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

Paying for Hitler’s War, Edited by J. Scherner and E. N. White. 2016. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and London

The Travesty of Unfavorably Comparing Polish Jew-Rescue with the Fantastic Danish Jew-Rescue

Jews nowadays glorify the Danes for their supposedly exemplary rescue of their Jews. Then the Jews turn around and bash the Poles for the “inadequacy” of their Jew-rescue efforts. Lost in all of this, among other things, is the almost-jocular nature of the Nazi German occupation of Denmark.

THE FANTASTIC DANISH: EXCEEDINGLY FAVORABLE TREATMENT OF DENMARK BY THE THIRD REICH

The following quotes are from a contained chapter by Steen Anderson:

“Denmark formally remained an independent neutral state throughout the five years of German occupation.” (p. 296).

“While German-occupied countries during the Second World War experienced severe exploitation and oppression, German policy in Denmark was relatively mild as Denmark delivered the agricultural products that Germany desired.” (p. 296).

“Although comparison is difficult, it is clear that caloric intake was higher in Denmark than in any other German-occupied country or in Germany itself.” (p. 311).

“The guarantee of food exports helped Denmark resist radical changes in occupation policy. No country exported more meat and dairy to Germany during the war than Denmark, but those products were nonetheless widely available in Denmark at prices the great majority of Danes could afford.” (p. 318).

Amazingly, “Farmers’ incomes rose during the occupation, which boosted their status and political power.” (p. 318).

“Danish industry did relatively well during the occupation in spite of shortages of raw materials.” (p. 319).

A VERY MINIMAL DANISH LOSS OF LIFE

“Compared to the rest of Europe, Denmark suffered very modest losses of life. Excluding the 1,200 men killed fighting in German service, approximately 3,200 Danes died in war-related incidents. The material costs of the war amounted to 22 percent of the national income–a low figure compared to the rest of Europe.” (p. 319).

THE FANTASTIC DANISH CONTRASTED WITH GERMAN-OCCUPIED POLAND: STARVATION GENOCIDE

The situation in Poland was diametrically opposite of the situation in Denmark. Ramona Brau writes, “It was almost impossible for Polish workers to survive, however, on the fixed wages the Germans paid. Because of the reduction of the production of consumer goods and the Germans’ levy of agricultural products for the Reich, the supply of everyday goods, especially food, available to the Poles nearly collapsed. Poles had to live with a permanent economy of scarcity. In addition to working ten- to twelve-hour shifts, they were subject to terrible conditions in German factories. Many Poles tried to escape the forced labor system.” (p. 437).

THE POLES WERE FACED WITH A GERMAN-IMPOSED STARVATION GENOCIDE

There was no comparison of the amounts of food available to the Poles with the ones freely available to the Danes. Brau comments, “Hunger and deportations…The official food rations for Poles in the General Government in 1941 amounted to 700 calories per day, 25.6 percent of the daily minimum requirement; in 1943, the official rations provided only 15.6 percent of the daily minimum [427 calories].” (p. 437). These were clearly starvation rations.

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For more on the incomparably worse state of German-occupied Poland when compared with German-occupied Denmark, see:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2023/12/11/big-nazi-slaughter-poles-and-not-only-jews-klemann/

The fantastic Danish “rescue” itself was more a German release of Denmark’s Jews than a heroic Danish rescue effort. See:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/danish-rescue-of-jews-myth-almost-stauber/

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/nazis-saw-jews-and-poles-similarly-definitive-work-rees/

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2022/12/15/danes-and-poles-danish-jew-rescue-iconoclasm-jews-effectively-released-by-the-nazis-the-farcical-entire-danish-nation-rescued-jews-line-less-than-1-did-paulsson/