Burn

On the 25th anniversary of the release of the book "Neighbors" Yana Gross. Part is fourth. Cauterization of history

*No one is inclined to have a reputation of the executioner, only victims. The victims that just executed the order. It was unfounded and misled ... I did not understand my feelings, in my resentimal against the Communists, they are Jews. *Andrey Kolesnikov*

*Enough about these Jews! .. *an excuse of tired anti -Semites

Presented to the Jews

It was barely an excellent donkey for modern anti -Semitism in Poland, many politicians, historians and journalists were noted in the topic.

In pursuit of “its truth” and in the polemic with “not its history”, a special type of intelligent and meaningful anti-Semite-patriot, a kind “Homo jedvabicus”, hatched. He no longer falls stupidly on the Germans, but breds a smoke curtain over the Poles. But through all these expressions - “Everything is not so clear ...”, “We still have to study this ...”, etc. -The lie still discards its characteristic shadow, decomposes and corrodes the body of history from the inside.

In essence, Gross stepped on the corn to a lot. In Poland - in a democratic country - he even updated the request for state taboos, gave the longing for protection and the Cerberian led to his archival secrets and vices from strangers or prying eyes. For example, Anthony Maderevich asked: on what such basis this foreigner Gross got access to the documents so sensitive to Poland?

Well, then what is it not a denunciation? And then how does all this correlate with Katynya, where the Polish side was in the midst of the Sovetskaya, by the Sovetskaya, by truth and curvats of more than half a century guarding its GOSTABU?

“Homo jedvabicus” is generally extremely sensitive, firing them and the incorrectness of terminology. Therefore, the Jewish pogrom in a cell in 1946 is not a deadly anti-Semitic manifestation for them, but someone’s “scam” or “provocation”, which set themselves two goals: scare the Jews to leave and dump everything on the Akovtsy (from AK-the army of Kraiova). And to intercede for the Akovites, regardless of the context, is the most correct tone.

Another feature of Homo Jedvabicus is mercantile patriotism. They are gnawing, they haunt them, they are deprived of sleep and appetite important state concern: what if these unfinished Jews want restitution and file a collective claim for Poland?

In Poland itself, by the way, it never occurred to anyone to discuss these scrupulous issues with representatives of Jewish organizations. But on February 20, 1997, that is, before any Gross, the law “On the attitude of the state to Jewish communities in the Polish Republic” was adopted, according to which at least Jewish communities were supposed to compensate for their religious property. Of course, the buildings of the synagogues, the scrolls of the Torah, menorah, Canus and prayer books, the matter could not limit himself.

The topic surfaced to the very top only at the junction of two millennia, when the issues of restitution and compensation - payments for robbed property and for forced labor by the former forced workers and even prisoners of war - were widely discussed at the level of governments and public organizations. The vast majority of claims and claims - especially from American Jews and their cool lawyers with their collective lawsuits - were addressed to Germany, but issues arose to other countries where the Jewish population was massively tormented and killed, and their property and utensils were massively robbed and assigned. All this fueled rumors about the mythical 65 billion or other amounts for which either the World Jewish Congress, or Claims Conference were going to allegedly exhibit Poland.

There were no such claims, but if they were, they would look in the patriotic eyes not a timid attempt to restore justice, but by a national catastrophe. Yes, so, in fact, they are perceived - even in the absence of claims (resembles the current popular Polish anti -Semitism in Poland - a country without Jews!).

The idea is simple. Not to admit for Poland and the Poles at least some guilt and responsibility-neither moral nor material. You recognize one thing - you won’t get away from the second: is it not better to rest with a horn and not recognize the first?

As presenting to the Jews - and as an anti -Semitic icon or chevron - the crucifixion of Christ, for example, was clearly stuck and faded. It was precisely the threat of restitution that ranged on the forefront of Poland, and on the scale barely, for example, the requirement of exhumation.

The determination of the contours of the Slyshinsky barn and the establishment of its dimensions (17 by 9 meters), hardly sufficient in order for 1,600 Jews to fit in it, as if it had a reproach for Gross, who used this figure and did not abandon it. For Homo Jedvabicus, this was the main citizens of the examination: they say, the Inp lowered the bar of the victims to the interval of 250–400 and thereby, as it were, introduced the correctional coefficient of reliability for the entire Gross book. Meanwhile, the figure “1600” was walking long before the Gross book, but the main thing is still different: from the size of this figure for the historian and for Homo sapiens, nothing changes decisively.

