Prof. Israel Gutman

Goldhagen — His Critics and His Contribution

Since its appearance Daniel Jonah Goldhagen’s book, Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust1 has reached a vast public in the United States and in other countries. It has prompted a public tempest and set off a tumultuous polemic among experts. Many readers and book reviewers have treated Goldhagen’s basic assumptions as a new discovery--an elucidation of benighted and disturbing phenomena in modern society and of the enigma why millions of utterly helpless and... Continue reading

Jews in General Anders’ Army in the Soviet Union

1. The Organizational Phase Mustering of the Polish Armed Forces in the Soviet Union (Polskie Siły Zbrojne w ZSSR), known as “Anders’ Army”, began during the latter half of 1941. Until the end of July 1941, the Polish Government-in-Exile in London had not maintained diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, condemning her as an invader who had conspired with Nazi Germany to seize the eastern portions of Poland during the invasion of 1939. Even the dramatic volte-face in the wake of... Continue reading

“Them” and “Us”: In Reply to Professor Tomasz Strzembosz

Professor Tomasz Strzembosz deigned to devote to my person an article of nearly six pages, enigmatically entitled “Inscribed in Professor Gutman’s Diary.”1 This entire effort was prompted by a short remark of mine concerning Strzembosz’s extensive article, “Przemilczana Kolaboracja,” written in connection with the terrible crime that had taken place in Jedwabne on July 10, 1941 and dealing with the so-called “covered-up collaboration.”2 The pertinent passage in Strzembosz’s... Continue reading

The Importance of Ideology in Choosing a Destination for Emigration

The Zionism of She’arit Hapleta was not all that ideologically grounded - it was a conclusion drawn from their experience during the catastrophe. What they longed for above all else was a homeland and a home to resolve their future as Jews and as DPs. Ben-Gurion, then, seems to have been on the mark when he spoke of the “Zionist instincts” of She’arit Hapleta - a notion quite different from Zionist theorizing. Since the Zionist choice they made was a way of life stemming from their... Continue reading

On the Difficulties of Daily Life Among the DPs

In the camps the DPs lived unhygienic and hopeless lives. They lived in crowded conditions, usually in large barracks, with no private space or family rooms; their diet was monotonous and scanty; their clothing was shapeless. They usually displayed little initiative and many did not want to work. They felt that it was enough that they had been forced to work in the past - now it was their turn to rest. They tended to be short-tempered and distrustful of strangers, and even regarded their... Continue reading

Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust. Sixty Years Since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Generation after generation, Jews and non-Jews alike confront the greatest crime ever perpetrated against humanity — the Holocaust. Overwrought, individuals and nations try to comprehend how the largest and most vibrant Jewish settlement that thrived in Europe for a millennium was eradicated in a matter of years. Just as Jewish fate differed from that of other nations under Nazi rule, so too did the nature of Jewish opposition to the Nazis. Out of the sheer will to survive, millions of... Continue reading