Out of the Inferno: Poles Remember the Holocaust

Modern War Studies

by Richard C. Lukas (Editor)

" Richard Lukas's book, encompassing the wartime recollections of sixty "ordinary" Poles under Nazi occupation, constitutes a valuable contribution to a new perspective on World War II. Lukas presents gripping first-person accounts of the years 1939-1945 by Polish Christians from diverse social and economic backgrounds. Their narratives, from both oral and written sources, contribute enormously to our understanding of the totality of the Holocaust. Many of those who speak in these pages attempted, often at extreme peril, to assist Jewish friends, neighbors, and even strangers who otherwise faced certain death at the hands of the German occupiers. Some took part in the underground resistance movement. Others, isolated from the Jews' experience and ill informed of that horror, were understandably preoccupied with their own survival in the face of brutal condition intended ultimately to exterminate or enslave the entire Polish population. These recollections of men and women are moving testimony to the human courage of a people struggling for survival against the rule of depravity. The power of their painful witness against the inhumanities of those times is undeniable.

Genres: Holocaust, World War II, History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 1989

About the author

An American historian and author of numerous books and articles on Polish history and Polish-Jewish relations

Reviews

[Karen B]

Excellent information about what happened to the Polish people during world war 2. Too upsetting to read the whole book.

[FSU Alumni]

Richard C. Lukas (B.A. '57, M.A. '60, Ph.D. '63)