Book Description
A riveting first-hand account of the fierce battle for Fallujah and the Marines who fought there--a story of brotherhood and sacrifice in a platoon of heroes
The platoon included four pairs of best friends. Each of the four would lose a best friend forever.
Five months after being deployed to Iraq, Lima Company's 1st Platoon found itself in Fallujah, embroiled in some of the most intense house-to-house, hand-to-hand combat since World War II. Civilians were used as human shields or as bait to lure soldiers into buildings rigged with explosives; suicide bombers approached from every corner hoping to die and take Americans with them; radical insurgents, high on adrenaline, fought to the death. The Marines of the 1st Platoon (part of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment) were among the first to fight in Fallujah, and they bore the brunt of this epic battle. When it was over, the platoon had suffered thirty-five casualties, including four dead.
This is their story.
Award-winning author and historian Patrick O'Donnell stood shoulder-to-shoulder with this modern band of brothers as they marched and fought through the streets of Fallujah, and he stayed with them as the casualties mounted. O'Donnell captures not only the sights, sounds, and smells of the gritty street combat, but also the human drama of young men in a close-knit platoon fighting for their lives--and the lives of their buddies. We Were One chronicles the 1st Platoon's story, from its formation at Camp Pendleton in California to its near destruction in the smoldering ruins of Fallujah.
We Were One is an unforgettable portrait of the new "Greatest Generation."
With 16 pages of extraordinary photographs from the front lines of the Battle for Fallujah
Customer Reviews:
Marine Mom.......2007-09-04
Thankyou to all the brave young men and women that have or are currently serving in Iraq. Rock on Marines and as always...Semper Fi!!!
"We Were One" Iraq War historian immortalizes the Marine battle for Fallujah........2007-06-19
Award winning author Patrick K. O'Donnell volunteered to go to Iraq to become one of the first historians to accompany American troops into combat. Of his own effort he got himself placed with 1st Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. It was a decision that could have cost him his life. His chosen platoon was a major participant in the infamous battle for Fallujah in 2004. The author details the fighting through the eyes of the combatants which makes the book memorable and not your typical history read.
The complex situation facing the American troops as they try to stabilize the region is enlightening and at times absolutely frightening. The battle for the city of Fallujah is door to door, up close and personal. The fighting to gain control of a city controlled by the Mujahideen, the Islamist opponents of the U.S.-led coalition's occupation of Iraq, is fierce and not without casualties. How the Marines complete their mission to clear some 39,000 buildings with roughly 400,000 rooms, is an emotional read made possible by the author, who comes to know the men personally.
Throughout the book important facts come to light that people need to know if they are to understand the ongoing war against world terrorism. What the Marines encountered in Fallujah were foreign fighters from more than 18 different countries. In spite of being heavily out numbered, the Marines hold true to tradition and prevail. The book leaves no doubt that the Marines fighting in Iraq today are as capable as any in history.
Patrick O'Donnell has put his heart and soul into the writing of "We Were One". The end result is a masterpiece. The author has done a remarkable job preserving the experiences of those he served with. The telling of their stories gives us all a much better understanding of the on going war in Iraq. I highly recommend this book.
Great book!!.......2007-06-13
Fantastic book. Not only were these men heroes, but they were professionals. The author wrote the book very well.
Must read for all Americans.......2007-06-05
For the general public this lets you know what our troops are facing to help keep us free. For those who are thinking of joining the military this book gives you a glimpse into why we fight.
The author did a good job piecing together all of the understandably disjointed eye-witness accounts of combat into a story that can be followed be even those who have a very limited understanding of how the military works.
This story of Marines cuts across all branches and appeals to all of us who are or were in the military.
Marines in Fallujah.......2007-05-12
This is a great first hand accounting of the experiences of an embedded journalist with the marines in Fallujah. If you want the real deal, this is the one to read as the journalist was there. I've read others where the journalist uses after action reports as their primary source. Those are all fine, but if you want the feel of action like you were there. This is the one to get.
Book Description
In the tradition of Jon Krakauer’s
Into Thin Air and Sebastian Junger’s
The Perfect Storm comes a true tale of riveting adventure in which two weekend scuba divers risk everything to solve a great historical mystery–and make history themselves.
For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep wreck diving was more than a sport. Testing themselves against treacherous currents, braving depths that induced hallucinatory effects, navigating through wreckage as perilous as a minefield, they pushed themselves to their limits and beyond, brushing against death more than once in the rusting hulks of sunken ships.
