Jan T. Gross
Encyclopedia
Jan Tomasz Gross is a Polish-American historian and sociologist. He is the Norman B. Tomlinson '16 and '48 Professor of War and Society and Professor of History at Princeton University
.
, Poland
, in 1947 to Hanna Szumańska, a Polish mother, who was a member of the Polish resistance (Armia Krajowa
) and Zygmunt Gross, a Polish-Jewish father who was a PPS
member. His mother, risking her own life
, helped his father to survive the German Nazi occupation of Poland. They married after the war. Jan Tomasz Gross studied physics at the Warsaw University.
He was among the young dissidents called Komandosi, and consequently among the university students involved in the protest movement known as the "March Events," the Polish student and intellectual protests of 1968. Gross was expelled from the university, arrested and jailed for five months. As a consequence, and because the Polish government permitted the emigration of "people of Jewish origin" at that time, he emigrated with his parents to the United States
in 1969. In 1975 he earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Yale University
, and has taught at Yale, NYU, and Paris. He acquired U.S. citizenship and currently teaches history at Princeton University
.
Gross was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 1996, an award granted to foreigners for their exceptional role in cooperation between Poland and other nations. He was also a Senior Fulbright
Research, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
, and Rockefeller
Humanities Fellow.
, which examined a massacre of the Polish Jews in Jedwabne
village in Nazi-occupied Poland. In his book Gross described how the massacre was perpetrated by Poles and not by the German occupiers, as previously assumed. The claims were the subject of vigorous debate in Poland. Norman Finkelstein
accused Gross of exploiting the Holocaust. Norman Davies
describes "Neighbors" as "deeply unfair to Poles". A subsequent investigation conducted by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance moderately supported Gross' conclusions about the massacre. However, it differed on some issues such as the number of people murdered, and the extent of Nazi German involvement in the massacre.
Gross', Fear - Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz, which deals with antisemitism and violence against Jews in post-war Poland
was published in the United States
in 2006 and had received praise in the United States; its Polish version, published in 2008, got mixed media reception re-starting a nationwide debate about antisemitism in Poland during Word War II and after. The book has been welcomed by some Polish historians and criticized by others who do not deny the facts Jan Gross presented in his book, but dispute his interpretation.
Marek Edelman
, one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
said in an interview with the Gazeta Wyborcza
daily, "Postwar violence against Jews in Poland was mostly not about anti-Semitism, murdering Jews was pure banditry."
Gross' latest book, Złote żniwa (Golden Harvest), co-written with his wife Irena Grudzińska-Gross and published in March 2011, about Poles enriching themselves at the expense of Jews murdered in the Holocaust, has also attracted criticism that it only shows one side of a complex issue. The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich
, commented: "Gross writes in a way to provoke, not to educate, and Poles don't react well to it. Because of the style, too many people reject what he has to say."
The head of Znak
, the book's publisher, stated: "It does not purport to provide a comprehensive overview of Polish rural communities' actions... The authors focus on the most horrid events, on robberies and killings. Those who say the book is anti-Polish make no sense."
Other
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Biography
Jan T. Gross was born in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, in 1947 to Hanna Szumańska, a Polish mother, who was a member of the Polish resistance (Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
) and Zygmunt Gross, a Polish-Jewish father who was a PPS
Polish Socialist Party
The Polish Socialist Party was one of the most important Polish left-wing political parties from its inception in 1892 until 1948...
member. His mother, risking her own life
Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust
Polish Jews were the primary victims of the German Nazi-organized Holocaust. Throughout the German occupation of Poland, many Polish Gentiles risked their own lives—and the lives of their families—to rescue Jews from the Nazis. Grouped by nationality, Poles represent the biggest number of people...
, helped his father to survive the German Nazi occupation of Poland. They married after the war. Jan Tomasz Gross studied physics at the Warsaw University.
He was among the young dissidents called Komandosi, and consequently among the university students involved in the protest movement known as the "March Events," the Polish student and intellectual protests of 1968. Gross was expelled from the university, arrested and jailed for five months. As a consequence, and because the Polish government permitted the emigration of "people of Jewish origin" at that time, he emigrated with his parents to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1969. In 1975 he earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and has taught at Yale, NYU, and Paris. He acquired U.S. citizenship and currently teaches history at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Gross was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 1996, an award granted to foreigners for their exceptional role in cooperation between Poland and other nations. He was also a Senior Fulbright
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
Research, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
, and Rockefeller
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
Humanities Fellow.
Controversy
Gross came to public attention on the occasion of his several publications. Then he was in the center of a controversy due to the publication of his 2001 book on the Jedwabne massacre, Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, PolandNeighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland is a 2001 book by Princeton University historian Jan T. Gross exploring the July 1941 Jedwabne massacre committed against Polish Jews in a village in Nazi-occupied Poland by their long-time neighbors.-Content and controversy:The...
