Between 1939 and 1947 the county of Janów Lubelski, an agricultural area in central Poland, experienced successive occupations by Nazi Germany (1939-1944) and the Soviet Union (1944-1947). During each period the population, including the Polish majority and the Jewish, Ukrainian, and German minorities, reacted with a combination of accommodation, collaboration, and resistance. In this remarkably detailed and revealing study, Marek Jan Chodakiewicz analyzes and describes the responses of the inhabitants of occupied Janów to the policies of the ruling powers. He provides a highly useful typology of response to occupation, defining collaboration as an active relationship with the occupiers for reasons of self-interest and to the detriment of one's neighbors; resistance as passive and active opposition; and accommodation as compliance falling between the two extremes. He focuses on the ways in which these reactions influenced relations between individuals, between social classes, and between ethnic groups. Casting new light on social dynamics within occupied Poland during and after World War II, Between Nazis and Soviets yields valuable insight for scholars of conflict studies.

Between Nazis and Soviets: Occupation Politics in Poland, 1939-1947

History

Chodakiewicz, Marek Jan

Europe

Lexington Books

On July 10, 1941, the Jewish inhabitants in the small Polish town of Jedwabne were massacred by German policemen and some Polish townsmen and peasants. Chodakiewicz provides us with a detailed study of the conditions that led to the heinous slaughter of Jedwabne's Jewish population. A dominant interpretation of this event depicts the Germans as the perpetrators of the crime while the Poles looked on. An alternative version suggests that the Germans plotted the crime, while the Poles executed the slaughter. Chodakiewicz argues that these two competing theses are not supported by the available evidence. He emphasizes a comprehensive methodology using all available documents, testimonies, oral recollections, and forensic and other physical evidence to reconstruct the history. In addition, Chodakiewicz provides an alternative interpretation to the dominant paradigms concerning Jewish-Polish relations.

The Massacre in Jedwabne, July 10, 1941: Before, During, After

Americas

East European Monographs

Golden Harvest or Hearts of Gold? is a collection of essays on Polish-Jewish relations during World War II. In search of the much-debated truths about those times - truths that are often distorted by a neo-stalinist analysis shaped by the Soviet occupation of Poland after its capture from the Nazis - the authors present the results of their historical research and analyses based on forensic evidence, primary sources and documents, and testimonials. Throughout the volume, the writers reject as extreme and indefensibly reductive two of the most popular - and contradictory - interpretations of the relations between Poles and Jews. The authors refer to these interpretations as the "black legend" and the "heroic mythology." In particular, the authors directly challenge the premise of Princeton University Professor Jan T. Gross, in his poorly documented book, Golden Harvest (Oxford, 2012). Alleging widespread and willful looting of Jewish homes, bodies and graves for a harvest of gold teeth, Gross perpetuates the myth of widespread Polish collaboration with the Nazi invaders of their country, including systematic looting of Jewish homes and cemeteries, and willful and mass-based participation in the extermination of their Jewish countrymen in Nazi death camps. In this book, the authors respond to Gross's "golden harvest" thesis with a "hearts of gold" rejoinder. Using exhaustive case studies, statistical data and archival research, the authors carefully document widespread Polish sympathy for their doomed Jewish countrymen, and acts of heroic resistance to the Nazis' "final solution." At a time when the simple act of sheltering a Jew for a night, sharing some bread or water, or simply not informing the authorities meant a death sentence for oneself and one's family, countless Polish citizens - especially peasants in the countryside - risked their very existence to help Jews escape and survive. Much of that heroism has taken mythological proportions to confront the demonization of the Poles. The authors document the fiction of the Golden Harvest and the extent of Poland's Hearts of Gold.

Golden Harvest or Hearts of Gold?: Studies on the Wartime Fate of Poles and Jews

World

SIS/Waller

Intermarium: The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas

History and collective memories influence a nation, its culture, and institutions; hence, its domestic politics and foreign policy. That is the case in the Intermarium, the land between the Baltic and Black Seas in Eastern Europe. The area is the last unabashed rampart of Western Civilization in the East, and a point of convergence of disparate cultures. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz focuses on the Intermarium for several reasons. Most importantly because, as the inheritor of the freedom and rights stemming from the legacy of the Polish-Lithuanian/Ruthenian Commonwealth, it is culturally and ideologically compatible with American national interests. It is also a gateway to both East and West. Since the Intermarium is the most stable part of the post-Soviet area, Chodakiewicz argues that the United States should focus on solidifying its influence there. The ongoing political and economic success of the Intermarium states under American sponsorship undermines the totalitarian enemies of freedom all over the world. As such, the area can act as a springboard to addressing the rest of the successor states, including those in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation. Intermarium has operated successfully for several centuries. It is the most inclusive political concept within the framework of the Commonwealth. By reintroducing the concept of the Intermarium into intellectual discourse the author highlights the autonomous and independent nature of the area. This is a brilliant and innovative addition to European Studies and World Culture.

Routledge

History and collective memories influence a nation, its culture, and institutions; hence, its domestic politics and foreign policy. That is the case in the Intermarium, the land between the Baltic and Black Seas in Eastern Europe. The area is the last unabashed rampart of Western Civilization in the East, and a point of convergence of disparate cultures. As the inheritor of the freedom and rights stemming from the legacy of the Polish-Lithuanian/Ruthenian Commonwealth, the Intermarium is culturally and ideologically compatible with American national interests. It is also a gateway to both East and West. Since the Intermarium is the most stable part of the post-Soviet area, Marek Jan Chodakiewicz argues that the United States should focus on solidifying its influence there. The ongoing political and economic success of the Intermarium states under American sponsorship undermines the totalitarian enemies of freedom all over the world. As such, the area can act as a springboard to addressing the rest of the successor states, including those in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation. By reintroducing the concept of the Intermarium into intellectual discourse the author highlights the autonomous and independent nature of the area. This is a brilliant and innovative addition to European Studies and to the study of world cultures.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chodakiewicz, Marek Jan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Chodakiewicz, Marek Jan

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Chodakiewicz, Marek Jan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Between Nazis and Soviets: Occupation Politics in Poland, 1939-1947

The Massacre in Jedwabne, July 10, 1941: Before, During, After

Golden Harvest or Hearts of Gold?: Studies on the Wartime Fate of Poles and Jews

Intermarium: The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas

Intermarium: The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas