Гірка Розплата. Ізраїль судить євреїв, звинувачених у співпраці з нацистами

by Dan Porat

Починаючи з 1950 року, держава Ізраїль переслідувала й ув’язнила десятки вцілілих в Голокості, які за нацистів служили в таборах капо або поліцейськими гетто. В книзі представлений перший повний огляд судових процесів над капо, базований на записах, щойно розсекречених через сорок років.
У грудні 1945 року пасажир тель-авівського автобуса, який народився в Польщі, упізнав у водії колишнього голову міської ради, яку нацисти створили для управління євреями. Пасажир назвав водія колаборантом, той вискочив з автобуса, рятуючись від пасажирів, які мали намір забити його до смерті. Через п’ять років, щоб усунути тривалу напругу в громадах, які пережили Голокост, Держава Ізраїль розпочала кримінальне переслідування євреїв, які служили адміністраторами гетто або капо в концтаборах.
Дан Порат показує, як ці процеси змінили розуміння Ізраїлем Голокосту, і досліджує, як приховування протоколів судових процесів — давно засекречених державою — вплинуло на історію та пам’ять. Чутливий до руйнівних варіантів, які постають перед тими, хто вирішив співпрацювати, але суворий у своєму аналізі, «Гірка розплата» запрошує нас переосмислити наші ідеї співучасті та справедливості та подумати про те, що означає бути жертвою за надзвичайних обставин.

На обкладинці використана фотографія, де поліцаї гетто охороняють групу євреїв, вишикуваних на подвір’ї центральної в’язниці Лодзького гетто, 1940–1944 рр. Зображення розташовано на сайті Меморіального музею Голокосту США, люб’язно надано Художнім музеєм в Лодзі (Польща).

Genres: History, Israel, Holocaust, Law

304 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Dan Porat is the author of The Boy: A Holocaust Story, which the New York Times called “a gripping, harrowing Holocaust story” and Elie Wiesel praised as “a poignant and riveting investigation.” Porat is a teacher and researcher at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Reviews

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the fascinating ideas from the Bitter Reckoning book was the growing acceptance over time of the idea in Jewish society that they couldn't judge a collaborator who worked with the Nazis to abuse and kill other Jews. This isn't talking about people who merely looked the other way while others suffered. But people who actively participated in rounding up other Jews to send to concentration camps or served as overseers in the concentration camps.
In the social media age where we casually condemn/damn people on a regular basis, this idea, which became a powerful force leading light or no sentences for some collaborators, felt foreign.
It's hard to imagine the horror felt by some of the people in this book having lived through the Holocaust, moved from Europe to Israel to start a new safe society, looking up one day going about your business and seeing someone who helped kill your family in a concentration camp casually going about ordinary life. This sort of event happened to people and is why the trials recounted in this book happened.

[Karen Levi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book on recommendation from a professor who leads annual trips to the concentration camps in Poland. I participated in such a trip this past December. An excellent book, though some passages were dry for me. I am not a legal scholar. During the post war period in the new country of Israel, Holocaust survivors were zealous to convict the Jewish police, community leaders, and concentration camp Kapos. Often street fights broke out when citizens sighted these so-called collaborators. Partly to prevent uncontrollable violence, the courts began to prosecute these unfortunate individuals. After the Eichmann trial in 1961, it became evident that Jewish people who may have willingly or unwillingly aided the Nazis could not be considered the same as actual Nazis. As time went on into the 1970’s, the Israelis recognized that these people were victims of horrendous circumstances and probably acted with self preservation and interest in mind.rather than evil intentions.
The author begins and concludes the book with the thoughts of Primo Levi. Mr. Levi was an Italian Holocaust survivor who contended that the majority of victims of the Shoah were neither inherently good or bad but existed in a “gray zone”. Most of us would be in the gray zone. We do not know how we would act starved, beaten, humiliated, frightened, lost, bewildered, and shocked by witnessing and experiencing man’s capacity for evil on a daily basis. It is Primo Levi’s philosophy that reconciles the question of the guilt or innocence of Jewish community leaders and Kapos for Dan Pirates, the author.

[Taras Tsymbrivskyy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic of collaboration is very sensitive area in terms of reconciliation and collective memory in war-torn societies. Its reckless political instrumentalization which is usually manifesting either in labelling, or some forms of glorification of collaborators will inevitably backfire. In terms of collaboration such "black and white" approach should be completely disregarded. It would be more reasonable to gauge peculiar actions and intentions of individuals, being placed in the realms of war. This path encourages to unfold circumstances in an exhaustive manner, deal with a set of awkward issues, and eventually recognition of facts. Manufactured truths imprison societies in their past, providing leverage for their enemies seeking opportunities in weaponization of history.

[Tiemu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of how the attitudes to and even prosecution of Kapos has changed over the decades, as well as some of the key cases of Jews who were prosecuted for their role in the holocaust.