The Generation: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Communists of Poland (Societies and Culture in East-Central Europe, No 5)
by Jaff Schatz
List Price:
Our Price: $36.47
You Save: $13.53 (27%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jaff SchatzEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-06-25
ISBN: 0520071360
Number of pages: 426
Publisher: University of California Press
Book Reviews of The Generation: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Communists of Poland (Societies and Culture in East-Central Europe, No 5)
Book Review: A rebuttal to Mr. Peczkis
Summary: 3 Stars
This review is largely a rebuttal, of sorts, to the review already posted. It is quite obvious from Mr. Peczkis's tone that he identifies with many Poles who were incensed by Jan Blonski's much-needed 1987 article "The Poor Poles Look at the Ghetto" and by Jan Tomasz Gross's monumental work, Neighbors. Apparently Mr. Peczkis would like to pin all of Poland's communist-era woes on the handful of Jewish party members who possessed real power, without acknowledging the fact that by the 1960s Polish Jews suffered enormous repression at the hands of the Polish Communist govt., including loss of power within the party, and that by and large the history of Polish communism is that of a state governed--and, yes, supported--by ethnic Poles. Iy hardly needs be mentioned that Gomulka, Gierek, Moczar,and Jaruzelski were all proud members of the Polish nation, or that the quite blatantly antisemitic "anti-Zionist" campaign of the 1960s belies the reality of so-called Polish Jewish Zydokomuna.
Mr. Peczkis even goes so far as to anglicize Jan Tomasz Gross's middle name to Thomas, perhaps as a subtle (or not, but puerile nonetheless) method of questioning Gross's Polishness. Surely it is a sorry sign that Amazon allows such antisemitic rhetoric, dressed up in the guise of objective criticism, to appear on its website.
As for the merits of the above book, it is competent and made good use of the sources which were available at the time, but is somehwat dry in its prose, and perhaps in an effort to be objective does not make stronger, more conclusive arguments of the kind scholars look for, but if read in conjunction with Marci Shore's new monograph Caviar and Ashes: A Warsaw Generation's Life and Death in Marxism, 1918-1968, the reader is treated to an enlightening narrative as to the reasons why a small group of Polish Jewish intellectuals found in Marxism a key to a better life. That they were sorely disappointed later, and indeed in many cases were broken by the beast they helped to create, is one of the twentieth century's more bitter ironies.
More The Generation: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Communists of Poland (Societies and Culture in East-Central Europe, No 5) reviews:
1
1
Poland Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Poland Books
Another Day of Lifeby Ryszard Kapuscinski
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Published: 1987-02-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $160.00
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Polandby Christopher R. Browning
Penguin Group(CA); Published: 2005-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.34
Price in other shops:
The Kingdom of Auschwitz (Penguin History)by Otto Friedrich
Penguin Putnam Inc.,US; Published: 1996-04-25; Paperback; Book
Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitzby Lucette Matalon Lagnado, Sheila Cohn Dekel
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
Poland - A Historyby Adam Zamoyski
HarperPress / HarperCollins; Published: 2009; Hardcover; Book
The Nuremberg SS-Einsatzgruppen Trial, 1945-1958: Atrocity, Law, and Historyby Hilary Earl
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2009-04-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $69.95
Price in other shops:
After the Deluge: Poland-Lithuania and the Second Northern War, 1655-1660 (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History)by Robert I. Frost
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1993-03-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $102.30
Price in other shops:
The Girl in the Red Coat: A Memoirby Roma Ligocka
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2002-09-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $26.89
Marie Curie: A Life (Radcliffe Biography Series)by Susan Quinn
Da Capo Press; Published: 1996-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Polandby Jan T. Gross
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2002-10-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: