Looking back on The Holocaust, many Eastern European countries deported Jews to their deaths during 1939 until 1945. Some countries were more willing than others to collaborate with the Nazis. Many of those who aided the Nazi’s with killing Jews in Eastern European countries did so as individuals, while many were forced to make a choice in either killing Jews or being killed. The history of Ukraine and Poland, both non-German countries will be examined in this paper to determine if their populations were willing executioners of their neighboring Jewish populations, or if their participation in Jewish extermination was limited to determine if they were victims themselves of what many call “The Forgotten Holocaust”.
Poland is the country that…show more content… Gross challenges the myth that the Poles were just bystanders and demonstrates that through his vivid recount of the voluntary murdering that took place in Poland after Germany had retaken Soviet-occupied territory. Gross explains, "Such an order was issued by the Germans on July 10, 1941.” However, he adds that,” It was Polish hooligans who took it up and carried it out using the most horrible methods.” The reader is able to depict through Polish testimony that those responsible for this massacre had a deep seated hatred for Jews that motivated them to act on their anti-Semitic feelings before carrying out the Nazi’s order. Gross depicts it as a collective decision by a mob which would imply he feels those in Jedwabne were not just bystanders, but active participants. Objectively this incident is scarce in comparison to the amount of support Jews received from the AK, the AL and the ZWK all Polish resistance. The Germans instigated this massacre, for scholars it’s troubling to argue that the Poles without provocation would have just banded together one night and burn over 1,000
