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Texts Buried in Oblivion. Testimonies of Two Refugees from the Mass Grave at Poniatowa
Andrzej Żbikowski
redakcja@holocaustresearch.pl Author Biographyhistorian, deputy director of the Jewish Historical Institute and employee of the Public Education Bureau of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw. Member of the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Author of numerous publications on the history of Polish Jews. Recent publications: U genezy Jedwabnego. Żydzi na Kresach Północno-Wschodnich II Rzeczypospolitej, wrzesień 1939– lipiec 1941 (2006).
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8081-6955
Jewish Historical Institute, Public Education Bureau of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw
Zagłada Żydów. Studia i Materiały, 2008, Pages: 76-102
Submission Date: 2020-10-03Publication Date: 2008-12-01
https://doi.org/10.32927/ZZSiM.76
Abstract
This article contains an analysis and extensive quotations from accounts of two Jewish women, the only survivors of prisoners' execution at the Poniatowa compulsory labour camp. This execution was part of a large-scale operation to physically liquidate Jewish prisoners, the so-called “Operation Harvest” (Erntefest), carried out in the first week of November 1943 at the camps in Trawniki, Poniatowa and Majdanek (in Lublin). Both women survivors,. Due to a number of coincidences, managed to get to Warsaw and, helped by the “˚egota” – Council to Aid the Jews, lived to see the liberation. In this article I also analyse the circumstances of both accounts, reasons for withholding their publication as early as war time, and the importance , for our knowledge, not only of the executions, but also for the nature of complicated Polish–Jewish relations during World War II, because it was the Poles' help that the fate of escaped prisoners hinged upon.
Keywords
Holocaust , Poniatowa , Erntefest , Polish–Jewish relation , Righteous among the Nations
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Copyright (c) 2008 Author&"Holocaust Studies and Materials"
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The journal is published under the Diamond Open Access Standard, CC-BY-4.0 Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons
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