Polish Center for Holocaust Research

The Polish Center for Holocaust Research (Polish: Centrum Badań nad Zagładą Żydów) is an academic and research center at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland.

History

Created in 2003, the Center is an interdisciplinary research facility devoted to study of the Holocaust in historical perspective. The Center gathers psychologists, sociologists, literary historians, cultural anthropologists, and other scholars in order to provide knowledge on the nature, scope, and effects of the Jewish tragedy.

The Center coordinates research and educational projects, grants, seminars, conferences, and workshops, and publishes books and papers by Polish scholars as well as translations of works in other languages. Since 2005, the Center has published an academic journal, Holocaust Studies and Materials.

In order to support and expand the Center's activities, in 2007 the Association of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research was created.

In 2018, Jakub Petelewicz, speaking as academic secretary of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research, expressed concern that a 2018 Polish law criminalizing discussion of negative Polish actions in the Holocaust may hinder the work of Poland-based academics and institutions. While the law contains an exemption for academic and artistic work, he said the lack of definitions could lead to confusion. For instance, he expressed concern that presenting materials to schools and discussing findings publicly might be prevented. Another concern he raised was the possibility of being sued personally or as an institution by right-wing groups under provisions of the law allowing for lawsuits to defend "the good name of the Polish nation." Petelwicz described the overall effect of the law as pressuring academics to play down negative actions by Poles and emphasize suffering by Poles.[1]

In 2018 the Center released a Polish-language study on The Fate of Jews in Selected Counties of Occupied Poland (Polish title: Dalej jest noc, Night Goes On), co-edited by Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking, and co-authored with 7 other Center members. The 1,600-page, two-volume study covers 9 counties of Poland. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency wrote that the study estimates that over half a million Jewish Holocaust victims died as a result of the actions of non-Jewish Poles. The study identified small Polish towns as particularly dangerous, or "death traps", for Jews in hiding.[2] However, the book made different estimates than what the Jewish Telegraphic Agency claimed. According to the book co-edited by Grabowski and Engelking, ten percent of Jews in the General Government sought shelter among the Polish population, two-thirds of whom died, usually with Polish participation.[3]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ David Matthews (February 21, 2018). "Historians fear 'censorship' under Poland's Holocaust law". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  2. ↑ Study says Polish neighbors betrayed many more Jews than previously thought, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 11 May 2018.
  3. ↑ „Dalej jest noc”. Dwóch na trzech Żydów szukających ratunku zginęło z rąk Polaków, lub przy ich współudziale, Oko.press, Adam Leszczyński, 8 Feb 2018
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