Jewish Passivity Jews Unguarded Gray

For Those I Loved, by Martin Gray. 2006

Jewish Collaboration With the Nazis. Jewish Passivity (Germans Didn’t Even Have to Guard Jews). Holocaust Long Disbelieved by Jews

Some seldom-discussed information is included. For example:

JEWISH NAZI COLLABORATION

While in the Warsaw Ghetto, the Germans attempted to make Gray a Jewish informer (p. 96). It is unclear if he actually provided useful information to the Germans.

Then the “resettlement” of Warsaw’s Jews to Treblinka began: “Jewish policemen with raised clubs yelling orders: they needed six thousand heads that evening.” (p. 101). Those Jews who attempted to hide in their homes were often betrayed by their neighbors or relatives in the Ghetto (p. 103). Gray reports what happened after the Jews in an area had been cleared out: “Afterwards, Ukrainian, Latvian, and Lithuanian SS men and the Jewish police searched the buildings, looting, killing anyone they caught there. They smashed the furniture, wrecked the beds and broke through the walls: they looked for hideouts where families had taken refuge, for gold and jewels.” (p. 109).

Gray also describes scenes around the death trains being loaded with human cargo: “I followed them to the hospital to find out. The cattle cars were there, lined up at the platforms, policemen yelling. I recognized the mighty Szmerling, whip held high dashing from the herd to report to the SS. Yet he was a Jew. Like them. Like me. They were shoved into the cars, separated, and if anyone shouted, protested or struggled, they got a blow from an iron bar, or a bullet.” (p. 102).

JEWISH PASSIVITY: THE GERMANS DID NOT EVEN HAVE TO GUARD THE JEWS

In time, it became Gray’s turn. But after escaping from Treblinka by stowing away on a departing supply train, he experienced a Jewish Germanophilia of sorts. Near Zambrow, Gray encountered a Jewish work gang with no German guards anywhere near, because “the Germans trust us.” (p. 162). They scoffed at the notion of Treblinka.

Clearly, in common with many other places, the Jews near Zambrow were slow to accept the reality of the German-made Holocaust. Yet nowadays, Poles are exclusively blamed for “not doing enough” to warn the Jews.

BANDITRY THAT COULD PROVOKE POLISH COUNTERMEASURES

Polish peasants sometimes denounced or killed Jews known or suspected of thievery. Gray sometimes sought Polish help, while at other times he simply stole from Poles during his treks in the countryside (e. g., p. 158, 183, 184).

POLISH COLLABORATION ENCOURAGED BY ALCOHOL

There is an account of an alcoholic Polish man who betrayed several Jews (pp. 233-234). The reader may not realize that the Germans encouraged alcoholism among Poles, both to degrade them and also to exploit this dependency as leverage for such collaborative acts as betraying Jews.

TURNCOAT AUTHOR SERVES THE SOVIETS AGAINST THE POLES

Gray’s experiences shed light on Jewish-Communist collaboration (Zydokomuna), a major factor antagonizing Poles against Jews during and after the war. He at first has positive remarks about the AK (p. 187) before lapsing into standard, mostly unsubstantiated, accusations of the AK and NSZ denouncing and killing fugitive Jews. He joins the Communist GL-AL bands, and includes a photo of himself and Mieczyslaw Moczar in the book. Moczar sends him on a mission to spy on the NSZ, from which he narrowly escapes with his life (pp. 224-226). Later, after the arrival of the Soviet occupants, the NKVD also uses him for espionage: “Do your best, find us the NSZ, the informers, the denouncers, the collaborators, the people who don’t like us.” (p. 233)