BOOK REVIEW

The Warsaw Ghetto, A Christian's testimony by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski

The Warsaw Ghetto, A Christian's testimony by Wladyslaw Bartoszewski

Introduction

This paper presents the review of a book called, '', which is written in context of Warsaw Ghetto. The Warsaw ghetto was an enclosed area within the German-occupied city of Warsaw, Poland, that the Jewish population was forced to inhabit during World War II. It existed as “living quarters” from November 16, 1940, through July 22, 1942, after which it became the location from which 75 percent of the ghetto population were driven from their homes and transported to the Treblinka death camp.

The purpose of establishing the ghetto was to hold the inhabitants in a state of immobility that enabled supervision and facilitated both effective exploitation of slave labor and easy deportation to death camps. The area served as a prison not only for the Jews of Warsaw but also for all Jews sent there from outside the city limits, from both rural and urban areas of Poland. Jewish refugees from Austria, Germany, and other parts of Europe were also transported to the ghetto (Bartoszewski, 1988).

Discussion

The Warsaw ghetto is significant in a community context in that it is representative of a minority population that unified against all odds and under intolerable circumstances in order to resist a military force whose objective was to wipe them out. Physically and spiritually weakened by starvation, beatings, random killings, and public humiliation, many ghetto inhabitants developed a high level of community activism, because it was fundamental to their daily survival and ultimate escape. Collective, organized planning made it possible for many people to successfully resist mass deportation by sustaining a five-month armed revolt against the Nazis.

This book draws upon personal recollection, archival material, and other works unavailable in English, in this moving account of the forgotten aspect of Holocaust history (Levi, 1975).

As Wladyslaw Bartoszewski notes, this little book on 'Jewish-Christian communities' of Warsaw ghetto is the 'micro-history' —'the small part of far larger tragedy of Warsaw ghetto and of entire Shoah.' But it is only through such small parts that we can begin to grasp evil of whole. Some of Jewish Christians in Warsaw ghetto were recent converts; others were descended from ancestors who had become Christian generations before. All were Jewish under Nazi law. Professor Wladyslaw Bartoszewski's account of how Jewish Christians perceived themselves, and how they were perceived by others will be of interest, not only to students of Shoah, but to all who are interested in law, religion, culture, and construction of identity. ! Indeed, this is the book for anyone who appreciates complexity of human condition and resourcefulness of human spirit.

As we each sit in our little world each day perhaps having pity on ourselves. This book should be the guideline to keep us from self-pity (Botwinick, 2000). The author fairly reports from diaries gathered throughout Holocaust Horror. He does not only blame Nazi Germans but Jewish Police. This is the bold, honest reflection into eyes of children, adolescents, parents, as ...