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

The Warsaw Ghetto Diaries, by Hillel Seidman, Yosef Israel (Translator). 1997

Holocaust Uniqueness Contradicted by Basic Facts. Cardinal Hlond Correct. Two-Way Polish-Jewish Boycotts

This work is rich in Jewish terminology, traditional Jewish ideation, and cries to God and man for deliverance during the unfolding Holocaust. In contrast to most Holocaust-era diaries, it also offers an unusual amount of biographical detail on the leading Jewish secular and especially religious leaders of the time. Many interesting details are included, such as the debate as to whether Polish Jews were the descendants of Khazars, or of erstwhile German Jews that had lived along the Rhine. (p. 110).

POLISH CARDINAL AUGUST HLOND WAS RIGHT IN HIS MUCH-CONDEMNED 1936 STATEMENT ON JEWS AS FREETHINKERS

There were various influential prewar Hebrew and Yiddish newspapers that were antagonistic towards religion and the religious, and staff writers of other Jewish newspapers were usually irreligious. (p. 360).

YOU WILL NEVER LEARN THIS FROM THE STANDARD NARRATIVE, BUT BOYCOTTS BETWEEN POLES AND JEWS WENT BOTH WAYS

Much has also been written, in condemnation, about Roman Dmowski and the Endek-led boycotts of Jews. However, Jews also used boycotts against Poles when they disagreed with them. (p. 361).

JEWISH-NAZI COLLABORATION

Throughout this work, the collaborationist Ukrainian and Baltic police are highlighted with regards to the herding of the Jews to the death trains. As for the Jewish ghetto police, its work came to the fore in maintaining ordnung after the Germans had withdrawn the Polish Blue Police (Policja Granatowa). (p. 153.). The Jewish ghetto police contained a mixture of benefactors and scoundrels, but consisted of assimilated Jews, many of whom had no real ties to Judaism and not a few of whom had open contempt for religious Jews. (pp. 154-156). Seidman asserts that no religious Jews served in either the Jewish ghetto police or in the later kapos (camp guards)(p. 156), nor engaged in self-preservation behavior at the expense of other Jews. (pp. 229-230).

THE POLONOPHOBIC HOLOCAUST MYTH OF THE DOOMED JEWS FORCED TO BEHOLD CHEERING POLES

An escapee from a Treblinka-bound death train reported that the boxcar had only a small vent, which could be seen out of only by standing on another’s back. (pp. 101-102). This contradicts the tale about doomed Jews forced to behold throngs of jeering Poles. Even if such Poles hypothetically existed, it would’ve been almost impossible for the doomed Jews to see them.

RATHER VULGAR ANTICATHOLICISM

One crass Polonophobic accusation, propounded by author Seidman, would have the reader believe that the Polish Catholic Church was unwilling to help even Warsaw’s Christian Jews, having adopted Nazi-style racial beliefs. Amazing! (pp. 148-150; see also 176-177). REALITY CHECK: The Polish Catholic Church, powerless to stop the countless murders of Polish gentiles, already facing severe persecution and accused of fostering anti-German sentiment, was on the verge of experiencing even more draconian German reprisals. See the Peczkis review of Hans Frank’s Diary:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/polokaust-why-not-worse-piotrowski/

IN PRACTICE, THE NAZIS DID NOT TARGET ALL ACCESSIBLE JEWS FOR EXTERMINATION

The Holocaust was far from universal [contrary to Holocaust-uniqueness advocates], and this puzzled translator Yosef Israel, who asked: “By what logic were the Jews of northern Africa, similarly under German domination, spared the extermination process when POWs from the desert campaign were shipped off to Auschwitz? Why did the Jews of Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, and deepest Russia merit to escape the worst?” (pp. 25-26).

Yosef Israel was very perceptive. For more on the Nazi sparing of North African Jews, see my reviews:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2026/09/04/nazi-global-jew-killing-myth-european-jews-only-and-not-all/

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/property-restitution-only-certain-jews-qualify-boum/