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Neighbors

The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland

Jan T Gross author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Princeton University Press

Published:21st Jun '22

Should be back in stock very soon

Neighbors cover

A landmark book that changed the story of Poland’s role in the Holocaust

On July 10, 1941, in Nazi-occupied Poland, half of the town of Jedwabne brutally murdered the other half: 1,600 men, women, and children—all but seven of the town’s Jews. In this shocking and compelling classic of Holocaust history, Jan Gross reveals how Jedwabne’s Jews were murdered not by faceless Nazis but by people who knew them well—their non-Jewish Polish neighbors. A previously untold story of the complicity of non-Germans in the extermination of the Jews, Neighbors shows how people victimized by the Nazis could at the same time victimize their Jewish fellow citizens. In a new preface, Gross reflects on the book’s explosive international impact and the backlash it continues to provoke from right-wing Polish nationalists who still deny their ancestors’ role in the destruction of the Jews.

"National Book Award Finalist"
"Selected Entry for the National Book Critics Circle Award"
"Compact, sharp and withering. . . . A book to be read, a book to be reckoned with. . . . Like an oral tale transcribed by a folklorist, it has the ring of the eternal to it. My tale is simple and horrible, it seems to say; listen to it and remember it and pass it along. Hatred like this runs deep in human nature and is ever ready to erupt again. Be warned."---Michael Frank, Los Angeles Times
"An important contribution to the literature of human bestiality unleashed by war. . . . [A] fine, careful book about the awful massacre in Jebwabne."---Steven Erlanger, New York Times Book Review
"Astonishing. . . . The title, Neighbors, is an ice dagger to the heart."---George F. Will, Newsweek
"Compelling and immediate."---Linda Matchan, Boston Globe
"Nothing can make up for the horror. But if the screams of those burning alive at Jedwabne are heard at last, they may not have been completely in vain."---George Steiner, The Observer
"Powerful. . . . Extraordinary."---Jaroslav Anders, New Republic
"Horrifying and thoughtful."---István Deák, New York Review of Books
"Neighbors strikes squarely at Poland's accepted historical narrative."---John Reed, Financial Times
"[A] scrupulously documented study."---Abraham Brumberg, Times Literary Supplement
"Neighbors tells a compelling story admirably. It should be widely read and discussed, for the complex, unsettling issues it raises still need to be fully explored."---Alvin H. Rosenfeld, New Leader
"[Gross] is possessed of the key . . . virtues: moral energy, commitment to accuracy, and the maintenance of a continuing open dialogue between historian, sources, and reader."---Inga Clendinnen, London Review of Books
"Compelling. . . . Gross’s dispassionate book is the most comprehensive effort to uncover the stark truth about Jedwabne."---Robert S. Wistrich, Commentary

ISBN: 9780691234304

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

304 pages

New edition