THE SARMATIAN REVIEW Vol. XX, No. 3 September 2000 Surviving the Holocaust Marcus David Leuchter in Houston, Texas, May 2000. Photo by James R. Thompson. 722 THE SARMATIAN REVIEW September 2000 The Sarmatian Review (ISSN 1059- From the Editor The mechanism of the Holocaust 5872) is a triannual publication of the Polish In- should teach humility to us all. How stitute of Houston. The journal deals with Polish, As Peter Novick pointed out in The easy it is to participate in a process Central, and Eastern European affairs, and their Holocaust in American Life (1999), in which ultimately leads to the destruc- implications for the United States. We specialize the 1970s and ‘80s in the United States in the translation of documents. tion of other human beings. And how Subscription price is $15.00 per year for individu- the Holocaust was shifted from the cat- few acts of heroism happen in circum- als, $21.00 for institutions and libraries ($21.00 egory of an historical event to the cat- stances when agreeing to be a clerk in for individuals, $27.00 for libraries overseas, air egory of ideology. Novick’s book may the Ghetto meant better food and per- mail). The views expressed by authors of articles be interpreted as a call for a literature do not necessarily represent those of the Editors haps survival of one’s family, and when or of the Polish Institute. Articles are subject to of bare facts rather than generalities agreeing to shelter a Jew—let alone a editing. Unsolicited manuscripts and other mate- about the Holocaust. Marcus Leuchter’s Jewish family—on the “gentile” side rials are not returned unless accompanied by a self- story of survival is a collection of such meant death if caught. In his generos- addressed and stamped envelope. Please submit facts. To survive in conditions of Nazi your contribution on a Macintosh disk together ity, Dr. Leuchter remarks that his Ho- with a printout. Letters to the Editor can be e-mailed and Soviet occupation was a daunting locaust experience taught him that there to <[email protected]>, with an accompanying task for Polish gentiles; to survive in is something good in every man and printout sent by snail mail. Articles, letters, and Nazi-occupied Warsaw and Kraków woman. But the ease with which human subscription checks should be sent to was an incomparably more daunting beings slip into the survival mode where The Sarmatian Review, P. O. Box 79119, task for Polish Jews. In conditions of Houston, Texas 77279-9119. “everything goes” if it is necessitated the atomization of society which terror The Sarmatian Review retains the copyright for all by survival—underscores the impor- materials included in print and online issues. Cop- imposes, it took hundreds of people to tance of institutions and rituals that miti- ies for personal or educational use are permitted hide one Jew or Jewess; Marcus gate human ability to surrender to evil. by section 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Leuchter was fortunate enough to find On the margin of Dr. Leuchter’s Permission to redistribute, republish, or use SR not one traitor among those hundreds materials in advertising or promotion must be sub- splendid testimony, it should be noted mitted in writing to the Editor. of Polish gentiles who knew about his that speaking of “Jews and Poles” is Editor: Ewa M. Thompson (Rice University). background. At the same time, in con- troubling, since it implies that Jews can- Editorial Advisory Committee: Janusz A. ditions of mortal danger he helped many not be Poles. Rather, in the spirit of Ihnatowicz (University of Saint Thomas), Marek other human beings, gentiles and Jews Kimmel (Rice University), Alex Kurczaba (Uni- Polish multiculturalism that goes back versity of Illinois), Witold J. Lukaszewski (Sam alike, and he showed the kind of cour- to the sixteenth century, one should Houston State University), Michael J. Mikos (Uni- age and nobility of spirit that is rare in speak of Jews and gentiles, or Polish versity of Wisconsin), James R. Thompson (Rice peacetime, let alone under terror. If any- Jews and Polish Christians. University), Andrzej Wasko (Jagiellonian Univer- one deserves recognition for courage sity), Piotr Wilczek (University of Silesia-Katowice Dr. Jazbec’s paper reminds us that di- and University of Illinois-Chicago). and humaneness in situations where plomacy is needed more than ever in Web Pages: Lisa Spiro (Rice University). hope is all but impossible, it is Dr. the twenty-first century, and that nation Web Address: <http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia>. Leuchter. states must have their sovereignty Sarmatian Review Council: Marla K. Burns (Burns His account also makes clear, one & Associates), Boguslaw Godlewski (Diagnostic trimmed down by international agree- Clinic of Houston), Iga J. Henderson, Danuta Z. more time, that the planners of the Ho- ments to assure a modicum of security Hutchins (Buena Vista University), Joseph A. locaust displayed the kind of ingenuity in the postcommunist world. Dr. Jazbec Jachimczyk (J .A. Jachimczyk