Trudy Gold
Rescuers in Poland: A Dark and Complex Story
Summary
A survey of the psychological characteristics of Holocaust rescuers, noting their self-perception as ordinary and the influence of their upbringing. Also explored are the impact of historical anti-Semitism, the troubling response of some Poles to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as individuals like Jan Karski, Witold Pilecki, Matylda Getter, Wanda Filipowicz, and Irena Sendler, all of whom risked their lives to rescue Jews during World War II.
Trudy Gold
Trudy Gold was the CEO of the London Jewish Cultural Centre and a founding member of the British delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Throughout her career she taught modern Jewish history at schools, universities, and to adult groups and ran seminars on Holocaust education in the UK, Eastern Europe, and China. She also led Jewish educational tours all over the world. Trudy was the educational director of the student resources “Understanding the Holocaust” and “Holocaust Explained” and the author of The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization.
Well, that’s a complicated question. And when I talked about the Warsaw ghetto, there was a certain amount of arms. In fact, the revisionist got more than the others. Look, there was good old fashioned antisemitism. The Poles themselves felt that they needed the arms. Look, there’s so much distrust between Jews and Poles. I’m trying to hold the balance. Never forget that Poland is the only country in the world, as far as I know, that has an ambassador to the diaspora.
No, I don’t think you can. I find it very, very strange, but I do know at the Jagiellonian University, I’ve met a lot of sincere Poles who are studying Jewish literature, Jewish music, Jewish poetry. They know they lost something precious. There are also those who have no problems with the Jews. You have, I think, one of the greatest museums in the world in Poland, but you also have a government which has said that it’s a crime to say the Poles colluded. You see, Poland sees itself as a victim. It doesn’t want to hear anything else.