The most important presented to the Jews on behalf of the Poles is still such a historical vulgarity as Zhidokomun, that is, the accusation of Polish Jews in universal betrayal and cooperation with the NKVD throughout the Soviet occupation and the post-war UBECK (from UB-Office of Security) years. In the sub -Soviet local administrations, the majority were arrived in strangers, and among others the majority were Polish.

The emanation of the Jews and Siberia is also “Siberia”, that is, Polish pain and suffering, like Polish anger and the desire for revenge for their stolen in Siberia. As if among the Sovietized Polish citizens - dispossessed, deported and other repressed - there were no Jews! (By the way, it is curious: to the west of the demarcation line by unit executions and mass deportations of special Poles-Jews, of course, too, but this is, of course-the third Reich was no less zealously engaged in this: why is there no similar reaction to this? Really because of the fact that the Governor-General is not “Siberia”, but the Germans are cultural nation?)

We repeat again:

To transfer to Jewish shoulders a load of any “collaboration” is not only not kosher - vile.

As well as redirect this whole complex of feelings and emotions instead of the Kremlin to the ex-cancer-those Jews who only accidentally survived the Holocaust.

In the same barely with his conditional thousand Jewish residents in 1941, there were five communist activists among them, but even if there were 50 or 500 of them, would this or that figure justify that July 10 was done on Bazarian Square or in the Sarai of Bronislava Sloshinsky? ..

Be that as it may, but the dream to rewrite the liquidation itself in barely had to be forgotten.

So maybe write them at least in the initiators? Moreover, a fluent comparison of pogroms in different places really reveals the same algorithms or archetypes: for example, the collection and concentration of Jews on a large area, a run - a column and under a hooting - to the place of reprisal, no matter what, the reprisal, was. And those who, contrary to everything will survive, are in the nearest ghetto (in our case, in Lomzhu).

It seems that the conversation with the Germans about the “self -cleaning” session, that is, about the pogrom, really had the mayor. And apparently, without details, but on the condition: to meet your lawlessness at 8 o’clock. The same Gross with amazement notes that "the police post in barely turned out to be the most safe place for Jews that day and several people were saved only because they were there." It would be even more to escape if the Poles, as in many other places, agreed to leave at least a few best artisans alive. But no, they did not come in!

The next strategic trench is the degree of acceptable generalization in the identification of killers. Suppose, executioners, killers - Poles: What are the Poles? All citizens of Poland? Or all the Poles-Devillens, that is, all the neighbors? Or, nevertheless, without smearing anyone, only a few and named forty robbers-rods-gyubov?

But what about the hooting classmates and other first students with corns from sticks on the tired peers and with dry saliva?

Cauterization: Historical truth as a criminal act

The Party "Law and Justice" was founded by Lech and Yaroslav Kachinsky in 2001, and, as you know, did the Gross book have been one of the sperm during its conception?

In 2005, this party first came to power - for two years, and in 2015 - for another eight years. She lasted by the helm until 2023, showing extreme activity and pressure in matters of historical memory. These were very complicated for historical science in Poland times, which was a indicative manifestation of which was the hardware interception of the program summons in the Museum of World War II in Gdansk.

For this, the Minister of Culture of Poland Glinsky resorted to a disgusting bureaucratic technique: he united the current museum with a non -existent - Museum of Westerplatt - and appointed the existing director the second head of the entire complex. As a result, instead of the unique and subtle concept, directed to the symphony of national historiographs of European countries, the museum was reoriented to the mythological narrative of Polish heroism and Polish suffering.

Jan Gross with all the hype around his texts stuck across the throat of this power. And after in an interview with the Die Welt newspaper, he threw the thesis that the Poles during the Second World War killed more Jews than the Germans, the city prosecutor’s office of the city of Katovitsa started a business. The investigation on it lasted more than a year, and in 2016 it was even called for interrogation, and Gross then voluntarily came in Katowice - for the "testimony". After a five -hour interrogation, not only he was released, but the matter was closed.

The collision was committed to the English translation of the Barbara Engelking book that was published in 2017. The researcher firmly stated that she was not afraid of accusations and that she was ready to repulse state historical revisionism in court. And that its position is supported by facts and is unchanged: the responsibility for the destruction of Polish Jews lies with Nazi Germany - once; Polish peasants voluntarily and actively participated in the murder of Jews - two! And what is not true?

