The destruction of the jewish community in jedwabne, poland. Gross, professor of politics and european studies at new york university, describes the massacre of the jewish population of the small rural community of jedwabne, poland on july 10, 1941. Jedwabne jedwabne society plots in new york and new jersey the screening room. Gross, almost reticent, cites long excerpts from these accounts, which are deeply wrenching. This book captures some of the most important voices in the ensuing debate, including.
The new york public library national yiddish book center yizkor book project. Jedwabne topics jews poland jedwabne holocaust, jewish 19391945 poland jedwabne jedwabne ethnic relations jedwabne poland yedvabne poland genres books portraits photographs memorial books holocaust notes. On january 8, 1949, in the small town of jedwabne, some nineteen kilometers from lomza in polands historical province of mazowsze, security police detained fifteen men. Yedwabne, poland yizkor book project jewishgen home page. Polish author reopens minefield of who killed jedwabnes jews. The book contains the first mention of the jedwabne. An inscription reading they were flammable and a nazi swastika are seen in jedwabne, poland, thursday, sept. It suggests that four or five truckloads of armed ss men from lomza terrorized the local population before leading jews and poles to the crime scene.
Chodakiewicz accuses the rabbi of not considering the wider context of the life of jedwabne. Until recently, a stone memorial in jedwabne blamed the massacre on nazi and gestapo soldiers, but grosss book uncovered that the mass execution was actually performed by locals, who, for decades, had shifted the blame away from themselves. It is mentioned quite often throughout the yizkor book, and ive chosen some of those references to highlight here. It was added to the digital library in january 2017. Gross exploring the july 1941 jedwabne massacre committed against polish jews by their nonjewish neighbors in the village of jedwabne in nazioccupied poland. Jan t grosss book, neighbours, revisited the massacre of the jews of the small town of jedwabne,in 1941 shortly after the nazi occupation of poland. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Before, during, and after challenges grosss interpretation of events. Official town website jedwabne yizkor holocaust memorial book hebrew, yiddish and english, online at the new york public library jedwabne. The destruction of the jewish community in jedwabne, this film tells a shocking and brutal story that has been kept a secret in poland for over 60 years. About 40 ethnic polish men were implicated in the murders. Neighborsjan grosss stunning account of the brutal mass murder of the jews of jedwabne by their polish neighborswas met with international critical acclaim and was a finalist for the national book award in the united states. Jews had come to jedwabne from tykocin and were initially subject to the tykocin jewish communal authority. Last year, the jedwabne debate was rekindled following the publication of an english translation of a book written in 2004 in polish by historian anna bikont that puts the jedwabne.
One summer day in 1941, half of the polish town of jedwabne murdered the other half, 1,600 men, women, and children, all but seven of the towns jews. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading neighbors. Gross, a historian at new york university, published neighbors. The third group of articles appeared in a period broadly antedating or coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the tragedy and the july 10th memorial service that tool place in jedwabne. The author also admonishes rabbi herschel baker for his cultural separatism, which, in the authors view, is evident in the jedwabne memorial book ksiega pamieci jedwabnego, written by baker.
Jedwabne timeline of remebrance muzeum historii zydow. History and memorial book we remember jewish jedwabne. The destruction of the jewish community in jedwabne in poland. Visions of jedwabne 1994 visions of jedwabne 2005 mapquest map. In 1770, when the wooden synagogue of jedwabne was built, 387 jews out of a total population of 450 lived in the community, a place known for its shoemakers. Zagiew, zydowska gwardia wolnosci kolaboracyjna organizacja zydowska w getcie warszawskim, powolana pod koniec 1940 r. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. The jedwabne pogrom was a massacre of polish jews in the town of jedwabne, germanoccupied poland, on 10 july 1941, during world war ii and the early stages of the holocaust at least 340 men, women and children were murdered, some 300 of whom were locked in a barn and set on fire.
Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. View all restaurants near jedwabne jewish memorial on tripadvisor. In september 2000, the institute of national remembrance i. Jedwabne, in the bialystok district of north central poland, was occupied briefly by the wehrmacht during the polishgerman. When it received its town charter in 1736, jedwabne had already been settled for at least three hundred years. Jedwabne is a town in northeast poland, in lomza county of podlaskie voivodeship, with.
Yizkor memorial books document jewish communities destroyed in the holocaust. Last year, the jedwabne debate was rekindled following the publication of an english translation of a book written in 2004 in polish by historian anna bikont that puts the jedwabne death toll at. The postholocaust pogrom that poland is still fighting over after world war ii, jewish refugees found they could never return to their native landa sentiment that some echo today. Jedwabne massacre east european nationalism and communism.
