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Jan Karski
Varsovie, 1942. La Pologne est dévastée par les nazis et les Soviétiques. Jan Karski est un messager de la Résistance polonaise auprès du gouvernement en exil à Londres. Il rencontre deux hommes qui le font entrer clandestinement dans le ghetto, afin qu'il dise aux Alliés ce qu'il a vu, et qu'il les prévienne que les Juifs d'Europe sont en train d'être exterminés. Jan Karski traverse l'Europe en guerre, alerte les Anglais, et rencontre le président Roosevelt en Amérique. Trente-cinq ans plus tard, il raconte sa mission de l'époque dans Shoah, le grand film de Claude Lanzmann. Mais pourquoi les Alliés ont-ils laissé faire l'extermination des Juifs d'Europe ? Ce livre, avec les moyens du documentaire, puis de la fiction, raconte la vie de cet aventurier qui fut aussi un Juste.
194 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
January 25, 2021
Un libro terribile, la prova che gli alleati sapevano perfettamente quanto avveniva nei campi di concentramento.
Jan Karski incaricato dalla Resistenza polacca di portare queste informazioni a Londra e negli Stati Uniti diventa il Messaggero degli Ebrei del ghetto di Varsavia, dentro il quale si era inoltrato per vedere con i propri occhi, e quindi essere più credibile. Ciò che vede è tanto incredibile quanto assurdo: cadaveri ovunque, e i vivi ormai morti e senza speranza. Ne esce sconvolto, e si impegna a portare il messaggio ovunque in tutte le sedi diplomatiche possibili. Arriverà fino alla Casa Bianca, ma il colloquio con un Roosvelt assopito dalla digestione, che finge di ascoltare sapendo di non voler fare nulla, lo getterà nella disperazione e nel silenzio per decenni.
"Avevo affrontato la violenza nazista, subito la violenza dei sovietici, ora facevo la conoscienza con la subdola violenza americana, dolce, fatta di divani...quella sera, uscendo dalla casa Bianca, ho pensato che, a partire da quyel momento, sarebbe stato quel divano a regnare sul mondo, e che alla violenza del totalitarismo si sarebbe sostituita quella violenza lì, soffusa, educata, una violenza così pulita che in ogni circostanza il bel nome di democrazia avrebbe saputo mascherarla".
Pensiamoci ogni volta che la chiamiamo la più grande democrazia del mondo.
Churchill aveva paura che se Hitler avesse espulso gli Ebrei si sarebbero dovute aprire loro le porte della Palestina, e a ciò gli Inglesi erano contrari. E vivendo da tempo nella città che in Israele viene chiamata “Schàar Zion” , Porta di Sion. quella parte della storia, quella di Exodus, la conosco bene.
http://www.premioexodus.it/storia/
Fortunatamenti per gli Inglesi e gli Americani Hitler non ha espulso gli Ebrei d'Europa. Li ha sterminati.
Karsky è divenuto suo malgrado da messaggero inascoltato a testimone scomodo, ma riuscirà a parlarne solo dopo decenni, dopo un silenzio passato a perdere le notti tra le voci degli erbrei che avevano confidato in lui, e forse qualcuno lo ha visto nel fiml "Shoa" di Claude Lanzmann che è riuscito a convincerlo ad uscire dal silenzio per far sapere a tutti una verità così terribile a cui è impossibile dare ascolto.
Jan Karski incaricato dalla Resistenza polacca di portare queste informazioni a Londra e negli Stati Uniti diventa il Messaggero degli Ebrei del ghetto di Varsavia, dentro il quale si era inoltrato per vedere con i propri occhi, e quindi essere più credibile. Ciò che vede è tanto incredibile quanto assurdo: cadaveri ovunque, e i vivi ormai morti e senza speranza. Ne esce sconvolto, e si impegna a portare il messaggio ovunque in tutte le sedi diplomatiche possibili. Arriverà fino alla Casa Bianca, ma il colloquio con un Roosvelt assopito dalla digestione, che finge di ascoltare sapendo di non voler fare nulla, lo getterà nella disperazione e nel silenzio per decenni.