Nevertheless, this position was attacked by the authorities, and the highest level: Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Moravetsky called it the "antipolis narrative." Opponents are lower, in the media and social networks, they accused Engelking of the same as Gross: smear the honor and name of the Polish people with mud! With the demand to stop the injury, Engelking was then performed by historians from different countries.

On January 26, 2018, the Polish Sejm adopted amendments to the “Law on Inp”, according to which the German concentration camps located on the territory of modern Poland categorically and under pain of imprisonment for up to three years were prohibited to call “Polish concentration camps”, etc. The same punishment - to the displeasure of the Poroshenko government in Ukraine - the law also provided for the propaganda of Bandera ideology and the denial of the Volyn massacre.

After massive and fair criticism from all sides, Poland canceled the criminal punishment under this law, but ... resolved civil lawsuits instead. At the same time, she also canceled the norm that defended artistic and academic activities, thereby putting writers with historians at the draft of personal claims about the protection of honor and dignity, that is, investigative intimidations and trials.

Which was tried on the example of Engelking and its co-author-Yana Grabovsky, the Polish-Canadian historian of the Holocaust from the University of Ottawa. In 2018, a huge two -volume work “Night endlessly. The fate of the Jews in occupied Poland ”, once again clearly showing:

The success of the Holocaust in Poland would be impossible without the complication of the Poles.

The Germans, as a rule, could not even distinguish a Jew from non -Jews in appearance, but the Poles are easily! In the book, the myth that the Germans always killed those Poles who helped the Jews are also debunked: yes, they killed, but extremely rarely.

On one of the pages of this 1700-page work, Edward Malinovsky, the headman of the village of Malinovo Belsky, was mentioned, which was not far from the border with Belarus, mentioned as 22 Jews involved in the murder. And in February 2021, Philomena Leshchinskaya, the 80-year-old niece of the late headman, filed a court for slander to Engelking and Grabovsky and demanded: a) a public apology, b) the removal of the accusation from his uncle and c) the payment of 100 thousand zlotys in the order of compensation. The lawsuit was supported by the State Foundation “League of Protection from Cloudy”, whose lawyers even claimed that the “slandered” was actually even the Savior of Jews. This circumstance in itself does not change anything in the Polish paradox - the paradox of the shmaltsik: he is the Savior, the blackmailer, and the executioner in one person!

The court sentenced the defendants to the execution of only the first two points - without compensation. But the Warsaw Court of Appeal almost formulated Maxim Grossov: “Each nation should take scores with their own history, even if the results of this process are painful and difficult to perceive” - and acquired Engelking and Grabovsky in all points.

In 2022, 21 years after the first publication in English, a new edition of “neighbors” in English was published in the same Princeton. As a scientific publication, this reprint left a dual impression. On the one hand, it is expanded and actualized: a new beautiful epigraph, a valuable illustrative block, three additional texts, including a preface to a new edition, containing the main milestones of the case of the case barely over the past time. In it, however, there is an absurd attempt to put on a par with the Holocaust such an event as an unintentional death when the police detained black drug addict George Floyd.

And on the other - in its nucleus it is completely - well, not on a penny - not changed! Narcissism?

Meanwhile, places in this core, which need, if not in correction or clarification, then at least in reflection, more than enough. The efforts of Thomas Sharota, Tomasha Pereshombosh and especially Bogdan Musial, many elements of Gross’s book - not only her content, but also her source studies and methodology - were subjected to massive and intensive criticism. And no matter how unfair, irrelevant or biased this criticism in the eyes of Gross itself was, when reprinting, the reader has the right to count on the author’s reaction to it - to corrections and additions, and not to ignore.

However: if this is not a series of “literary monuments”, but Gross’s “neighbors” - taking into account the global reflection they caused - there is every reason to apply for it!

But most likely the matter is different: in the creative evolution of Gross himself the book “Neighbors”, scientific and journalistic in its genre, is already a complete stage for him. His main goal - to attract attention to the problem - he certainly achieved brilliantly, and then - then let other researchers engage and dig deeper. And for the second time he is not necessary to enter the same river.

* Recognized by the authorities of the Russian Federation "ino -agent."