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

Poland and the Minority Races (Classic Reprint), by Arthur Lehman Goodhart. 1920

Bogus Massive Pogroms in Poland. Jews Were Partly at Fault for Polish Negativism Towards Jews. Jewish Separatism Was Pronounced

Arthur L. Goodhart had been part of the team headed by Henry Morgenthau, Sr. His book is much more than a report on what turned out to be fabricated western media accounts of massive Polish pogroms. It is nothing less than a geography lesson of Poland, which at that time (1919) had just regained her independence (after 123 years of partition and foreign rule), and had suffered 5 years of war (p. 122), including the current one (the 1920 Polish-Bolshevik war).

For more on the Morgenthau Report and its debunking of media pogrom mongering, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/massive-pogroms-1918-fake-news-morgenthau/

THE JEWISH SEPARATISM FROM POLAND WAS ALMOST COMPLETE

The reader gets a shocking picture of the complete disconnect of the Jewish people from the Polish nation upon reading the description of the Morgenthau team’s visit to some Jewish schools (Talmud Torahs), not in some backwoods village, but in the Polish capital of Warsaw (pp. 169-172). Out of 35 adolescent Jewish boys (girls were unschooled then) in one school, most knew that New York was in America and 10 knew that London was the capital of England. Yet NOT ONE of them had a clue about Kosciuszko or Sobieski!

Is it any wonder that Poles viewed Jews as an alien element in their midst, and nationalistic slogans (e. g., “Poland for the Poles!”, “No room for two nations on the Vistula!”) gained currency? Even if one disagrees with him, can one be surprised at Roman Dmowski’s contention that Jews would never become one with the Polish nation? And–yet–only Poles get blamed for thinking this way.

Goodhart (p. 138) suggested that the Jews’ use of Yiddish contributed to anti-Semitism because of its resemblance to the hated German language.

THE STANDARD TALMUDIC EXCULPATION

There was place for a lively discussion on the Talmud (p. 28) and its teachings about Jews owing duties only to their fellow Jews and being free to cheat and rob the gentiles. To this the Jewish side averred that no modern Jew took these verses literally. [Says who? And who said that Talmudic passages necessarily have to be taken literally in order to influence attitudes and behavior towards the goyim? And what of the comparable secularized and modernized Jewish antigoyism?]

ROBBERY AND MILITARY INDISCIPLINE, NOT ANTISEMITISM

A severe general poverty gripped Poland (p. 89, 96, 100). Robbery was found to have played a major role in the killings of Jews by Polish civilian and especially army units (p. 50, 81, etc.). There was a shortage of boots in the Polish army (p. 88) and, in an unguarded moment, the Morgenthau team had been robbed of theirs, and the exhumed bodies of murdered Jews lacked shoes (p. 95). Inconsistent discipline in the Polish army, when in civilian areas, turned out to be major factor in the pogroms (p. 48, 71, 75, 82). Most of the beard-cutting humiliations of Jewish men had been done by foreign Polish Legionaries who were not accustomed to Jewish beards and kaftans (pp. 117-118). Jewish claims in Polish courts were hampered by massive perjury committed by both Poles and Jews (p. 37).

CANDIDLY ASSESSING THE ZYDOKOMUNA

In assessing Jewish-Communist collaboration, Goodhart (p. 52) wrote: ” General Szeptycki said that he did not believe that the majority of the Jews were Bolsheviks or were in sympathy with Bolshevism. Some of the very young men, however, were ardent preachers of Bolshevik doctrines, and it was their actions and speeches which caused the general idea that Jews were Communists.” Accusations were repeatedly made of Jews shooting at Polish troops on behalf of the Bolsheviks (Communists) (p. 105, 178), with a few of these clearly substantiated (p. 52) in spite of the obviously covert nature of pro-Communist collaboration. Not mentioned is the fact that, in wartime, one does not have the luxury of checking accusations carefully before taking retaliatory action.

DOES NOT BLAME POLAND’S CATHOLICISM

Catholic clergy varied widely according to their friendship or hostility to Jews (pp. 120-121). Morgenthau encountered locations in Poland where, according to local Jewish opinion, Polish-Jewish relations were good (p. 103, 117, 125), thanks largely to the local government. In one location in eastern Galicia, Polish-Jewish relationships had been generally good until the Jewish merchants raised the prices of good so high that the peasants could not afford them, at which time the peasants resorted to robbery and murder (pp. 136-137). So Jewish profiteering came into play.

JEWS, TOO, WERE PARTLY AT FAULT

Jews also came in for some criticism. One Polish district governor, known to be respected by both Jews and Poles, commented (pp. 131-132): ” …an overwhelming majority of the Jews were engaged in small trade…Modern civilization had found the small middle-men an unnecessary and expensive wheel in the economic machine. The Jews were putting too much emphasis on the question of prejudice, and were not making a sufficient effort to improve and help themselves. In Galicia there had never been any laws preventing the Jews from working on the land, but only a very small proportion of them had been engaged in agriculture…They were holding too many meetings to discuss their rights, and not enough to discuss their duties to be productive citizens.” Some Jewish spokesmen agreed with at least some of this: “Dr. Fiedler and I then discussed the position of the Jews…Most of the Jews in Galicia were engaged in small trade. They did not like to work in factories because there was no chance there for quick profits…The Jews were making a great mistake in asking for separate schools.” (p. 146).

For more on the myth that Jews were forced into commerce, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/jews-forced-into-commerce-a-myth-wynne/

A DOUBLE STANDARD ON FEAR OF POLISH ANTISEMITISM: THE COMMUNISTS GET A PASS

Interestingly, there were many reports of Jews being robbed by Bolsheviks (p. 50, 78, 83, 88). It is surprising that none of this was remembered when Poland’s Jews welcomed the Communists just 20 years later, in September 1939. It looks like selective amnesia: Blaming Poland for every little thing against Jews, and then turning a blind eye to much greater Communist offenses against Jews. Much more can be said about this phony indignation. For instance, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/antisemitism-in-poland-phony-indignation-bemporad/

AMERICA AND BRITAIN, STOP BEING SO SELF-RIGHTEOUS TOWARDS POLAND

There was room for irony in this book. Poles had suggested that the Morgenthau commission should instead be investigating the Jewish Communist killings of Poles (p. 98). When news came of race riots in the USA, the Polish newspapers suggested that “…a Polish Mission be sent to America to investigate the negro pogroms.” (p. 108).

Touche!