem.

"Bieganski" argues further that many commentators attempt to make Polish identity the problem, for various narratological, political, cultural, and ideological reasons.

Further, "Bieganski" argues against all stereotyping. It argues against Shylock as well as Bieganski. The arguments in the introduction of "Bieganski" could be used by activists who work against anti-Semitism as well as prejudices against Poles and other Bohunks.

Full coverage can be found here.

Bieganski at Brandeis University

View of Boston from Brandeis campus. Source.

How many times can a writer use words like "wonderful," "delightful" and "lovely" before losing her audience? I face that challenge now because accepting Prof. Antony Polonsky's invitation and speaking about "Bieganski" at Brandeis University on Thursday, November 3 was a wonderful, lovely, and delightful experience.

My traveling companion, Robin Richman Schaffer, took time off from work – sort of. She brought along her blackberry, which is actually white, and hammered away on its tiny keyboard as I drove, and even sometimes while she was driving.

We were blessed with sunny and cool weather. There was none of the apocalyptic special effects that Mother Nature has been generously distributing throughout the northeast in recent months. No floods, no freak snowstorms, no locusts. We did see evidence of the damage done by the October 29^th snowstorm, an unseasonable, heavy, wet snow that fell on trees that kept their leaves unseasonably late into a very mild fall. Those leaves, which stayed on too late, trapped snow, which arrived too early, and broken branches and split trees were visible everywhere from New Jersey to Boston.

I became an admirer of Prof. Polonsky's work long before I met him. Now, many years later, life experience has made me realize what a unique treasure he is.

Too many commentators on Polish-Jewish relations have exploited that relationship, and even the Holocaust itself, in order to reduce life to a zero-sum game of two mutually exclusive sides. One side must lose and the other side must win. This is a mistake. The proper lesson to draw from atrocity is this: we can't change the past. We can't rescue the dead. Living our lives in anger, in vengeance, or in mourning, for those who were slaughtered accomplishes nothing.

That doesn't mean that our ancestral loved ones' deaths need be meaningless. We can honor their loss by humbling ourselves, and resolving never to take even one step toward the hate and bigotry that inspired their martyrdom. We honor our ancestors' pain when we allow ourselves to be affected by it to the point where we reject continuing the cycle of pain, and by insisting on Biblical values like justice, faith, and love. Humanity can never be split into two exclusive teams. We are all in the same boat, and the hole you drill in my side of the boat will drown you.

For me, the one author on Polish-Jewish relations who best exemplifies this approach is Antony Polonsky. I came to "know" him through his writing. In those early days, decades ago, it never occurred to me that I might meet him, any more than it occurred to me that I might meet other authors I admired, including Charlotte Bronte. We did meet, though, and through God's great blessing, we have kept in touch. Writing about Polish-Jewish relations has introduced many challenges into my life. That I've been lucky enough to call Prof. Polonsky a friend is one true blessing.

I was a bit nervous, as one is when one is traveling, and when one is in the company of a hero. I wasn't sure if Robin would be bored. When we stepped into Prof. Polonsky's Greek revival, Boston-area home, I felt immediately comfortable, happy, and secure. I could smell cabbage cooking! There is nothing that warms the cockles of this Bohunk's heart like the smell of cooking cabbage. Arlene Polonsky served up the best golabkis I've ever tasted, and that's saying a lot, because I've eaten a lot of stuffed cabbage.

After dinner we sat around the table and talked about how our families came from Eastern Europe to America. Every one of the four of us there had roots in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. Our paths had taken us to Africa, Asia, and Israel. I wondered if our ancestors had ever crossed paths in the Old Country. I noticed, again, the physical resemblance between Prof. Polonsky and my late Polish father. It's a small world.

Brandeis University has a proud history. Its founding was part of an effort to resist anti-Semitism at other American institutions of higher education. I greatly admire this. Brandeis' founders did not respond to bigotry with empty hand-wringing, defeatism and hostility. Rather, they responded by creating a university that would accept and educate Jewish students and prepare them for high achievement. Their efforts have been very successful. Brandeis is highly ranked among US universities.

Though a young university, Brandeis can be proud of its highly accomplished faculty and alumni, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Abbie Hoffman, Deborah Messing and Thomas Freidman.

Prof. Polonsky's office is very near Boston Rock, the spot where Governor John Winthrop surveyed Boston back in 1631. Both the city and the university began with this sentiment: "We knew we were pilgrims." This spot affords a spectacular view.

