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

The Unplanned Society: Poland During and After Communism, by Janine R. Wadel (ed). 1992. Columbia University Press, New York

Black Market: Incurring the German-Imposed Death Penalty: No Valid Comparison With Risk of Hiding Jews

This book is primarily about Poland under Communism, but also includes the essay by Kazimierz Wyka on life under the German occupation. Wyka is a writer from the same intellectual circle as Czeslaw Milosz, and he first wrote his essay in 1945. Translated into English, it is the focus of my review.

Now Jan T. Gross has been going around blaming Poles for not saving more Jews. He would have us believe that incurring the German death penalty for rescuing Jews was no big deal, because, after all, Poles already risked the death penalty by engaging in illegal slaughter and the black market. The comparison is totally fallacious, as elaborated below.

TWO DIFFERENT THINGS: RISKING ONE’S LIFE TO SAVE ONESELF, AND RISKING ONE’S LIFE TO SAVE ANOTHER’S

Wyka reminds us that, “The rationing system imposed on the native population was such that no one could manage to survive…During the winter of 1939-40, the population of the Generalgouvernement faced a simple dilemma: to eat only what was permitted and die of hunger, or–somehow to make do.” (p. 25. Italics in original).

So, while Poles did not have to rescue Jews in order to survive, they most certainly had to engage in the black market in order to survive! The distinction in risk-taking is universally recognized by society: Risking one’s life for another person is heroic; risking it for oneself is not. That is why, for example, there are medals for Poles rescuing Jews, but no medals for Poles doing illegal slaughter or black market activity. More fundamentally, medals are awarded for saving others from drowning, but no medals are awarded for saving oneself from drowning.

GERMAN BLACK MARKET POLICIES WERE LARGELY UNENFORCIBLE

Wyka sagely comments, “If the punishment for illegal pig breeding is death, yet the activity is very lucrative and the German policeman does not visit the village for months, then nothing will stop the peasant’s tender care for the sow. If on any train one may be arrested for transporting lard, but it is beyond even the most efficient police to guard day and night all the trains destined for a large city, then no one will prevent people from doing it. Poles grasped these truths quickly and shrewdly, faster than the Germans noticed that their dam was scarcely even a sieve. When the Germans attempted draconian measures, it was already too late…” (p. 26).

BRIBES ALLEVIATED THE RISK OF BLACK MARKET ACTIVITY

The Germans obviously did not take one verboten act (getting caught with an unauthorized piece of meat) with the same gravity as they took another verboten act (getting caught hiding a fugitive Jew). Wyka focuses on the corruptibility of the Germans, and how Poles used it to their advantage, “The Germans turned out to be fantastic bribe-takers. Everyone was on the take, from petty officials up to Nazi Party bigwigs.” (p. 27).

This, of course, meant that Poles could often bribe their way out of “minor” offenses. Wyka continues, “With the wealthy peasant it was quite different. He gained most from the price rise, from the demand for lard and meat. He could breed animals secretly. His stash of cash and supplies gave him an excellent chance to reduce the risks of being ‘caught’ by authorities. Finally, he was able to shield his family against labor deportations, and therefore his farm was never short of laborers.” (p. 49).

—

HOW THE POLISH INTELLIGENTSIA SURVIVED THE GERMAN GENOCIDE

As part of the unfolding Polocaust, the Germans sought to exterminate all educated Poles. Wyka describes how the Poles alleviated this aristocide (“beheading”), “When it came to fulfilling collective responsibilities, one must admit that the majority of large landowners acquitted themselves decently by harboring refugees, and not displaced relatives only: very many Polish prominente survived the Occupation only because the landowner understood the implicit responsibility that came with prosperity.” (p. 54. Italics in original.)

THE LETTER “P” REDUCED POLES TO THE LEVEL OF ANIMALS FOR FORCED LABOR

Poles travelling to the Third Reich for slave labor were in no sense comparable to earlier Poles that had gone to Germany for work. Wyka comments, “It soon became common knowledge that Poles were without civil rights and treated as miserable cattle marked with the letter P, and that compulsory or voluntary departure for work in Germany meant that one would not see one’s native land until the war’s end.” (pp. 31-32).

“SLAVIC FATALISM”: GERMANS FUNDAMENTALLY MISREAD THE POLES

Although Wyka does not use this term, he makes it obvious how the German mentality saw Poles through this lens of prejudice. He writes, “For the Germans, the Polish peasant was an ideal subject. His patience was interpreted as acceptance of every whim. His reticence and suspiciousness, which always permitted the other to express an opinion before he expresses his own, were construed as lack of any opinion. His inexhaustible perseverance in working for himself was interpreted as an ox-like capacity to carry out the worst drudgery. In a word, appearances sufficed for the Germans; they perceived nothing of our peasant’s real nature…The peasant reacted to the outrages with silence, knowing that he could not respond any other way. The German does not understand silent rebellion; only a wide open mouth restrains his raised fist. He took the silence as proof that he had broken his opponent.” (pp. 46-47).