The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944 [Hardcover]

Richard C. Lukas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

The revised edition includes a short history of ZEGOTA, the underground government organisation working to save the Jews, and an annotated listing of many Poles executed by the Germans for trying to shelter and save Jews.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hitler hated Poles only slightly less than Jews; exterminating Poles and other Slavs was part of the Nazi master-plan. During the German occupation, three million Gentile Poles (and as many Polish Jews) were killed by mass executions, starvation or in labor camps; there were 2000 extermination and labor camps in Poland for Jews and Gentiles alike. One million non-Jewish Poles were deported in cattle cars to Germany and elsewhere; Polish children were sent to the Reich, where it was determined whether they were suitable for "Germanization" or should be slaughtered. This eloquent, gripping account of the Nazis' systematic genocide of Poles, and of the Polish resistance movement, written by a professor at Tennessee Technological University, is exhaustively researched and fills gaps in our knowledge. Lukas disputes Holocaust historians who have portrayed Poles as anti-Semites who did little to help the Jews with evidence that Poles of all classes gave assistance to persecuted Jews. To explain the hostility between Gentiles and Jews in the Polish underground, he cites Jews' close ties to the Communist movement. His arguments will provoke debate, and his important study deserves wide attention. January
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Though many nations were forced to endure Nazi tyranny during World War II, nowhere was its fury more devastating than in Poland. Poland suffered more than six million casualities and witnessed the decimation of Europe's largest national Jewish community. Even if it does not fully convey the immense suffering experienced by Poles, Garlinski's book does represent a solid chronicle of Poland's heroic struggle against the Nazis. Drawing heavily on sources belonging to the Polish government-in-exile in London, the narrative clearly stresses key political, military, and diplomatic events in a concise, objective fashion. Though himself a London exile, Garlinski exhibits little bitterness toward the Western powers, who gradually withdrew their support for the exiles. Lukas's book, a much more specialized treatment of the Polish tragedy, never fails to convey the continual horrors inflicted on a nation under Nazi rule. Central to the work is the assertion that the Holocaust in Poland was not confined to Jews but was a systematic atrocity designed to destroy the entire Polish nation. The book is a product of exhaustive research and contains excellent analyses of the relationship of Poland's Jewish and Gentile communities, the development of the resistance, the exile leadership, and the Warsaw uprisings. Lukas is highly critical of earlier works dealing with the topic and continually rejects the claim that Polish Gentiles were rabid anti-Semites. This is a superior work which, along with Garlinski, is suitable for all academic libraries. Joseph W. Constance, Jr., Georgia State Univ. Lib., Atlanta
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 358 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books; 2 Rev Sub edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781805287
• ISBN-13: 978-0781805285
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,402,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book about forgotten history, January 9, 2003

By 

Brandon (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944 (Paperback)

I read this book in college as part of one of my history papers. Being 2nd generation Polish, it was important to read the full story of the genocide in Poland, and that it was not just limited to the Jews. Lucas does a fine job of showing all aspects of life under occupation, and that ALL Poles suffered, regardless of religion, gender, occupation, etc. Poland lost 15-20% of her population during the war, the most of any country, and they came from all walks of life. I was glad to see somebody finally wrote a boook about the "forgotten" millions who were murdered simply because they were born Polish. This is a must read for anyone interested in Poland or European history.

93 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tells the FULL Story of the Holocaust, August 2, 2001

By 

Jan Peczkis (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944 (Paperback)

This second edition of the book contains new chapters. One of them contains a list of Polish gentiles, murdered by the German occupants, while attempting to assist Jews (Poland was one of the only countries where the death penalty was handed out by the Nazis to anyone who gave the slightest assistance to the Jews). Of course, this list is but a drop in the bucket: The actual number of Polish gentiles strongly assisting Polish Jews, but caught and slain by the Germans for helping Jews, is estimated to be as high as 50,000.

The second new chapter is a discussion of Zegota: A clandestine Polish underground organization for assisting Jews. At its height, it consisted of tens of thousands of Polish gentiles in German-occupied Warsaw alone--all working under the threat of death if caught.

Lukas also discusses Polish collaboration with the Nazis, but shows that, contrary to much popular Holocaust material, this level of collaboration was much smaller than those of most other German-occupied European nations, and was also dwarfed by the number of Poles who assisted the Jews.

Earlier, Lukas documents how 3 million Polish gentiles were murdered by the Germans during World War II. This is very rarely mentioned in most Holocaust materials. Also included is discussion of the cultural genocide of Poland: the systematic, barbaric German practice of systematically destroying visible traces of Polish culture (monuments, libraries, museums, etc.). If you are one raised on the belief that only Jews suffered in the hands of the Nazis, you are in for a shock when you read this excellent book.

65 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tells the Untold Story of the Holocaust, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944 (Hardcover)

Very few people are aware of the fact that 3 million Polish gentiles were murdered by the Germans during World War II. And most of these were not involved in anti-German activity at all. Clergy and intellectuals were murdered in disproportionate numbers. Lukas documents this and many other facts in painstaking detail. The book is a must for those interested in the FULL story of the Holocaust.