"Avevo affrontato la violenza nazista, subito la violenza dei sovietici, ora facevo la conoscienza con la subdola violenza americana, dolce, fatta di divani...quella sera, uscendo dalla casa Bianca, ho pensato che, a partire da quyel momento, sarebbe stato quel divano a regnare sul mondo, e che alla violenza del totalitarismo si sarebbe sostituita quella violenza lì, soffusa, educata, una violenza così pulita che in ogni circostanza il bel nome di democrazia avrebbe saputo mascherarla".
Pensiamoci ogni volta che la chiamiamo la più grande democrazia del mondo.
Churchill aveva paura che se Hitler avesse espulso gli Ebrei si sarebbero dovute aprire loro le porte della Palestina, e a ciò gli Inglesi erano contrari. E vivendo da tempo nella città che in Israele viene chiamata “Schàar Zion” , Porta di Sion. quella parte della storia, quella di Exodus, la conosco bene.
http://www.premioexodus.it/storia/
Fortunatamenti per gli Inglesi e gli Americani Hitler non ha espulso gli Ebrei d'Europa. Li ha sterminati.
Karsky è divenuto suo malgrado da messaggero inascoltato a testimone scomodo, ma riuscirà a parlarne solo dopo decenni, dopo un silenzio passato a perdere le notti tra le voci degli erbrei che avevano confidato in lui, e forse qualcuno lo ha visto nel fiml "Shoa" di Claude Lanzmann che è riuscito a convincerlo ad uscire dal silenzio per far sapere a tutti una verità così terribile a cui è impossibile dare ascolto.
March 3, 2018
This books is hard to rate. Subject 5, story is a 5 as well. However what I do not like about the book is the liberal borrowing from the movie Shoah and the book by Jan himself. We are not talking about a fictional character. This borders on plagiarism. Also who is the author to fictionalize a character he has so heavily borrowed from. Further the third part of the books is based on other books. I think a missed opportunity to bring such an important period of Polish and Jewish history to life and the role the western world played in downplaying the extermination of Jews in Poland. I still recall the movie Shoah. It left a very deep impression on me.
July 30, 2023
Le livre de Yannick Haenel consacré au héros de la résistance polonaise Jan Karski compte trois partie distinctes. La première est une reprise de l’interview de Jan Karski filmée par Claude Lanzmann dans le cadre de son film Shoah. Elle permet de donner le contexte et sert en quelque sorte d’introduction. La deuxième est le résumé du livre Story of a Secret State écrit par Jan Karski dans lequel il raconte la période qu’il a consacré à la résistance et notamment, ce qui le hantera toute sa vie, la découverte et la visite du ghetto de Varsovie et du camp d’extermination de Bełżec. Dans ces lieux, il verra ce qu’un être humain ne peut concevoir.
La dernière est une fiction dans laquelle Yannick Haenel fait parler Jan Karski. Ce procédé est surprenant. Les deux premières parties sont passionnantes et la troisième le serait tout autant si l’on ne ressentait pas cette gêne de prêter des pensées qui ne sont peut-être pas exactement les siennes à une personne ayant existé – même si l’auteur s’est basé sur des documents. Cette sensation est d’autant plus prégnante que l’on vient de lire deux parties biographiques et donc non-fictionnelles – en principe. Dans cette troisième partie, il insiste sur une idée en particulier, celle que les Alliés ont abandonné les Juifs d’Europe alors qu’il n’a eu de cesse des les alerter.
Malgré cette particularité, j’ai beaucoup apprécié ce livre qui m’a permis de découvrir Jan Karski et de mieux connaître les évènements vécus par le peuple polonais, pris en tenaille entre les allemands et les russes, lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Également publié sur mon blog.
Des êtres humains qui n’ont plus l’air vivants et qui ne sont pas morts, qu’est-ce que c’est ?
La dernière est une fiction dans laquelle Yannick Haenel fait parler Jan Karski. Ce procédé est surprenant. Les deux premières parties sont passionnantes et la troisième le serait tout autant si l’on ne ressentait pas cette gêne de prêter des pensées qui ne sont peut-être pas exactement les siennes à une personne ayant existé – même si l’auteur s’est basé sur des documents. Cette sensation est d’autant plus prégnante que l’on vient de lire deux parties biographiques et donc non-fictionnelles – en principe. Dans cette troisième partie, il insiste sur une idée en particulier, celle que les Alliés ont abandonné les Juifs d’Europe alors qu’il n’a eu de cesse des les alerter.