But in the fall of 1991, not even these courageous divers were prepared for what they found 230 feet below the surface, in the frigid Atlantic waters sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey: a World War II German U-boat, its ruined interior a macabre wasteland of twisted metal, tangled wires, and human bones–all buried under decades of accumulated sediment.
No identifying marks were visible on the submarine or the few artifacts brought to the surface. No historian, expert, or government had a clue as to which U-boat the men had found. In fact, the official records all agreed that there simply could not be a sunken U-boat and crew at that location.
Over the next six years, an elite team of divers embarked on a quest to solve the mystery. Some of them would not live to see its end. Chatterton and Kohler, at first bitter rivals, would be drawn into a friendship that deepened to an almost mystical sense of brotherhood with each other and with the drowned U-boat sailors–former enemies of their country. As the men’s marriages frayed under the pressure of a shared obsession, their dives grew more daring, and each realized that he was hunting more than the identities of a lost U-boat and its nameless crew.
Author Robert Kurson’s account of this quest is at once thrilling and emotionally complex, and it is written with a vivid sense of what divers actually experience when they meet the dangers of the ocean’s underworld. The story of
Shadow Divers often seems too amazing to be true, but it all happened, two hundred thirty feet down, in the deep blue sea.
From the Hardcover edition.
Download Description
CHAPTER ONE
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
Brielle, New Jersey, September 1991
Bill Nagle's life changed the day a fisherman sat beside him in a ramshackle bar and told him about a mystery he had found lying at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Against his better judgment, that fisherman promised to tell Nagle how to find it. The men agreed to meet the next day on the rickety wooden pier that led to Nagle's boat, the Seeker, a vessel Nagle had built to chase possibility. But when the appointed time came, the fisherman was not there. Nagle paced back and forth, careful not to plunge through the pier where its wooden planks had rotted away. He had lived much of his life on the Atlantic, and he knew when worlds were about to shift. Usually, that happened before a storm or when a man's boat broke. Today, however, he knew it was going to happen when the fisherman handed him a scrap of paper, a hand-scrawled set of numbers that would lead to the sunken mystery. Nagle looked into the distance for the fisherman. He saw no one. The salt air blew against the small seashore town of Brielle, tilting the dockside boats and spraying the Atlantic into Nagle's eyes. When the mist died down he looked again. This time, he saw the fisherman approaching, a small square of paper crumpled in his hands. The fisherman looked worried. Like Nagle, he had lived on the ocean, and he also knew when a man's life was about to change.
In the whispers of approaching autumn, Brielle's rouge is blown away and what remains is the real Brielle, the locals' Brielle. This small seashore town on the central New Jersey coast is the place where the boat captains and fishermen live, where convenience store owners stay open to serve neighbors, where fifth graders can repair scallop dredges. This is where the hangers-on and wannabes and also-rans and once-greats keep believing in the sea. In Brielle, when the customers leave, the town's lines show, and they are the kind grooved by the thin dif
Customer Reviews:
You Feel Like You Are There.......2007-10-05
Others have gone into detail about this book, and it is true. This book combines a mystery worthy of a Sherlock Holmes novel with the details of technical diving and written in such a gripping manner that it could be a work of pop fiction (not in a negative way, just that it flows so well and put together so well that it could have been made up, if that makes sense.)
And the author does a great job of not leaving you "hanging" with an abrupt ending.
Highly recommended and has set the bar for other books in this genre.
J ohn Sutphen MD, ex navy diver /submarine medical officer .......2007-09-21
Tantallizing and heart pounding tale based on incredibly researched information about u boats and diving with an accurate, simple description of practical diving, diving medicine and physiology.
Compulsion to know the answer........2007-09-13
A fascinating saga about 2 deep sea divers and their 6 year odyssey to uncover the identity of a sunken German U boat. A captivating story, and you'll learn a lot about deep sea diving.
Deep Thrills.......2007-09-05
An absorbing account of the discovery and identification by veteran divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler of a sunken Nazi U-boat 100 miles off the coast of New Jersey. Kurson skillfully weaves together several threads into a very readable narrative, including the evolution of Chatterton and Kohler's rivalry-turned-friendship, the technical hazards of exploring a mangled wreck in 230 feet of water, and the duo's maddening, seven-year long ordeal to obtain positive evidence -- both on the wreck and in official but flawed US and German naval records -- of the boat's identity. As the tale draws to a close, Kurson also draws a moving portrait of the U-boat's crew, who went to sea in the final days of the war and knew that they likely would not return alive.
