jewish

"Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne,
Poland" is a controversial book whose reputation suffers the more
independent research is done on it. Gross' number of 1600 victims has been reduced to 400 or less, as the mass graves were investigated by authorities with Rabbis standing by.

(In comparison 3,000,000 Polish-Jews were killed in the rest of Poland by Nazis. Notably also 2,000,000 (half by Soviets) non-Jewish Poles died at the same time. How many at the hands of the hundreds of (well documented) Jewish Commissars? Probably many times more than 400.)

By his own admission in recent interviews; Gross concludes that his exploration of the evidence was "incomplete", as the presence of German soldiers everywhere was brought out by witnesses some from as far away as Israel. What was the purpose of this book - one could speculate - self hatred?

It's a narrowly (amateurishly) researched book, long on drama short on verity. Many exist significantly more broadly based.

Gross's book Neighbors illustrates the latent anti-Semitism prevalent in pre-war Poland and the murderous result when the Poles took action against their Jewish neighbors. In the town of Jedwabne, two thirds of the residents were Jewish, and after
the Germans occupied the Russian half of Poland, the Polish residents of the town and surrounding countryside decided to take things into their own hands. They massacred the 1500 residents and took their property. The book briefly details the massacre and the burning of the barn where most of the Jewish residents were jailed. The Germans took no action, so the Polish residents were the chief culprits in these murders. After the war, the Poles blamed the Germans and until recently the crime was covered up. Gross details how the town residents did know and reveals this in the book.
I have read some of the comments from some of the other readers. It is hard to acknowledge crimes committed by one's nationality. Unfortunately this crime and other related did take place, and people do have to owe up to these things. I have traveled extensively through Poland and find the same anti-Semitic feelings even today. Both the Poles and Jews were victims in WWII, but the Poles also victimized the Jews. If I have any criticism of Gross's book, it is that it was far too short. Gross needed to describe in more detail these murders that took place in 1939-1941 period throughout Poland.

As interesting as the book may or may not be, let alone the questionable methodology employed by Gross, I find the customer comments much more telling. I especially find interesting one writer's comment: "although most of them can hardly express themselves they have seen fit to hurl insults at this wonderful book." Is this just another case of argumentum ad hominem or simply a gross misunderstanding?

Can't we all just get along!

Finally, always remember that a sentence begins with a capitalized letter; it does come in handy if you are trying to express yourself.