Klaus-Peter Friedrich: Der nationalsozialistische Judenmord und das polnische-jüdische Verhältnis im Diskurs der polnischen Untergrundpresse (1942–1944). Verlag Herder-Institut Marburg/Lahn 2006. = Materialien und Studien zur Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung, 15. ISBN: 978-3-87969-332-0

Klaus-Peter Friedrich Der nationalsozialistische Judenmord und das polnische-jüdische Verhältnis im Diskurs der polnischen Untergrundpresse (1942–1944). Verlag Herder-Institut Marburg/Lahn 2006. IX, 246 S. = Materialien und Studien zur Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung, 15. ISBN: 978-3-87969-332-0.

In this impressively researched book about responses to the Holocaust, Klaus-Peter Friedrich grapples with the thorny issue of the Polish bystander. How did the remnants of the persecuted Polish intelligentsia react to the Nazi mass murder of Jews, which they witnessed in the deportations of Jews to the Nazi killing centers and during the Warsaw ghetto uprising of April 1943? Friedrich approaches this question by focusing on a major, hitherto under-utilized source base: underground Polish newspapers. In his survey of at least thirty-five different papers, Friedrich found that the “Jewish question” was a recurring topic in Polish discourse across the political spectrum, from the left to the right, from city to countryside, among Catholic, communist, and peasant parties, and supporters of the Home Army and Government-in-Exile. The discourse that he recreates does not include the voices of the underground Jewish press or Soviet press. To what extent the press coverage from all of these groupings overlapped, and influenced one another is not clear.

Prior to Friedrich’s book, which is actually part of a larger doctoral thesis (available on line at: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de /volltexte/2003/952/), the few scholars who used Polish newspapers to assess popular and official opinions relied almost exclusively on the most widely distributed periodical, “Biuletyn Informacyjyn,” (see the works of Grzegorz Mazur, Władysław Bartoszewski among others). In doing so, they distorted the diverse, dynamic reality of Polish responses publicized in Warsaw and London, which Friedrich masterfully reconstructs here for the period 1942–1944.

Friedrich’s exploration of this rich archival material has yielded important results. In some cases, he substantiates what is generally known (the lack of solidarity between Jews and Poles, Polish antisemitism, and the factionalism of the Polish underground); in other cases, he introduces new information about how Poles tried to make sense of the genocide. Friedrich presents his findings around certain themes including expressions of indignation and empathy. The liberal and social democratic press took a sympathetic position toward the Jews and warned Poles that collaboration would only increase the power of Nazi occupiers who also aimed to eradicate Poles from Poland (by highlighting Nazi persecution of Poles in Zamość). Confronted with the Holocaust, Poles sought explanations and some looked beyond Poland’s borders for them. While the liberal, moderate press expressed indignation at Polish collaborators, the left-democratic paper “Dziennik Polski” targeted the Allies abroad, specifically condemning a “Jewish financial oligarchy” that did not act on behalf of its “threatened fellow believers” (p. 126). Friedrich traces different antisemitic themes of culpability, enemy images, and conspiracy theories, but he does not analyze these themes in light of the historiography on the topic, such as Saul Friedlander’s notion of redemptive antisemitism. Similarly, Friedrich might have dealt with the theme of collaboration in more depth, especially in light of recent discussions over Jedwabne.

In the last chapters of his study, Friedrich examines 1944 press reports about Poland’s future. These chapters were among the more innovative as Friedrich was able to capture a snapshot of Polish mentalités in the twilight of occupation when Poland’s past, present and future seemed to be disintegrating in the mounting rubble of the country’s destroyed cities, colonized rural areas, erected Nazi death factories, enormous loss of life, and diminishing resources. Most Poles feared that they were next in line after the Jews. Consumed by their own victimization, they distorted or glossed over what had happened to the Jews. For example, the Aktion Reinhard camps were established for the killing of Jews only and served that purpose in 1942 and 1943. But many Polish press reports did not perceive these centers as sites designed for killing Jews, and instead insisted that they were to be utilized for killing all Poles. Narrow views of Polish victimization aroused fear and rent asunder the already fragile ties between Poles and Jews.

Seen through the Polish press, Friedrich presents the “Jewish question” in Poland and the events of the Holocaust within a fractured, changing kaleidoscope of Polish outlooks and perceptions. Leading writers, journalists, editors, politicians, and priests (among others who voiced their opinions in the press) tried to make sense of the genocide, an put forth critical, indeed even antisemitic explanations. The more sympathetic protests against the mass murder of Jews (from the political factions mainly left of center) had little to no influence on events. Most stuck to their political agendas and only took up the cause of the Jews (for better or worse) when it furthered the aim of securing Poland’s future. Friedrich’s book is a significant contribution to the fields of Holocaust studies and Polish history for it offers a concise survey of Polish press reports that are not accessible to most scholars.

Wendy Lower, München