Language:
English
Year of publication:
2014
Titel der Quelle:
Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
28,1 (2014) 1-30
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Hrubieszów (Poland) History Occupation, 1939-1945
Abstract:
Between September 1939-June 1941, the town of Hrubieszów was located on the German-Soviet demarcation line in Poland. Due to the vagaries of the war, in September the Germans passed it on to the Soviets, and in October the Soviets ceded it to the Germans. The Jews of Hrubieszów had opportunities to flee to the Soviet side, which was 2-3 kilometers away, but only a few of them did; most of the Jews stayed in their homes, as was the case in the whole of German-occupied Poland. Based on 35 survivors' oral testimonies, eight written memoirs, and accounts in the Hrubieszów memorial book, reflects on the factors which defined the fateful decision whether to stay or to leave. For those who chose to stay, the main motives were reluctance to divide the family, memories of the good conduct of the Germans in World War I, a bad impression left behind by the Soviet Army, and the uncertainty of the future in the USSR. Those who chose to leave were driven by ideological considerations, by sober understanding of what Nazi policies meant for the Jews, and by personal encounters with the Nazi treatment of Jews. Concerning the latter, describes the "death march" of December 1939, when the Germans drove thousands of Jewish men from Hrubieszów and nearby towns to the Soviet border. The Soviets did not allow them to enter, and many of the Jews perished. Notes that for many Hrubieszów Jews it was a "choiceless choice".
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