Jan T. Gross

The psychologically disturbing account of how the residents of Jedwabne, a small town in Poland slaughtered their Jewish neighbours on 10 July 1941. After being captured by the Germans on 22 June 1941, the residents asked the Nazis if they could start killing Jews and when given permission, began to do so vigorously under the command of the mayor. The first act was to corral 1600 Jewish men, women, and children into an old barn which was then set afire. Over the ensuing decades, the residents of Jedwabne tried to lay the blame on the occupying Germans, but historical documents, and details from residents tell the sordid story. On 10 July 2001, a monument was unveiled in remembrance of the slaughter and the President of the Republic of Poland officially apologized. Is it ever possible for sufficient penance to be paid for such an act?
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After the German military took over the Polish town of Jedwabne, the Polish townspeople got together, rounded up the Jews, and started killing them. They had the town surrounded with some folks on horseback so that anyone who tried to run away thru the fields would be caught. There were so many people beating them to death with rocks and tools was not going to kill them all so they herded a great many of them into a barn just off the square and burned them alive.

The Germans were taken aback at the savagery of the attack and slaughter. The Germans gave permission but from witness accounts did not appear to have guided or participated. In fact, some of the few survivors survived because they were working for the Germans in their custody. One other family hid some of the Jews.

A quote: "So it was not only the sight of the massacre of Jews that was unbearable. Also, the screams of the tormented people were numbing, as was the smell of their burning bodies. The slaughter of Jedwabne Jews lasted an entire day, and it was confined to a space no bigger than a sports stadium. Sleszynski’s barn, where the majority of the pogrom victims were burned in the afternoon, was but a stone’s throw from the square in the center of town. The Jewish cemetery, where many of the victims were knifed, clubbed, and stoned to death, is just across the road. And so everybody who was in town on this day and in possession of a sense of sight, smell, or hearing either participated in or witnessed the tormented deaths of the Jews of Jedwabne."

Several townspeople near the barn played musical instruments to drown out the screams of the burning people in side.

This book analyzes the event and history of the area to provide some understanding of what happened. It's a sad and horrible history that should not be forgotten so we can guard our culture from creating narratives of belief where anything like this could be excused or accepted again.



The hardcover version of the this book is almost pocket sized. So it's shorter than you would think based on page count. Not sure why they decided on the small size but still easily readable.… (more)