Poland Books

This is an excellent book to read about the life of Casimir Pulaski who was a hero in the Revolutionary War. Pulaski was from Poland, yet came over to America to help fight against England. There is a monument and a fort named in his honor in Georgia. Best read by 4th graders and older. Middle School students would enjoy the book and read it easily. The cover of book offers a nice visual for early elementary students during a study of Pulaski's life.

In my opinion, all upper elementary students should be made aware of the Holocaust. It's not easy--in a single library session--to try to discuss the Holocaust and promote some of the titles we have in our school library. "Child of the Warsaw Ghetto" is probably the best, single title I can read in one sitting that covers so much territory.

The picture book format is a bit deceiving, since I would not opt to read this solemn story to primary grades. The muted gray colored pencil drawings fit the grim topic of this biographical account of a poor Jewish boy in Warsaw, Poland, during the time of the Nazi occupation.

In rapid succession we learn about the Depression, the rise of Hitler and anti-Jewish sentiment, desperate poverty, a home for orphans, Germany's invasion of Poland, fighting, forced labor, German theft of furniture and valuables, removal of Jews, the ordered wearing of the blue Star of David, the moving of 400,000 Jews into a walled ghetto, the stark living conditions, the closure of the ghetto, the order for "All Jews out!" and few who were able to escape, the brief--but bold--Jewish resistance, the burning of the ghetto, and the "resettlement" either to death camps or concentration camps. All this is seen through the eyes of Froim Baum, starting when he is still a youngster.

The author's note at the end of the book spells out the additional cruelty of the Nazis to initiate many of their actions on Jewish holidays. He also tells what became of Froim Baum after the war.

When I've finished reading this sobering account to older elementary students, I encourage them to read additional titles, such as: "Diary of a Young Girl," by Anne Frank; "Number the Stars," "The Devil's Arithmetic," "Alicia: My Story," "The Endless Steppe," "The Borrowed House," "The Hiding Place," and "Daniel's Story" (to name a few).

This is a topic we should never forget. And since the period of history is not really covered in our curriculum, it needs to be introduced to students through well-written books on the subject, whether fiction or non-fiction. "Child of the Warsaw Ghetto" is a good place to start.

In the massacre at Katyn and surrounding locations, some 22,000 members of the cream of Polish society were systematically murdered--all to prevent the Polish nation from possessing the necessary leadership to ever rise again. It was a cold-blooded act of genocide done by the Soviet Union against Poland, and its effects continue today: "Poland would today be a different country if the Soviets together with the Germans had not deprived it of its most enlightened citizens. Their extermination resulted in the next generation being taught and raised by opportunists, traitors, and betrayers. The liquidation of Poland's elite is permanent and irreversible." (Ewa Gruner, p. 49).

The content of this volume goes far beyond the authors' childhood experiences of losing their fathers. In fact, the authors present a good deal of information of historical value. One of the most enduring themes mentioned is the fact that NO ONE has ever been punished for the crime of Katyn (p. 4, 46, 90, 104, 161, etc.). (Then again, this must be contextualized. The ends of the Earth are, to this day, searched for geriatric Nazi criminals, but no comparable effort is ever made to find and punish Communist criminals. Why?)

Wes Adamczyk, who wrote the Foreward of this book, provides more historical detail than just about any other author in this book. (Adamczyk has subsequently expanded his essay into an excellent book: WHEN GOD LOOKED THE OTHER WAY.).

A number of the children of Katyn live (or lived) in Wilno (Vilnius). Witold Swianiewicz personally remembers how the local Jews warmly welcomed the Soviet invaders (p. 203), and how he was nearly betrayed to the Soviets by a Jewish acquaintance who had evidently become an NKVD agent (trying unsuccessfully to learn exactly where the Swianiewicz's were living at the time.) (p. 204). Jozef Wasilewski describes the subsequent murders of several tens of thousands of Jews, and a few tens of thousands of Poles, in the nearby wooded area of Ponary (pp. 140-142). The murderers were mostly German-serving Lithuanian collaborators, notably the "Ypatingas Burys". Halina Kalwajt (p. 130) provides excellent detail on the seizure of Wilno from the Germans by the AK, just before the 1944 entrance of the Red Army, as part of Operation Burza (or Tempest).

