Betrayals Jews By Poles AND By Jews Natan Gross

Who are you Mr. Grymek?, by Natan Gross, William R. Brand. 2001

On Polish Blackmailers (Szmalcowniki) of Jews. Some Semitic-Looking Fugitive Jews Lived Openly Without Threat of Denunciation

This autobiographically-centered book focuses on the experiences of Grymek, the false gentile name of Natan Gross, a fugitive Jew in German-occupied Poland. Grymek begins with a detailed account of the flourishing Jewish community of prewar Krakow (Cracow), and mentions such cultural treasures as the Hejnal. He then moves on to Warsaw.

LAUDATORY TREATMENT OF POLISH RESCUERS OF JEWS

Grymek repeatedly credits Poles with helping him (p. 136, 156, 160, 171). He generalizes as follows: “I can say with a clear conscience that I met no finer people in Warsaw, and few anywhere who were equally decent. (p. 192)…Warsaw tram drivers showed great patriotism, devotion to the resistance movement, and loyalty to Jews who were in hiding.” (p. 206).

NOT TRUE THAT POLES READILY INCURRED THE DEATH PENALTY FOR UNDERGROUND ACTIVITY BUT NOT FOR HELPING JEWS

Grymek gives examples of Poles being deterred by the German-imposed death penalty for helping Jews (p. 67). But Poles also were reluctant to rent apartments to young Polish men because they may be in the resistance movement (p. 237). This contradicts the likes of Jan T. Gross and Michael Steinlauf, who had argued that neighbors would invariably support each other in resistance activities but not invariably in the hiding of Jews.

MARGINAL ELEMENTS OF POLISH SOCIETY MOCKED JEWS

In discussing the negative aspects of Polish-Jewish relations, Grymek avoids gratuitous Polonophobic generalizations. Throughout this book, Grymek recognizes negative Polish attitudes and actions against Jews as manifestations of the lowest levels of society. For example, while being forced to wear the Jewish star, he asked: “But why was I mocked by the rejects of Polish society, the dregs, the scum? Hadn’t the Germans showed them who was boss? Apparently not. However, the more intelligent part of the population and the more enlightened workers—simple, decent people—offered their solidarity, dread, and sympathy (even if they did so in a passive way).” (p. 130).

MARGINAL ELEMENTS OF POLISH SOCIETY DENOUNCED JEWS

In common with many Polish authors, Grymek refers to the szmalcowniki (blackmailers) as gangsters (p. 236), thugs (p. 215, 231, 235), and hoodlums (p. 212, 228, 287, and many others). He characterizes Polish collaborators themselves as follows: “The lowest spheres, the dregs of society, have been infected with it [anti-Semitism], and their hatred is even worse than before the war. I am talking about those who serve the Germans, and who profit by doing so.” (p. 291).

EXTORTIONISTS OF JEWS COULD ALSO BE THEIR BENEFACTORS

When actually blackmailed, Grymek managed to talk his way out the situations. In the first instance, the szmalcowniki settled for a partial bribe (p. 194). In both instances, the szmalcowniki actually gave advice on how better to avoid recognition as Jews in the future! (p. 194, 217-218). This tends to support Gunnar Paulsson who, in his SECRET CITY, demonstrated that most szmalcowniki were simply petty extortionists who did not actually betray Jews to the Germans. In addition, Grymek and his fellow fugitive Jews were often accosted by the same blackmailers on successive, independent occasions. (p. 249, and p. 217 vs. p. 231). This tends to support the premise that blackmailers were not numerous, and only seemed much more common than they really were.

FUGITIVE JEWS THAT DID NOT EXPERIENCE THREATS OF DENUNCIATION

Far from all fugitive Jews, however, were subject to blackmail, at least for long periods of time, as is obvious from the following: “Experienced ‘paper Aryans’ regarded it as unsafe to live at the same address for more than three months, even if there was no apparent danger.” (p. 232). As for street encounters, personal attitude was a more important factor than the degree of Semitic appearance: “People were afraid to rent her [Nina] a room because they took her for a Jew. It was typical, however, that she was never bothered by extortionists despite spending whole days running around the city with underground literature. If you did not feel yourself to be a Jew, then no one would try to blackmail you, no matter how ‘bad’ you looked.” (p. 251).

Finally, a Jew could be an informant as well as a Pole. No wonder fugitive Jews were sometimes afraid even when recognized by other fugitive Jews (p. 246).

BAD POLES AND BAD JEWS

Grymek is candid about the criminal behaviors of both Jews and Poles. His own father was robbed of some valuable gold coins by a pickpocket, right in the Lwow (Lviv, Lvov) Reform synagogue, during a religious service (p. 151). And, as the Germans were hastily retreating from Warsaw, and just before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, there was a breakdown of discipline and a spell of lawlessness. People looted shops (p. 292). Now, had the shops looted by Poles been owned by Jews, no doubt this criminal event would have gone down in history as a pogrom!

BAD-MOUTHING THE NSZ

Grymek believes that, to the NSZ, all Jews were Communists (p. 320). I have known several former members of the NSZ, and found this to be manifestly incorrect. Perhaps revealingly, Grymek uses an Orwellian euphemism for the newly-imposed Soviet puppet state (“new order”, p. 319).