I started diving when the final pieces of this mystery were falling into place, and can remember following the story of New Jersey's mystery U-boat in the papers. However, none of those articles was anywhere as involving as Kurson's account, which I devoured in four days. Sure, there's some overheated prose here and there ("in a shipwreck, where every danger is first cousin to every other, a diver's desparation makes an open house of his bad situation."), but that's a minor strike against this otherwise excellent and comprehensive work.
Rare Intimate Journey To The Shadows.......2007-08-28
Sometimes the flaws make a thing so much more than perfection could ever achieve. The imperfections in this literary account of the exploration of a WWII submarine discovered in 1991 off the Coast of New Jersey are well documented. Those imperfections didn't bother me.
I was facinated by the detailed account of the personalities of the divers in "Shadow." Its easy to identify a future SCUBA diver - someone who is comfortable putting their face under water. Even better, because it will sometimes trump the 'face' test, is whether a person's curiosity is so intense that they are able to project their consciousness entirely onto something outside of themselves to the virtual exclusion of other thoughts. Divers want to investigate, explore, see something extraordinary, find out whats under that rock, go someplace very few people have been, find something unique, etc. The experience is so strong, you may forget to be worried about all the risks.
My enjoyment of "Shadow" was absolutely enhanced by my experience as a diver who is both Nitrox and advanced open water certified. I have never gone deeper than 110 ft - The U-boat 85, off of Nags Head, North Carolina, which is 20ft shallower than the recreational diving limit of 130 ft. So far, I've never wanted to see anything deeper, but I suspect I'll pass. Surface light begins to diminish rapidly. It usually gets alot colder.
At the depths routinely visitied by the divers in this book, 230 ft., nitrogen narcosis is an inevitability, and helium mixes carry their own risks. Water pressure increases to seven times what it is at the surface. Just when you need all your mental faculties and judgement, you can be assured they will be impared to an extent that cannot be anticipated from dive to dive. Even more frightening is that getting to the surface to resolve any problems that may arise (my mask came off once at 80 ft), must now include a life-saving decompression stop. When you head for the surface with less than 30 minutes of air for your stop, you're in trouble.
Diving can put you face to face with three realities that I don't sense as readily on land: 1.) the incredible spiritual beauty of the natural world, 2.) how alone we really are (I've never felt more alone than those very few times I've dived without a buddy), 3.) Death is always hiding within convenient reach.
The insatiable curiosity of the two lead characters, Chatterton and Kohler, also drives them above the water, as they travel to Europe to learn as much as they can about the submarine and its crew. There was no 'gold' involved, just an incredible mystery to solve.
"Shadow" was one of those books I read in one sitting (I missed dinner). I would compare it to Krakauer's works in power and drama, if not as well written. But again, in a way the rough nature of the text enhanced the story, as if I was sitting across the table from the author.
NOTE TO FELLOW DIVERS: After reading this book I have found my goal for my diving trips next summer - get my "Rescue Diver" certification.
NOTE TO THOSE PEOPLE trying to get young men (ages 9-15) into reading - I know of two young men who hated to read until they picked up this book. Not that they love reading now, but the 'no trespassing' sign is now down in front of the library.
Book Description
A chronological account of both sides of the fighting, resulting in an over-view of events in the air in World War I. The account deals not just with the deaths, but also with the missing, the wounded, the POWs, and with aces both great and small.
Book Description
The first English-language publication of one of the greatest Second World War memoirs — with a new preface by Norman Davies.
Born in Vienna in 1898, Karolina Lanckoronska was an aristocrat and art historian who taught at the University of Lwow. When the Soviets came to occupy the city, Lanckoronska became active in the Polish resistance. She was arrested in 1942, imprisoned and sentenced to death before being incarcerated, first in Stanislau then in Lwow and Berlin. She was finally placed in a concentration camp in Ravensbruck.
As a Countess, Lanckoranska was subjected to varying treatment, at times suffering near starvation, only to receive extra food and medical care at other times according to the often-conflicting concerns of the authorities in Berlin. With the intervention of some influential friends, the honourable actions of one Nazi, and efforts by the Swiss scholar Carl J. Burckhardt, she was eventually released.