Au procès de Nuremberg, dis-je, personne n’a soulevé la question de la passivité des Alliés : le procès de Nuremberg, savamment orchestré par les Américains, n’a jamais été qu’un masquage pour ne pas évoquer la question de la complicité des Alliés dans l’extermination des Juifs d’Europe.
Malgré cette particularité, j’ai beaucoup apprécié ce livre qui m’a permis de découvrir Jan Karski et de mieux connaître les évènements vécus par le peuple polonais, pris en tenaille entre les allemands et les russes, lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Également publié sur mon blog.
February 9, 2013
I have been thinking about this book all day. I don't think I can come up with a good review but this perspective does sum up pretty well: "The extermination of the Jews of Europe was not a crime against humanity, it was a crime by humanity - by what can no longer be called humanity. Pretending that it was a crime against humanity means sparing a part of humanity, and naively leaving this part outside the crime. But the entirety of humanity was implicated in the extermination of the Jews of Europe; it was universally implicated because, with this crime, humanity totally lost its characteristic of being humane. We should all recognize that, after the extermination of the Jews of Europe, humanity no longer exists, that this notion is obscene, that we can no longer call upon humanity as a criterion that protects us and exonerates us from our responsibilities: with the extermination of the Jews of Europe, the very idea of humanity died."
June 7, 2014
well, did that leave me with a bitter sweet taste? yes, it did. beautifully written, this recollection upon the Shoah of the XXth century is a literary gem. not only is the narrator's voice loud and clear, but his mind is sharp. i have read tons of books treating World War Two or, on a grander scheme, XXth century atrocities, but few have i enjoyed as much as this one. there are some affirmations in this book that kept me from giving it 5 stars but, nonetheless, i recommend it to anyone interested in the subject!
January 3, 2023
A novelised biography about the [real] life of Polish underground messenger Jan Karski.
June 1, 2025
La construction du livre est étonnante et peut interroger, mais le lecteur est prévenu et conscient de ce qu’il lit.
Cela n’élève rien à la portée immense du sujet, aux questions qu’il soulève et surtout, surtout aux émotions que l’on éprouve…
Une lecture essentielle pour ne pas oublier, et ne pas reproduire l’horreur
Cela n’élève rien à la portée immense du sujet, aux questions qu’il soulève et surtout, surtout aux émotions que l’on éprouve…
Une lecture essentielle pour ne pas oublier, et ne pas reproduire l’horreur
January 11, 2017
Het kostte mij tijd om in dit boek te komen en het is geen gemakkelijk boek. Daarnaast leest het niet echt makkelijk en moet je goed je hoofd erbij houden. De boodschap van het boek is echter schokkend en laat je met een nieuw gezicht naar de gebeurtenissen rondom de Shoah kijken.
"maar de schuld van de nazi's maakt Europa nog niet onschuldig, maakt Amerika nog niet onschuldig"
"maar de schuld van de nazi's maakt Europa nog niet onschuldig, maakt Amerika nog niet onschuldig"
June 5, 2017
First took this book out when working in Auckland Libraries but had to give it back before I really began. Found it recently at Wellington City Library and started reading it on 27 May 2017. Began the book again. It's a slow start but after the first chapter it picks up. 50 pages in so far.
Books by Jan Karski http://jankarskiinstituteus.org/books...
Powerful ending, everyone, especially Westerners! Should read this book. Has piqued my interest to read his books. Had never heard of him until I read this book, how shocking is that!
Best bits:
I thought that they did not want to hear, so as to preserve themselves from evil. But I had the intuition that evening that by turning away from evil, by refusing to hear that it exists, people become a part of it. Those who refuse to hear about evil become its accomplices...
If a book does not change the course of history, is it really a book?
That is why I asked Pola to be my wife and she answered with a smile, the same one she had when she danced, the smile that can be seen in Rembrandt's painting, and, thanks to that smile, I knew the answer was yes.