, which examined a massacre of the Polish Jews in Jedwabne
Jedwabne
Jedwabne is a town in Poland, in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, in Łomża County, with 1,942 inhabitants .- History :First mentioned in 1455, Jedwabne received city rights on July 17, 1736, from the Polish king August III, including the right to hold weekly markets on Sundays and five country fairs a...
village in Nazi-occupied Poland. In his book Gross described how the massacre was perpetrated by Poles and not by the German occupiers, as previously assumed. The claims were the subject of vigorous debate in Poland. Norman Finkelstein
Norman Finkelstein
Norman Gary Finkelstein is an American political scientist, activist and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a graduate of Binghamton University and received his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University...
accused Gross of exploiting the Holocaust. Norman Davies
Norman Davies
Professor Ivor Norman Richard Davies FBA, FRHistS is a leading English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland, and the United Kingdom.- Academic career :...
describes "Neighbors" as "deeply unfair to Poles". A subsequent investigation conducted by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance moderately supported Gross' conclusions about the massacre. However, it differed on some issues such as the number of people murdered, and the extent of Nazi German involvement in the massacre.
Gross', Fear - Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz, which deals with antisemitism and violence against Jews in post-war Poland
Anti-Jewish violence in Poland, 1944-1946
Anti-Jewish Violence In Poland, 1944–1946 refers to a series of violent incidents that immediately followed the end of the Second World War in Poland and influenced postwar history of Jews as well as Polish Jewish relations. The exact number of Jewish victims is a subject of debate, but the range...
was published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2006 and had received praise in the United States; its Polish version, published in 2008, got mixed media reception re-starting a nationwide debate about antisemitism in Poland during Word War II and after. The book has been welcomed by some Polish historians and criticized by others who do not deny the facts Jan Gross presented in his book, but dispute his interpretation.
Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman was a Jewish-Polish political and social activist and cardiologist.Before World War II, he was a General Jewish Labour Bund activist. During the war he co-founded the Jewish Combat Organization. He took part in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, becoming its leader after the death of...
, one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
said in an interview with the Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
daily, "Postwar violence against Jews in Poland was mostly not about anti-Semitism, murdering Jews was pure banditry."
Gross' latest book, Złote żniwa (Golden Harvest), co-written with his wife Irena Grudzińska-Gross and published in March 2011, about Poles enriching themselves at the expense of Jews murdered in the Holocaust, has also attracted criticism that it only shows one side of a complex issue. The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich
Michael Schudrich
Michael Joseph Schudrich is the Chief Rabbi of Poland. He is the oldest of four children of Rabbi David Schudrich and Doris Goldfarb Schudrich.-Biography:...
, commented: "Gross writes in a way to provoke, not to educate, and Poles don't react well to it. Because of the style, too many people reject what he has to say."
The head of Znak
Znak (publisher)
Znak is one of the largest Polish book publishing companies. Founded in 1959 and related to the Catholic Church in Poland, it has grown since 1989. It publishes about 150 titles a year, and employs about 70 people....
, the book's publisher, stated: "It does not purport to provide a comprehensive overview of Polish rural communities' actions... The authors focus on the most horrid events, on robberies and killings. Those who say the book is anti-Polish make no sense."
Publications
BooksOther
- "Lato 1941 w Jedwabnem. Przyczynek do badan nad udzialem spolecznosci lokalnych w eksterminacji narodu zydowskiego w latach II wojny swiatowej," in Non-provincial Europe, Krzysztof Jasiewicz ed., Warszawa - London: Rytm, ISP PAN, 1999, pp. 1097–1103
See also
- Anti-Jewish violence in Poland, 1944–1946
- History of Jews in Poland
- Kielce pogromKielce pogromThe Kielce pogrom was an outbreak of violence against the Jewish community in the city of Kielce, Poland on July 4, 1946, perpetrated by a mob of local townsfolk and members of the official government forces of the People's Republic of Poland...
- Lucy DawidowiczLucy DawidowiczLucy Schildkret Dawidowicz was an American historian and an author of books on modern Jewish history, in particular books on the Holocaust.-Life:...
- Research Materials: Max Planck Society ArchiveResearch Materials: Max Planck Society ArchiveAt the end of World War II, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society was renamed the Max Planck Society, and the institutes associated with the Kaiser Wilhelm Society were renamed "Max Planck" institutes. The records that were archived under the former Kaiser Wilhelm Society and its institutes were placed in the...
Further reading
- John ConnellyJohn ConnellyJohn Michael Connelly is an English former footballer. He played as an outside forward and was capped 20 times for his country.-Career with Burnley:...
, Poles and Jews in the Second World War: the Revisions of Jan T. Gross, Contemporary European History. Cambridge: Nov 2002. Vol. 11, Issue 4 http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=126545 - Nowak Jerzy RobertJerzy Robert NowakJerzy Robert Nowak is a Polish historian, publicist, and conservative political activist.During the time of the People's Republic of Poland, he was a journalist, employee of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and activist of the Democratic Party between 1981 and 1991.In the years 1970-1976,...
100 kłamstw J.T. Grossa