Throughout her imprisonment, Lanckoronska remained defiantly resilient, loyal to Poland and committed to her fellow prisoners. Her magnetic personality and superb storytelling makes this a powerful narrative and sustains our interest through harrowing reading. Hers is an extraordinary story of courage and will.
Customer Reviews:
It's a Great Read & a History Lesson.......2006-07-11
This well written book is a cliff-hanger, a tear jerker and the most frightening lesson in the behavior of supposedly civilized races.
It should be mandatory reading for all schools and universities in the free world. The bestial atrocities detailed in its pages need to be shown the light of day so that public conscience ensures that they never be repeated.
The author's incredible faith and determination shine through, as does the spirit of the Polish people.
This first hand account may be the most comprehensive and detailed ever written.
Average customer rating:
- Painfully True
- Gripping story from a Holocaust survivor
- Tell No One Who you Are
- Great Book, Full of Drama and You Can't Put It Down!
- Escaping The Clutches Of Hitler
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Tell No One Who You Are: The Hidden Childhood of Regine Miller
Walter Buchignani , and
Regine Miller
Manufacturer: Tundra Books
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Similar Items:
-
Things We Couldn't Say
-
In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer
ASIN: 0887763030
Release Date: 1996-03-02 |
Book Description
During the days of Nazi terror in Europe, many Jewish children were taken from their families and hidden. Régine Miller was one such child, who left her mother, father, and brother when she was 10 years old. Utterly alone as she is shunted from place to place, told to tell no one she is Jewish, she hears that her mother and brother have been taken by the SS, the German secret police. Only her desperate hope that her father will return sustains her. At war’s end she must learn to live with the terrible truth of “the final solution,” the Nazi’s extermination camps.
The people who sheltered Régine cover a wide spectrum of human types, ranging from callous to kind, fearful to defiant, exploitive to caring. This is a story of a brave girl and an equally brave woman to tell the story so many years later.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Painfully True.......2005-10-18
Regine Millers journey in the second world war, is anything but unrealistic. Losing her brother, then her mother. Her hope for her father is something so powerful, that only people who really connect with this book, feel. Surviving a tragic time, Regine, or known as Augusta for her safety, is an inspirational character. For people of all ages, this book is painfully true and pulls on the heart strings of all types of people. Im 17, and i connected with this book, as if i was living her journey. Well deserved 5 star book!
Gripping story from a Holocaust survivor.......2005-01-05
This book is interesting and well told.
Regine Miller, a Jew, is 10 years old when she is moved from her home in Brussels, Belgian, and taken to live in an old woman's home in the near country side to run away from the possibility of being captured by Nazis. This home that Regine goes to live in is loveless, but relatively safe. Despite being safe, Regine moves once again to another home that is also loveless. This story follows Regine through her life during The War and all the homes she is moved in and out of.
This is an easy-to-read book and simply told. Easy to understand and the story is interesting. Even though it is not one of my favorite books, it is certainly worth reading for all history buffs.
~Atalanta
Tell No One Who you Are.......2004-12-15
This book is sad, but it is also educating. Regine Miller's family is attacked by the Natzis because they are Jewish and the Natzis don't like Jews so they procecute them. Regine has to go from house to house and pretend she is not Jewish. I would reccomend this book to mostly girls although boys might find it interesting.
Great Book, Full of Drama and You Can't Put It Down!.......2004-10-16
I HIGHLY recomend this to anyone. It is full of drama, but not to much. Will Regine find her parents? What happened to her Mother? Will she survive in the war? Will the Germans get her? Well, you'll have to find out for yourself, now wo'nt you! Have a great time reading it!
Escaping The Clutches Of Hitler.......2002-06-07
Escaping The Clutches Of Hitler,
I liked this book because I enjoy reading about the Holocaust and I always about people who went through the Holocaust. This book is about is different because it is about a girl that hid the whole entire time.
Her name is Regine Miller and she went threw a series of different houses and all different types of them. Regine Miller was born in Brussels to parents who had escaped the anti-Semitism of Eastern Europe. She was 10 years old in 1942. She didn't understand why the Jews were being restricted from bike, certain hours of the day, and the yellow star they had to wear. In the mean time her mom, Mrs. Miller was getting sicker and they, at the time, didn't know what from. Regine was one of the best writers in the grade. She loved to write. As the war progressed her father, Maurice Miller, heard that the Nazis were deporting Jews but he would not leave his wife, since she could barely walk. One day a nock came from the door. Mr. Miller went to answer it and there was a messenger there and he had a message that read that his son, Leon Miller, was to report to the rail road station Mr. Miller ignored the notice and shoved the messenger down the stairs the next day the same messenger came again and again it said he had to report to the rail road station but this time it also said if he didn't the Nazis would take and kill there whole entire family. So they decided to that they had to make him go. They never saw him again.