My talk included a brief introduction to the Bieganski stereotype, and a concrete example of how it works. I emphasized that Poles, Polish-Americans, and Polonians must rouse themselves in order to address this stereotype through a national organization that effectively identifies Bieganski for what it is, and eliminates it through school syllabi, higher education hiring, strategic, nationally coordinated activism, and popular media, culture, and politics. I admitted that Polonia is not yet near reaching this level of activism. I will address this in a future post, tentatively titled, "Bieganski and the Crisis in Polonian Leadership – And What You Can Do About It." Watch this blog for that post.

During the question-and-answer period, I emphasized: "Please feel free to say anything you want. I've been working on this stuff for a long time, and I've heard everything. Speak your mind, and I'll respond as best as I can."

I said this because we must acknowledge the dark side of Polish-Jewish relations. We must acknowledge nightmarish events like Jedwabne and Kielce.

My audience was gracious and did not hit me with very tough questions. One audience member asked about Menachem Daum's "Hiding and Seeking," a documentary I liked a lot, with reservations. My Amazon review of it is here.

"The Deer Hunter" came up, a movie I talked about in "Bieganski." That chapter can be found here.

During the discussion period, I stopped myself while using the standard terms, "Poles" and "Jews." I pointed out that Prof. Polonsky would be identified, in this nomenclature, as a "Jew," and I would be identified as a "Pole," but Prof. Polonsky speaks Polish fluently, while I do not, and I am half Slovak and actually best identified for what I am – American.

I reminisced about a common event in my childhood. My mother's friend, Dave, would visit, and she and Dave would sit around the kitchen table telling stories about life in the Old Country. I remember Dave's stories in detail. These are very fond, warm, vivid memories. When I sat around that brightly lit table in our small, dark house, I felt what one feels when one feels connected and at home, one with a larger, loving, inclusive, community. During these evenings, I knew that my mother, Dave, and I were part of a group that was "us." The world outside, the world that didn't know about cabbage and poppy seed, villages and thatch roofs, chicken thieves and muddy roads, was "them." Dave was Jewish and my mother was Catholic.

My point was this: there is an authentic, Eastern European peasant, Catholic identity that is not at war with Judaism or Jewishness. I mentioned the scholarship of Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, who has documented this theme.

Robin told me an interesting story. In our recent apocalyptic weather events, Route 46 had become flooded. Robin was stopped dead. Her car, with hundreds of others, could not progress.

With nothing else to do, drivers got out of their cars and socialized with each other. They became comfortable and friendly.

After some time, maybe hours, the flooding receded enough so that police allowed vehicles through.

Robin reported that when people from "her" "group" – the people who had bonded by socializing – were finally allowed to move, they were courteous and helpful with each other. When "outsiders" who had not participated in the spontaneous bonding began to break into the stream of traffic, Robin felt violated and resentful – "Hey! You're cutting off my friend!"

Robin observed that this event taught her much about how the human mind creates communities of "us" and "them."

After the talk we had a long, enjoyable conversation with Miriam, a writer, Josh, interested in community work, and Drew, working on a fan of Celine. Prof. Polonsky talked about words one cannot translate from Polish into English, including "Zydek." The word could be translated as "Jew boy," he said, but that doesn't begin to cover the complexities of the word in Polish.

My only regret is that we didn't have more time.

While enjoying Brandeis' warm hospitality, I thought again of the truly remarkable experience I had in the relatively small and remote Polish town of Markowa.

The people I met in Markowa were profound, gracious, and insightful. Markowa is far away, though. It would be so wonderful if a Polish or Polish American leader with resources and expertise would arrange for a dialogue between the citizens of Markowa and, for example, students at Brandeis.

As I mentioned above, there are voices out there who want to exploit Polish-Jewish relations to prove that people can't get along, that Poles can't get along with Jews, to prove that Christians and Jews can't get along, to prove that the world is a horrible place.

My real life experiences utterly defy this dark view. Most people want to get along with their neighbors. Most people don't want to exploit differences. Most people choose peace over war. I say that not just about Poles and Jews, but about all my neighbors here in multi-culti New Jersey: rich and poor, black, white, Hispanic, Muslim.

Too often, those who insist on hostility have control of the microphone. Why not bring average, everyday Poles and Jews to the microphone, and let them have the spotlight?

Please, someone with resources, connections, and the technical expertise to make it happen, think about a videoconference between the citizens of Markowa and students at Brandeis.