January 23, 2008
Prosecuting Jan Gross in Poland?
In Poland — where they have a law against accusing the nation of cooperating with Nazi or Communist war crimes — a Jewish historian who wrote about that country’s treatment of Jews after the Second World War is under investigation for slandering the country. The offense carried a maximum of three years in prison.
Jan T. Gross, who teaches at Princeton University, told the Jerusalem Post that he does not expect to be prosecuted.
“I am pretty sure that the law will be overturned and that the prosecution will give up this case,” he said.
According to the article, the Polish Prosecutors’ office is reviewing the case this week and is expected to announce a decision shortly.
First off, I’m not sure why Poland has such a law to begin with. But, hey, it’s their country, not mine.
Gross’ book, “Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz,” came out in Polish two Fridays ago. It first appeared in English here in the states in 2006.
As I noted in a previous blog posting, the Polish translation was expected to be controversial because many Poles want to think of themselves solely as victims of the war. But Gross' work has demonstrated just the opposite by describing the mass murders committed by Poles against their Jewish neighbors.
“Fear” examines Polish treatment of Jews during and immediately after the Holocaust. Many people don’t know that Europe’s bloodiest peacetime pogrom of the 20th century took place in the Polish town of Kielce almost a year after the end of the Second World War. Gross investigates the circumstances of the Kielce pogrom, where about 40 Jews died, and tries to answer the question of how anti-Semitism could persist in Poland in the years immediately following the Holocaust. According to the descriptions I’ve read, Gross has argued that the Communist regime used anti-Semitism as a tool for consolidating power.
Gross should be used to provoking the ire of the Polish authorities. His 2001 book, “Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland,” forced the Poles to confront their role in the deaths of 1,600 Jews who were burned in a Jedwabne barn on July 10, 1941. It was previously believed that the Nazis set fire to the barn but Gross discovered a lot of evidence that places blame for that act with the Polish neighbors of the Jews.
As you might imagine, the publication of “Neighbors” caused quite a stir in Poland. But, the law that Gross currently is accused of breaking did not exist at that time.
Let’s just hope the prosecutors make the right decision. We’ll keep you posted.