Her father at that point decided that it was not safe here for Regine. So he arranged for her to go and live with some one in Brussels. Her name was Madame Andre, she did not let Regine do anything she could not go out side nor talk to any one her father came once every three weeks. Her father suddenly stopped coming then her aunt came to drop off the money then a girl named Nicole started coming. Regine lived there for about one year and about a month before she left Madame Andre got extremely worried that she would become caught so she arranged with a lady called Nicole to move Regine.
She went to a new family just about 30 miles away there she was made to work and she ended up with calluses and injured hands. When Nicole found out she immediately moved Regine to a different home.
This new house she stayed with a couple that did not have any kids and they were Catholic!!!!!!!!!! This is a problem she is Jewish and they are Catholic how is she not to let them know she is not Jewish. Regine had no idea how she was going to pull this off. She tried to copy every thing they did they were a nice couple that treated Regine like their own. Regine did not know anything about being catholic. They asked her many questions like are you baptized? , Where are your parents? They finally realized she was Jewish but did not mention it and kept her there at their home and did seem to care.
Finally Regine went and looked for any survivors of her family and found only her uncle she has only seen once in her entire life.
Average customer rating:
- Jews and Poles in WWII: A Refutation of Many Polonophobic Attacks That Still Get Repeated
|
He Who Saves One Life
Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki
Manufacturer: Crown Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0517507250 |
Customer Reviews:
Jews and Poles in WWII: A Refutation of Many Polonophobic Attacks That Still Get Repeated.......2007-02-23
Although this book was published decades ago, its information is timely because the same tired accusations against Poles, answered in this book, keep being repeated to this day. For instance, Reuben Ainsztein accused Poles of collaborating with Germans in the extermination of Jews. (At present, Jan Thomas Gross (Jan Tomasz Gross) is the most recent "incarnation" of Ainsztein). Polish Jews such as Lucian Blit, Michal Borwicz, Mieczyslaw Jastrun, and Joseph Lichten refute Ainsztein's attacks (pp. 290-292). While not overlooking the alienation of Jews from prewar Polish society and certain negative personal experiences with Poles, they all strongly repudiate any notion that most Poles were hostile to Jews, much less that Poles collaborated with Germans to any significant extent. They also point to the fact that Poles were also victims of the Nazis.
Accusations against Poles even lead to legal fireworks. Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, the leader of the AK and the foredoomed Warsaw Uprising, was accused of being an anti-Semite. He sued and won. The MANCHESTER GUARDIAN published a communiqué on March 26, 1959 in which it apologized to Bor-Komorowski, repudiated this libel, and agreed to pay his legal costs (pp. 292-293).
Iranek-Osmecki begins his analysis of Jewish-Polish history in the 19th century. In Austrian-ruled Poland, Jews in business were given preferential treatment over the Poles in an obvious divide-and-conquer strategy (p. 7). In Russian-ruled Poland, large numbers of Jews were forcibly settled in the Pale of Settlement in the late 19th century. Large numbers of Russian-speaking Jews, the Litvaks, settled into Polish areas: "The new arrivals were hostile to Poland, and their antagonism strained the relations between the Polish and Jewish communities for years to come." (p. 10).
It is striking that, during the Nazi German rule over Poland, much of the west's Jewish press spent more time attacking Poland and the Polish army in exile than the Nazis and their treatment of the Jews! (pp. 182-184, 195-196).
The statements of Shmul Zygielbojm, a Jewish member of the Polish Government-in-exile in London, are recorded. In September 1942, in reference to German-occupied Poland, Zygielbojm spoke of "...crimes so monstrous, in the face of which the worst barbaric acts of the past ages appear mere trivialities" (p. 190). Embittered by the lack of action of the Allies in forestalling the extermination of the Jews, Zygielbojm committed suicide in May 1943. In his last written statement, he simultaneously praised the Polish Government-in-exile for publicizing Jewish deaths and condemned it for doing nothing extraordinary in this regard (p. 216). It is unclear what Zygielbojm had in mind. He probably had a greatly exaggerated sense of its geopolitical power. After all, it soon proved powerless in preventing the western Allies' betrayal of Poland, the giveaway of Poland's eastern half, and the imposition of the Soviet puppet state. And, since the Polish Government-in-exile could not prevent the murder of 2-3 million Polish gentiles by the Germans, how could it possibly have prevented the murder of 3 million Polish Jews by the same?