Pg 151: the word 'humanity' has become so compromised during the twentieth century that, each time it is used, it is as if we start to lie.
For the extermination of the Jews of Europe was not a crime against humanity, it was a crime by humanity.
Pg 159: a witness's life is no longer his, it belongs only to his testimony, and this cannot be stopped.
Pg 167: I spoke because I thought that my speech would give life back to the dead. Speaking means doing all you can so that the dead live once more.
Pg 170: whether you were three yards from the place of execution or thousands of miles, it comes down to the same thing. It is when living people distance themselves from other people who are being put to death that they experience infamy.
Books by Jan Karski http://jankarskiinstituteus.org/books...
Powerful ending, everyone, especially Westerners! Should read this book. Has piqued my interest to read his books. Had never heard of him until I read this book, how shocking is that!
Best bits:
I thought that they did not want to hear, so as to preserve themselves from evil. But I had the intuition that evening that by turning away from evil, by refusing to hear that it exists, people become a part of it. Those who refuse to hear about evil become its accomplices...
If a book does not change the course of history, is it really a book?
That is why I asked Pola to be my wife and she answered with a smile, the same one she had when she danced, the smile that can be seen in Rembrandt's painting, and, thanks to that smile, I knew the answer was yes.
Pg 151: the word 'humanity' has become so compromised during the twentieth century that, each time it is used, it is as if we start to lie.
For the extermination of the Jews of Europe was not a crime against humanity, it was a crime by humanity.
Pg 159: a witness's life is no longer his, it belongs only to his testimony, and this cannot be stopped.
Pg 167: I spoke because I thought that my speech would give life back to the dead. Speaking means doing all you can so that the dead live once more.
Pg 170: whether you were three yards from the place of execution or thousands of miles, it comes down to the same thing. It is when living people distance themselves from other people who are being put to death that they experience infamy.
May 6, 2019
French. Karski (his last Resistance name) became the courier between the Polish government exiled
in London and the Polish Resistance on the ground. He was tasked with delivering three messages:
1. The goal must be to not only vanquish the Nazis, but to save the rest of the Jewish population in
Europe and to make the German population aware of what their government was doing to the Jews.
2. The young men in the Polish ghettos were eager to fight but needed arms. 3. Jewish leaders around
the world must demand that measures be taken to "shake the conscience of the world". Karski details
the reluctance of the U.S. to not only enter the war, but to stop the extermination of Europe's Jewish
population. Millions of Polish lives were lost in the interim. Karski's own book "Story of a Secret
State" was released in 1944 to much acclaim. I'm not sure why this author thought he could write a
better book.
in London and the Polish Resistance on the ground. He was tasked with delivering three messages:
1. The goal must be to not only vanquish the Nazis, but to save the rest of the Jewish population in
Europe and to make the German population aware of what their government was doing to the Jews.
2. The young men in the Polish ghettos were eager to fight but needed arms. 3. Jewish leaders around
the world must demand that measures be taken to "shake the conscience of the world". Karski details
the reluctance of the U.S. to not only enter the war, but to stop the extermination of Europe's Jewish
population. Millions of Polish lives were lost in the interim. Karski's own book "Story of a Secret
State" was released in 1944 to much acclaim. I'm not sure why this author thought he could write a
better book.
February 10, 2023
C’est un livre sur Karski, un courrier spécial de la résistance polonaise pendant la 2eme guerre mondiale et ses exploits.
Le livre est reparti en trois chapitres. Dans la première, il s’agit de l’entretien du scénariste Lanzmann avant le tournage de son film « Shoah, » dans la seconde du résume du livre par Karski (Story of a Secret State), et dans la troisième, d’un ouvre fictif sur Karski par Haenel.
La partie la plus frappante du livre est la rencontre de Karski avec les chefs du ghetto de Varsovie, et ce qu’il y témoigne, et son essai vain d’obtenir le soutien des alliés – ces derniers étant divises entre eux-mêmes, en scellant le sort des combattants de la résistance.
Le livre est reparti en trois chapitres. Dans la première, il s’agit de l’entretien du scénariste Lanzmann avant le tournage de son film « