Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Shtetl Jews Under Soviet Rule: Eastern Poland On The Eve Of The Holocaust, by Ben-Cion Pinchuk. 1990

Rather Egregious Double Standards on Anti-Semitism, Dependent Upon Whether it is Polish or Soviet

This is one of the few books, written by a Jewish author, which acknowledges the fact that large numbers of Polish Jews collaborated with the Soviet authorities that had invaded eastern Poland in September-October 1939. In no sense was the Zydokomuna a mythical or marginal phenomenon.

A PHONY INDIGNATION ON ANTI-SEMITISM

There is an interesting irony to those who excuse the 1939 Zydokomuna (Jewish-Soviet collaboration) as caused by prior Polish anti-Semitism. Under Polish rule, Jews had faced some discrimination that was intended to limit their economic dominance. They never faced destruction of Jewish communal or religious life. To the contrary–these flourished under Polish rule.

Now enter author Ben-Cion Pinchuk. He actually states that there was no anti-Semitism at all under the Soviets, but then he describes how the Soviets destroyed Jewish communal and religious life. Evidently, Pinchuk has an interesting definition of anti-Semitism: If the destruction of Jewish communal and religious life had been done by Poles or other Christians, it would certainly be considered anti-Semitism. We would not hear the end of it in the media. Poland would be painted in black colors as a horribly primitive and intolerant nation.

But when the Communists destroyed Jewish communal and religious life, there was hardly a peep about it in the media. For decades, Jews looked the other way, and not a few of them sang their praises of the Soviet Union. All the while, they dumped on Poland for every little thing. So Jews were largely silent about early Soviet crimes against Jews, and only found fault with comparatively-trivial Polish anti-Semitism. See:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/like-jews-like-endeks-aleksiun/

This is hardly unique. Jews frequently complain about Polish pogroms, but are deafeningly silent about the violence of Jewish Communists against other Jews. For instance, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/pogroms-jews-against-jews-goldstein/