Polish-Jewish relations during the German occupation of Poland were tortuous at best. As the Nazi occupiers ruthlessly exterminated Polish Jews in a methodical campaign of genocide, the vast majority of Polish Christians lay low and reacted with indifference. Still others collaborated with the Nazis, or risked their lives to save Jews.

The predominant response of Poles to the Holocaust disappointed and embittered Jews. Their reaction was encapsulated in Polish American historian Jan Tomasz Gross’ book, Neighbors, which caused a sensation in Poland.

Published in Polish in 2000 and in English a year later, Neighbors focused on a massacre of Jews in the northern Polish town of Jedwabne on July 10, 1941.

According to Gross, Poles murdered their Jewish neighbors in Jedwabne. The accusation outraged many Poles, who blamed the Germans. Poles were convinced that they were victims rather than perpetrators during Germany’s brutal occupation.

The right-wing government that governed Poland from 2015 until 2023 pursued the theme of Polish victimhood. In accordance with........

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