Forensic Center of Har- that is alien to American thinking. They rightly defends the nation state, point- ris County, Texas), Leonard M. Krazynski (Krazynski started with separating Jews from gen- & Associates), Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm. ing out that its multiplication in the post- tiles in a move that was not instantly communist period indicates its useful- In this issue: perceived as totally disastrous by a great ness for maintaining peace and decreas- SR INDEX.........................................723 many Jews. In the Ghetto, the Jews had ing international tensions. Marcus D. Leuchter, Reflections on the their own Jewish police and Jewish ad- Among reviews, one dealing with Dr. Holocaust.............................................725 ministration, a benefit of which they Marc Ben-Joseph’s book on Bank Milan Jazbec, The Small New States in were deprived in pre-war Poland where Krajowy merits attention. Professor Europe after the Fall of the Berlin Wall the civil and police authorities were Anna Dadlez’ Letter is a testimony to and Their Diplomacies......................730 mostly gentile. Likewise, deportations the generation of Polish gentiles who BOOKS.............................................737 to the camps were organized in such a came to the United States after World Piotr Wilczek, Speaking Volumes about way that Jewish clerks and Jewish po- War II, or approximately at the same Poles (review)....................................739 lice (under the supervision of the Nazis time when Dr. Leuchter did. Professor LETTERS (Anna Dadlez, Anna of course) were in charge of the process Cienciala’s Letter closes our discussion Cienciala, Rodi Wout, Barbara Denys, of registering, filling out forms, orga- of Professor Gella’s book. And who Maryann Wojciechowski..................746 nizing logistics and marshalling people would not be cheered up by Rodi About the Authors..............................747 to railway carriages. Since fellow Jews Wout’s “Sarmatian” story? Walenty Tyszkiewicz, Polish Diaspora in were in charge of the operation, many Finally, we thank all those who joined Turkmenistan: A Colonial Narrative..747 Jews trustingly went on and volunteered our readership in the last several LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENT.....748 for “labor” or “resettlement in the East.” months. ∆ September 2000 THE SARMATIAN REVIEW 723 The Sarmatian Review Index Demography Size of the Jewish community in Czechoslovakia in 1930: 356,000, or 2.4 percent of the population of 14.7 million. Size of the Jewish community in Poland in 1931: 3.1 million, or 9.8 percent of the population of 32 million. Source: Joseph Rothschild, East Central Europe between the Two World Wars (Seattle, WA: Univ. of Washington Press, 1974). Size of the Jewish community in Czechoslovakia in 1939: one percent. Source: Agence France-Presse, 25 January 2000. The Polish Holocaust Number of verified Polish victims of Soviet repression in 1939–1945 listed by the Karta Center in Warsaw during the press conference on 17 April 2000: 566,000. Estimated number of Poles who fell victim to Soviet repression in 1939–45 but whose cases could not be verified for lack of full documentation: 934,000. Source: Professor Andrzej Paczkowski, as reported by RFE/RL Poland, Ukraine and Belarus Report, vol. 2, no. 16 (25 April 2000). Polish higher education Number of students in Polish institutions of higher education in 2000: 1.5 million. Of these, percentage of students who study in private colleges and universities: 33 percent. Number of private institutions of higher learning in Poland in 2000: 172. Source: Professor Józef Szablowski, “Private higher education in Poland,” a paper read at the Sixth International Conference on Polish and East Central European Affairs, St. Mary’s College, Michigan, 19 May 2000. Percentage of students who are sons and daughters of farmers among the total student population: two percent. Source: Professor Zbigniew Stachowski, “College of Socio-Economics in Tyczyn,” a paper read at the Sixth International Conference on Polish and East Central European Affairs, St. Mary’s College, Michigan, 19 May 2000. Life and death Number of Iraqi children who died of dysentery in December 1989 (before the economic sanctions were imposed on Iraq) and in December 1999, respectively: 101 and 1,576. Number of Iraqi children who died of malnutrition in December 1989 and December 1999, respectively: 81 and 3,060. Source: Iraqi health ministry, as reported by Catholic World Report, March 2000. Frequency of infection with TB and syphilis among salespersons in Moscow in 1999: one in 200 infected with TB, one in 100, with syphilis. Source: Moscow Medical Board, as reported by Nezavisimaia Gazeta, 11 March 2000. Number of able-bodied Russian men who die ‘under the influence of alcohol’: 66 percent. Number of those who die ‘completely drunk’: half of the above, or 33 percent of able-bodied Russian men. A sociological study conducted in Moscow and in the Udmurtian Republic, as reported by Kommersant, 19 May 2000.