The Polish Underground gave more military assistance to the armed Jewish Underground than is commonly realized (pp. 151-168). At the time of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Polish Underground had very few arms to spare (pp. 156-158). In fact, in early 1943, the AK had so few weapons that it could not even conduct effective diversionary activities, let alone uprisings (p. 156).
Iranek-Osmecki devotes some attention to the Jewish members of the AK (pp. 110-115). This adds to the refutation to the scurrilous claims of Yaffa Eliach, who accused the mainstream Polish Underground (AK) of concocting and then implementing some sort of secret plan to kill-off Poland's remaining Jews. There was one unit that did kill fugitive Jews. Leon Szymbierski "Orzel" was court-martialed and executed for this crime by the Polish Underground in June 1944 (p. 262).
The author also examines other situations where Poles killed Jews who were evading the Nazis. As a consequence of the brutality of German rule, banditry was rampant in the countryside of German-occupied Poland, and the Germans did nothing to stamp it out. At times, fugitive Jews became victims of these bandits. Other fugitive Jews joined pre-existing Polish bandit bands or created bandit bands of their own (p. 61). The AK liquidated such bands whenever possible, regardless of their ethno-religious composition (pp. 259-261).
Periodically, the Polish Underground is faulted for not fighting the szmalcowniki (blackmailers) more energetically. Such criticism is misplaced: "When a blackmailer learned that he was being investigated he could place himself under German protection or betray the identity of the agents working on the case...After they were sentenced, blackmailers often moved, disappeared, or changed their names to escape execution. Implementation of sentences, therefore, often had to be delayed or abandoned." (p. 259).
A unique feature of this book is its analysis of the Polish ultranationalist O. N. R. (ONR)(pp. 245-250). Pointing to such things as the past history of the German-Jewish symbiosis at Poland's expense, and the recent widespread Jewish-Soviet collaboration (the Zydokomuna), it saw the Jews as Poland's enemies no less than the Germans and the Soviets. For this reason, the ONR opposed Polish aid to Jews, and recommended that all remaining Polish Jews be forced to emigrate after the war. However, the ONR and similar groups had only a small following among Poles and still less in the Polish Government-in-exile.
Soon after the German conquest of Poland, an organization of Polish barristers rejected a German-sponsored drive to have it disbar its Jewish members (p. 120). Otherwise, any open protest by a Pole against the way that the Germans were treating the Jews was a good way to get shot on the spot (p. 268).
Iranek-Osmecki provides detailed examples of Polish assistance to Jews. Zegota is discussed, including its activities in Warsaw, Krakow, and Lwow (pp. 146-147). Numerous testimonies are given of Poles who rescued Jews and of Poles who were murdered by the Germans for rendering such assistance.
Customer Reviews:
Jews and Poles in WWII: A Refutation of Many Polonophobic Attacks That Still Get Repeated.......2007-02-23
Although this book was published decades ago, its information is timely because the same tired accusations against Poles, answered in this book, keep being repeated to this day. For instance, Reuben Ainsztein accused Poles of collaborating with Germans in the extermination of Jews. (At present, Jan Thomas Gross (Jan Tomasz Gross) is the most recent "incarnation" of Ainsztein). Polish Jews such as Lucian Blit, Michal Borwicz, Mieczyslaw Jastrun, and Joseph Lichten refute Ainsztein's attacks (pp. 290-292). While not overlooking the alienation of Jews from prewar Polish society and certain negative personal experiences with Poles, they all strongly repudiate any notion that most Poles were hostile to Jews, much less that Poles collaborated with Germans to any significant extent. They also point to the fact that Poles were also victims of the Nazis.
Accusations against Poles even lead to legal fireworks. Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, the leader of the AK and the foredoomed Warsaw Uprising, was accused of being an anti-Semite. He sued and won. The MANCHESTER GUARDIAN published a communiqué on March 26, 1959 in which it apologized to Bor-Komorowski, repudiated this libel, and agreed to pay his legal costs (pp. 292-293).
