Żniwo „Złotych żniw"

Abstrakt

The article is an attempt to assess a social impact of the book “Golden Harvest”, published at the beginning of 2011 by Jan Tomasz Gross and Irena Grudzińska-Gross. The authors of the book have revealed facts, scale and motives of participation of the Polish citizens in killing and robbing Jews in the Nazi-occupied Poland. They have demonstrated that the scale of Jewish homicide was broader than hitherto described, and argued that it was greater than the scope of help provided to the Jews. The book triggered a fiery public debate in Poland. Based on the research polls the Author of the article demonstrates that the impact of “Golden Harvest” is quite complex. The book and the debate did activate the social memory concerning violence, burglary and killings of the Jews. Supposedly, they also persuaded some scarce number of Poles that such facts, quite numerous, did happen and made a significant number of Poles think that it might have been so. The discussion did not, however, change an overall and valuating opinion about the attitude of Poles towards Holocaust. The Author tries to explain why the book’s effect was far less spectacular than its authors had expected. The answer is looked for in the attitudes of Poles and the type of beliefs that were to have been changed as a result of publishing “Golden Harvest”, as well as in the specific features of the book and the debate triggered by it.