Halina Kozlowska describes the entry of the Red Army into Skierniewice in 1944 (pp. 181-182). The Soviets threw Poles out of their homes, broke locks, and stole at will. Those who protested were often shot. Other Poles were shot in the nearby forests. The Soviets also raped Polish women and girls. Later, the Kozlowski domicile was, for a time, confiscated by the new Soviet puppet government of Poland (p. 182). Generations later, some unscrupulous Poles, attempting to take advantage of the unresolved question of the ownership of the home, came to claim it. (This situation shows that it was not only the returning Polish Jews who sometimes experienced resistance to the reclamation of their properties.)

In the decades following the Katyn massacre, and especially after the fall of Communism, many Katyn Societies have sprung up all over the world in order to memorialize the victims. In Israel, the Yad Vashem Institute, focusing exclusively on the Jewish victims of the Nazis, has refused to include the Polish-Jewish victims of Katyn in its purview (p. 231).

Many of the children of Katyn victims have, during and since the 1990's, visited the several sites of the murders. Locally, excavations were conducted (pp. 35-37, 44). Some of the graves of the Poles had obviously been looted by Russians: "The local population began to find bones, Polish buttons, and military decorations when they, in need of fuel, were demolishing the fence that, during the war, had still bordered the burial areas. They would dig through this place in pursuit of military accessories and valuables. They destroyed a lot of remains." (Ewa Gruner, p. 41). (Holocaust materials commonly mention that Poles looted places where the remains of Jews were interred--all in search for valuables. The Katyn experience shows, once again, that such looting was a common occurrence. It obviously involved a variety of perpetrators and victims.)

Wanda Wasserman touches on her life in prewar Poland as an assimilated Polish Jew: "She admits that she personally never experienced any anti-Semitic sentiments on the part of Poles. She has even had many Polish friends. However, from other Jews she heard about the negative feelings of Poles toward her people." (p. 222). Her direct experience adds support to the premise that prewar Polish anti-Semitism had been sporadic and intermittent, not constant and relentless. It also contradicts Celia Heller, who, in her ON THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION, would have us believe that assimilated Polish Jews experienced Polish anti-Semitism about as often as their non-assimilated counterparts.

This book is about a girl named Matylda, who lives in Poland. The book talks about what life is like in Poland. It has a lot of pictures of Matylda in scool, at home, and around her town. This book is very interesting. It is a super book!

This is a phenomenally moving book about the flight of Jewish children to the far corners of the globe in search of safety from the Holocaust. Grynberg's story is about the little known deportation of Jewish children and their families who found themselves in the Soviet Union in the early years of the war and were sent to Siberia and Central Asia for internment. Many of these people were unable to return to their homes after the war and remained in Eastern Russia or Uzbekistan. This is an excellent book.

Part of a series developed by World Book Inc. several decades ago for young people, these 80-page books have evolved into a rich storehouse of information for anyone of any age who enjoys learning the Christmas history, stories, regional Christmas songs, Christmas crafts, and holiday recipes of many nations.

Two of my favorite parts of "Christmas in Poland" are the chapter on their unique Advent traditions and the chapter on Wigilia, the feast on Christmas Eve.

Poland has beautiful Christmas carols and four of them are in this book with the original language, English translations, and piano music. Recipes include Hunter's Stew, Kolacky, Honey Cookies, and Twelve-fruit Compote. The book is richly illustrated with full-color photos. I especially enjoyed the photos of the Szopki (Christmas mangers) that are entered into an annual competition in Krakow.

Collect the whole series for your home library, re-read them every December, and share them with friends and family.

An excellent book: clearly written, packed with information, and unbiased so far as I can see. German-Polish relations have shaped much of modern European history, and the author shows that in spite of communist controls, old attitudes played the first fiddle in the relations between the two countries.

This book contains a wide varitey of differing theory surrounding Maus. It's a great book, and it's great to use in research surrounding the novel.

For teachers, counselors, administrators, school psychologists and other school personnel, this book is one that you should not pass up. As a school psych, I found this to be an invaluable reference when setting up a school crisis team. As we all know, it's much better to be prepared and NOT have a school crisis, than to be unprepared and have a crisis. Dr. Poland's contributions to the field are immeasurable and I recommend this book to all readers.

I was moved by this fascinating story of faith in light of persecution. Despite the confusing first chapters of this book I found it to be a good read and recommend it to others.