Reflection on "Neighbors" by Jan Gross

Why was the publication of this book so controversial in Poland?
 Despite bringing attention to modern Polish audiences on the Jebwande incident, it also raised serious questions as to whether or not Gross' references were relevant to his points. Several of the testimonies that the book was based on, were claimed to be inaccurate as they came from pre-trial beatings. It was said to have no scholarly basis and did not deserve the hype as there had been other books similar over the fifty years since the incident.
The other half claimed this book was extremely important, and needed to be written. It brought attention to stereotypes and addressed them. It also made aware of the fact that the Polish were not innocent in this event. The book was interpreted in two ways; it was taken as a serious fact, and then criticized for being overtly inaccurate, or it was a blessing and much needed eye opener for coming to terms with community guilt and responsibility.

A Film Unfinished

There are so many written accounts of the Holocaust, both first hand and second. There are pictures that have been found and preserved, and verbal recounts. But in my own personal opinion, nothing is quite as jarring as actually watching video footage of these people being forced through such a horrifying period of time. We see them move, talk, make facial expressions just like any one today, but we know those are not actors. And that's the part that makes my stomach drop.
This film is beyond anything I've ever watched pertaining the Holocaust. It's a mixture of historical footage, and the reaction of survivors watching it.

A Pictorial Representation

There are so many pictures to choose from; each more disturbing than the next. I was tempted to pick one that showed the starving prisoners, with their rib cages jutting out and their eyes completely sunken in to their faces. But then I remembered the time I visited the Richmond Holocaust Museum, and we went through a mini replica of a gas chamber. The concrete walls had been indented with finger scratches. Out of all the things I saw at the museum, that is what hit me the hardest. It's disturbing and violent, and it is such a metaphorical representation of the Holocaust as a whole. Soft human fingernails tore against the solid concrete and left these huge gashes.

-Picture is from an Auschwitz Gas Chamber