Iranek-Osmecki begins his analysis of Jewish-Polish history in the 19th century. In Austrian-ruled Poland, Jews in business were given preferential treatment over the Poles in an obvious divide-and-conquer strategy (p. 7). In Russian-ruled Poland, large numbers of Jews were forcibly settled in the Pale of Settlement in the late 19th century. Large numbers of Russian-speaking Jews, the Litvaks, settled into Polish areas: "The new arrivals were hostile to Poland, and their antagonism strained the relations between the Polish and Jewish communities for years to come." (p. 10).
It is striking that, during the Nazi German rule over Poland, much of the west's Jewish press spent more time attacking Poland and the Polish army in exile than the Nazis and their treatment of the Jews! (pp. 182-184, 195-196).
The statements of Shmul Zygielbojm, a Jewish member of the Polish Government-in-exile in London, are recorded. In September 1942, in reference to German-occupied Poland, Zygielbojm spoke of "...crimes so monstrous, in the face of which the worst barbaric acts of the past ages appear mere trivialities" (p. 190). Embittered by the lack of action of the Allies in forestalling the extermination of the Jews, Zygielbojm committed suicide in May 1943. In his last written statement, he simultaneously praised the Polish Government-in-exile for publicizing Jewish deaths and condemned it for doing nothing extraordinary in this regard (p. 216). It is unclear what Zygielbojm had in mind. He probably had a greatly exaggerated sense of its geopolitical power. After all, it soon proved powerless in preventing the western Allies' betrayal of Poland, the giveaway of Poland's eastern half, and the imposition of the Soviet puppet state. And, since the Polish Government-in-exile could not prevent the murder of 2-3 million Polish gentiles by the Germans, how could it possibly have prevented the murder of 3 million Polish Jews by the same?
The Polish Underground gave more military assistance to the armed Jewish Underground than is commonly realized (pp. 151-168). At the time of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Polish Underground had very few arms to spare (pp. 156-158). In fact, in early 1943, the AK had so few weapons that it could not even conduct effective diversionary activities, let alone uprisings (p. 156).
Iranek-Osmecki devotes some attention to the Jewish members of the AK (pp. 110-115). This adds to the refutation to the scurrilous claims of Yaffa Eliach, who accused the mainstream Polish Underground (AK) of concocting and then implementing some sort of secret plan to kill-off Poland's remaining Jews. There was one unit that did kill fugitive Jews. Leon Szymbierski "Orzel" was court-martialed and executed for this crime by the Polish Underground in June 1944 (p. 262).
The author also examines other situations where Poles killed Jews who were evading the Nazis. As a consequence of the brutality of German rule, banditry was rampant in the countryside of German-occupied Poland, and the Germans did nothing to stamp it out. At times, fugitive Jews became victims of these bandits. Other fugitive Jews joined pre-existing Polish bandit bands or created bandit bands of their own (p. 61). The AK liquidated such bands whenever possible, regardless of their ethno-religious composition (pp. 259-261).
Periodically, the Polish Underground is faulted for not fighting the szmalcowniki (blackmailers) more energetically. Such criticism is misplaced: "When a blackmailer learned that he was being investigated he could place himself under German protection or betray the identity of the agents working on the case...After they were sentenced, blackmailers often moved, disappeared, or changed their names to escape execution. Implementation of sentences, therefore, often had to be delayed or abandoned." (p. 259).
A unique feature of this book is its analysis of the Polish ultranationalist O. N. R. (ONR)(pp. 245-250). Pointing to such things as the past history of the German-Jewish symbiosis at Poland's expense, and the recent widespread Jewish-Soviet collaboration (the Zydokomuna), it saw the Jews as Poland's enemies no less than the Germans and the Soviets. For this reason, the ONR opposed Polish aid to Jews, and recommended that all remaining Polish Jews be forced to emigrate after the war. However, the ONR and similar groups had only a small following among Poles and still less in the Polish Government-in-exile.
Soon after the German conquest of Poland, an organization of Polish barristers rejected a German-sponsored drive to have it disbar its Jewish members (p. 120). Otherwise, any open protest by a Pole against the way that the Germans were treating the Jews was a good way to get shot on the spot (p. 268).
Iranek-Osmecki provides detailed examples of Polish assistance to Jews. Zegota is discussed, including its activities in Warsaw, Krakow, and Lwow (pp. 146-147). Numerous testimonies are given of Poles who rescued Jews and of Poles who were murdered by the Germans for rendering such assistance.
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