Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944 by Richard C. Lukas Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944
Book Review: Rebuts anti-Polish Chauvinism
Summary: 5 Stars
We all heard of the 5-6 million Jews murdered by the Germans, but almost no one has heard of the 2-3 million Poles also murdered by the Germans. Lukas shows that this included nearly one half of all educated Poles. Overall, Lukas goes into considerable detail about the Polish tragedy. Attempts to equate the German treatment of Poles with the earlier prewar Polish treatment of Jews, Germans, and Ukrainians are dastardly lies. To begin with, Poland's minorities were hardly victims. They often provoked Polish counteraction through their sabotage of the Polish state. NEVER, under any circumstances, were large numbers of Poland's minorities killed by Poles. The living conditions of Poland's minorities in prewar Poland were a paradise compared with the living conditions of the Poles under the German occupation. Far from being an incipient Polish crime, the proposed mass population transfer of Jews also enjoyed the support of Zionists such as Vladimir Jabotynsky. Finally, there is no comparison whatsoever with the proposed or actual transfer of an unwanted population with the mass genocide of the same.Book Review: A Fine Book
Summary: 5 Stars
This 200+ page book is certainly worth reading and having it in one's own personal library for future reference. There are not enough books written about the WWII experience of Gentile Poles under German occupation. The Polish nation was targeted for annihilation. Much is written about the Jewish people's sufferingand not enough about the suffering of the Christian Poles. Who suffered more is not the issue....... both went through terrifying experiences !!!
I highly recommend this book especially for all those who have a short attention span or are short on time particularly in today's hectic times.
Book Review: Outstanding book about forgotten history
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book in college as part of one of my history papers. Being 2nd generation Polish, it was important to read the full story of the genocide in Poland, and that it was not just limited to the Jews. Lucas does a fine job of showing all aspects of life under occupation, and that ALL Poles suffered, regardless of religion, gender, occupation, etc. Poland lost 15-20% of her population during the war, the most of any country, and they came from all walks of life. I was glad to see somebody finally wrote a boook about the "forgotten" millions who were murdered simply because they were born Polish. This is a must read for anyone interested in Poland or European history.Book Review: An excellent historical read
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is exactly what it advertises - a history of Poland while under German occupation. After years of hearing only about the anti-Semitism of Poles, and their willingness to coldly turn in their Jewish neighbors, it is refreshing to read of what the majority of the country took part in. The tales of Polish resistance are truly remarkable and valuable for anyone interested in the truth of WWII.Lukas never makes an attempt to minimize the Jewish experience in this book; he only brings attention to the fact that five million non-Jews were also exterminated, and for Hitler, as soon as Europe was free of Jews, the Slavs were next. I found it a very valuable, scholarly read.
Book Review: Tells the FULL Story of the Holocaust
Summary: 5 Stars
This second edition of the book contains new chapters. One of them contains a list of Polish gentiles, murdered by the German occupants, while attempting to assist Jews (Poland was one of the only countries where the death penalty was handed out by the Nazis to anyone who gave the slightest assistance to the Jews). Of course, this list is but a drop in the bucket: The actual number of Polish gentiles strongly assisting Polish Jews, but caught and slain by the Germans for helping Jews, is estimated to be as high as 50,000. The second new chapter is a discussion of Zegota: A clandestine Polish underground organization for assisting Jews. At its height, it consisted of tens of thousands of Polish gentiles in German-occupied Warsaw alone--all working under the threat of death if caught.
Lukas also discusses Polish collaboration with the Nazis, but shows that, contrary to much popular Holocaust material, this level of collaboration was much smaller than those of most other German-occupied European nations, and was also dwarfed by the number of Poles who assisted the Jews.
Earlier, Lukas documents how 3 million Polish gentiles were murdered by the Germans during World War II. This is very rarely mentioned in most Holocaust materials. Also included is discussion of the cultural genocide of Poland: the systematic, barbaric German practice of systematically destroying visible traces of Polish culture (monuments, libraries, museums, etc.). If you are one raised on the belief that only Jews suffered in the hands of the Nazis, you are in for a shock when you read this excellent book.