Le massacre des Juifs par les nazis vu par la presse polonaise, 1942-1947

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze a number of opinions as they appeared in the Polish press related to the extermination of the Jewish population by the Nazis. The first attempt was initiated during the summer of 1942 with the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto and concluded with the elections in January 1947 that brought to power the Stalinist regime.The article confronts several pertinent questions: How did the non-Jewish Polish population react towards the genocide of Polish Jews? How did the press cover this tragedy in a country where the population was convinced that the Poles were the real victims of the conflict? A country where the genocide of the Jewish people was interpreted as a sign of the forthcoming “extermination of the Poles”.During the years 1944-1947, the “Stalinization” of Holocaust remembrance omitted the “neighbors’ (Poles)” participation in the massacre. The Communist–Anti-Communist conflict permitted anti-Semitism, denunciations and looting to flourish.In a way, the Cold War was a fortunate event: it provided the Polish people an opportunity to cleanse themselves from guilt.