Anna Bikont – författare

Sommaren 1941 utsattes polska judar for hemska övergrepp i sina hembyar över hela Polen. Allra vaärst drabbades den judiska befolkningen i Jedwabne där minst 340 judar en fjärdedel av byns invånare antingen slogs ihjäl eller brändes inne av sina grannar. I flera decennier sade man att det var den tyska ockupationsmakten som dödat judarna, tills sanningen uppdagades runt millennieskiftet. Anna Bikont har skrivit en djupt personlig reportagebok om massakern på Jedwabnes judar. I boken, som delvis är skriven i dagboksform, söker hon efter sanningen om vad som hände och vad det haft för konsekvenser för de kvarlevande. Hon har talat med judar som överlevde, dömda mördare som ännu förnekar sin inblandning, och med vittnen. Men hon har också pratat med nästa generation, de som fått leva med brottet: barnen till offren och barnen till mördarna. De som alltid vetat vad som hänt och de som i vuxen ålder tvingats förstå att deras fäder är mördare. Vi fran Jedwabne är ett journalistiskt storverk som hyllats av bland andra Ryszard Kapuscinski, det polska reportagets store mästare. Boken är en berättelse om ett fruktansvärt brott, men också om vad som händer i ett samhälle som konfronteras med ett mörkt förflutet. "En av de mest rysliga böcker jag någonsin har läst." Julian Barnes

This volume considers the uses and misuses of the memory of assistance given to Jews during the Holocaust, deliberated in local, national, and transnational contexts. History of this aid has drawn the attention of scholars and the general public alike. Stories of heroic citizens who hid and rescued Jewish men, women, and children have been adapted into books, films, plays, public commemorations, and museum exhibitions. Yet, emphasis on the uplifting narratives often obscures the history of violence and complicity with Nazi policies of persecution and mass murder. Each of the ten essays in this interdisciplinary collection is dedicated to a different country: Belarus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The case studies provide new insights into what has emerged as one of the most prominent and visible trends in recent Holocaust memory and memory politics. While many of the essays focus on recent developments, they also shed light on the evolution of this phenomenon since 1945.

This volume considers the uses and misuses of the memory of assistance given to Jews during the Holocaust, deliberated in local, national, and transnational contexts. History of this aid has drawn the attention of scholars and the general public alike. Stories of heroic citizens who hid and rescued Jewish men, women, and children have been adapted into books, films, plays, public commemorations, and museum exhibitions. Yet, emphasis on the uplifting narratives often obscures the history of violence and complicity with Nazi policies of persecution and mass murder. Each of the ten essays in this interdisciplinary collection is dedicated to a different country: Belarus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The case studies provide new insights into what has emerged as one of the most prominent and visible trends in recent Holocaust memory and memory politics. While many of the essays focus on recent developments, they also shed light on the evolution of this phenomenon since 1945.

Winner of the European Book Prize'A masterpiece' Jan T. Gross'Terrifying and necessary' Julian Barnes'Scrupulously objective and profoundly personal' Kate AtkinsonOn 10 July 1941 a horrifying crime was committed in the small Polish town of Jedwadbne. Early in the afternoon, the town’s Jewish population – hundreds of men, women and children – were ordered out of their homes, and marched into the town square. By the end of the day most would be dead. It was a massacre on a shocking scale, and one that was widely condemned. But only a few people were brought to justice for their part in the atrocity. The truth of what actually happened on that day was to be suppressed for more than sixty years. Part history, part memoir, part investigation, The Crime and the Silence is an award-winning journalist's account of the events of that day: both the story of a massacre told through oral histories of survivors and witnesses, and a portrait of a Polish town coming to terms with its dark past.