We dedicated the book reviews section to titles which have been published by Yad Vashem, ahead of Yom Hashoah – the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day. Both books focus on important topics of Holocaust research: The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations - Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust in Poland and The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia: Facing the Holocaust. We wish you an enlightening read.

• The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust in Poland
• The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia - Facing the Holocaust

The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust in Poland

This encyclopedia is a project that documents and honors the noble actions of more than 20,000 Non-Jews throughout Europe who endangered themselves in order to save Jews during the Holocaust and who have been granted the title of Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem. This review covers the new volume on Poland and was edited by Sara Bender and Shmuel Krakowski. Sara Bender teaches in the Department of Jewish History at the Haifa University and Shmuel Krakowski is a survivor and a professional historian of the Holocaust.

The appearance of this volume has great value. From an educational standpoint, it deserves to be found in every classroom and educational institution in Poland as it highlights the power of each individual to fight against the powers of darkness, to maintain his/her humanity in all situations and to extend help to anyone in need. This volume, like the others in this series, reflects the words of the famous historian, Dr. Emanuel Ringleblum, who wrote that the actions of these individuals would one day be the inspiration for the finest literary creations.[1]

Every example of a Jew who was rescued during the Holocaust is the story of the victory of the human spirit over the powers of darkness and evil that Nazi Germany brought to the world. The personal stories of the Righteous among the Nations provide educators who are interested in teaching about the Holocaust in its wider universal context a rich resource highlighting the importance of human values, examples of moral behavior in stressed times marked by the absence of all moral criteria and the nascent hope for a better future.

The publication of this two-volume set is also important from the angle of Polish-Jewish relations. The more than five thousand Poles who endangered themselves to save Jews cast an illuminating light on the complex texture of Polish-Jewish relations during the Holocaust, serving as a counterweight to the negative actions of other Poles who handed Jews over to the Germans or were organized in bands that hunted Jews.

The editors of these two volumes clearly invested a lot of effort in collecting all the biographical details and the stories how Polish individuals saved Jews. In addition, they have added a lexicon, photographs, maps and an index of names and geographical locations.

The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust in Poland, Israel Gutman, editor in chief (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2005), 2vols. 1018pp.

The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia - Facing the Holocaust

On March 16, 1939, Germany annexed the Czech part of Czechoslovakia. The Protectorate under the control of the Germans until May 1945, became known as Bohemia and Moravia. Konstantin von Neurath was appointed as the Reich Protector, all major government positions were filled by officials of the Reich, and Jews  living  in these areas were now under Hitler’s rule. On the eve of the occupation,  approximately 120,000 Jews lived in this region. The fate of this Jewish population has been lucidly and sensitively portrayed by Dr. Livia Rothkirchen, a researcher of the history of Czech and Slovakian Jewry and former chief editor of Yad Vashem Studies. This new book provides an overview about the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia during the Holocaust based on various historical sources, some published for the first time. This volume is part of the project “The History of the Holocaust”, and will take its place next to other volumes in the series.

The most impressive chapters of the book deal with the cultural legacy of Czech Jewry which was a veritable fountain of creativity. This legacy is marked by a wealth of talent in various artistic fields with considerable achievements in the cultural-spiritual domain through the generations. Even at death’s door in Terezienstadt, the creative impulse was alive. The opera “Brundibar” that was written in the ghetto and performed there for the first time is but one example of the Czech Jewish cultural legacy that survived. The volume also deals with the functioning of the Jewish leadership, Jewish resistance, rescue attempts and the attitude of the local population.  Livia Rothkirchen’s research centers on how, despite the general support of the population  Czech Jewry suffered such a high mortality rate. The famous author Josef Korbel wrote in his book: Czechoslovakia in the 20^th Century;  “ The sad reality is that in the Republic where Thomas Masaryk fought all his life against anti-Semitism, the results of the final solution were the same as in all the other areas conquered by the Germans.” Rothkirchen has made an important contribution to our understanding of Bohemia and Moravia during the Holocaust.

The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia. Facing the Holocaust. Livia Rothkirchen. (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and Yad Vashem, 2005).   447pages.

For orders and list of publications, please contact: Yad Vashem Publications, POB 3477, Jerusalem 91034, Israel.
publications.marketing@yadvashem.org.il. Tel. 972-2-644-3511, Fax 972-2-644-3509,
 

[1] Dr. Ringleblum was murdered in Warsaw during the Holocaust.

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