Yedwabne history and memorial book baker, julius l, baker, jacob l, tzinovitz, moshe. The story was told again in 1980, in a memorial book compiled by the few other survivors, seven of whom were hidden by a local family. His account was taken from an earlier work by polishamerican authorresearcher jan t. We find their names in a memorandum ominously called raport likwidacyjny a liquidation report among the socalled controlinvestigative files akta kontrolnosledcze kept by the security police to monitor their own progress in each investigation. Information portal to european sites of remembrance. In 1998 the filmmaker agnieszka arnold interviewed several town inhabitants on the subject. For many poles, the story of jedwabne has come as a revelation. The book contains the first mention of the jedwabne crime, which is included in the account of menachem finkelsztajn, published in hebrew and polish. Search below to view digital records and find material that you can access at our library and at the shapell center. A polish journalist revisits the massacre of jews in jedwabne and the towns. The massacre in jedwabne, 10 july 1941 2005 marek jan chodakiewiczs book the massacre in jedwabne, 10 july 1941.
Jedwabne yizkor holocaust memorial book hebrew, yiddish and english, online at the new york public library. The grayevo memorial book is published in new york by a landsmanshaft from grajewo. The crime and the silence, by anna bikont the new york times. How villagers in jedwabne, poland, remember, and misremember, a massacre of jews during world war ii skip to. Yizkor memorial list of our martyrs yedwabner shul and relief society in new york since 1885 valuable articles written by its founders in the 50th year anniversary journal anshe yedwabne in 1935 85 to yizkor memorial plaques perpetuated in the lomza yeshiva in petach tikva, israel page 7 62 75 85 102 103 i m11rip 3 1f7 rlnr t. In the memorial book of the city of sokola, printed in tel aviv in 1962, she related that after the churban of the jewish community of tykocin, they got word through escapees from yedwabne and radzilovo, about what had happned there.
Then evidence emerged that the villagers of jedwabne had killed their own neighbors. This is a shocking, brutal story that has never before been told. There were also many marriages between residents of radzilow and jedwabne, and you may have branches in radzilow you dont know about. Below is the horrific story as told by others, including wistrich, whose. The jedwabne pogrom in 1941, residents of a polish town herded their jewish neighbors into a barn and burned them alive. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Yedwabne history and memorial book yiddish book center. I have additional information and records for many jedwabne jewish families. In 1980 a memorial book of jedwabne jews was published, and in it several eyewitnesses described the tragedy of their hometown. The destruction of the jewish community in jedwabne, poland kindle edition by gross, jan.
A group of 23 polish males was involved, after being summoned in jedwabne by the german. Andrzej bernat, general manager, main directorate of the polish state archives, for the list of jewish population that probably resided in jedwabne prior to 1939 the publisher of the polish edition of neighbors maintains a list of english language articles in the press about jedwabne. The jedwabne pogrom was a massacre of polish jews in the town of jedwabne. In an english translation of her book the crime and the silence, journalist anna. The legacy of jedwabne external links of interest to jedwabne researchers. Here is the site of the massacre where the gestapo and hitlers gendarmes burned alive 1600 jewish people. This book captures some of the most important voices. In july 2000, following the publication of grosss book, the polish parliament. In the 1960s, a memorial dedicated to the victims of the jedwabne progrom was erected where the barn once stood. Until picking up a book by robert wistrich, i knew nothing about the jedwabne massacre of 1941.
This guide lists the yizkor book collection alphabetically by town or city name. Jedwabne jewish memorial 2020 all you need to know. This edition was published in 1980 by yedwabner societies in israel and in the u. It tells the story of a pogrom in 1941 in jedwabne, poland and explores the implications of the past for present constructions and negotiations of personal, national and religious identity.
You can browse both the new york public library and yiddish book center digital collections, along with links to english translations on new york public librarys guide to yizkor books browse by country or region. These are the official findings of the institute of national remembrance, confirmed by the number of victims in the two graves. Described as a massacre or a pogrom by postwar historians, it resulted in the death of at least 340 polish jews of all ages, locked in a barn later set on fire. How villagers in jedwabne, poland, remember, and misremember, a massacre of. Poland wants to outlaw blaming poles for nazi atrocities. In september that year, the jedwabne memorial was defaced with swastikas. Jedwabne, or yedwabne, is situated in the mazowsze region of poland, twenty kilometers northeast of the city of lo. Most 85% of the 700 yizkor books at the new york public library are online. Jan t grosss unflinching account of antisemitic atrocities in the war, neighbors, has awakened a nation to its systematically hidden and falsified past. It has also been, from the moment of its publication, the occasion of intense controversy and painful reckoning. Memorial books that document jewish life before world war ii, along with vivid firsthand accounts of the. On the eve of world war i, jedwabne s total population reached its alltime peak of roughly 3,000.
The museums collections document the fate of holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more. The destruction of the jewish community in jedwabne, poland is a 2001 book by princeton university historian jan t. You can browse the david and sylvia steiner yizkor book collection by countryregion or by citytown. The massacre of the jedwabne jews is a topic that had led to deep controversy and a great deal of discussion, much of this based on ideology rather than historical fact.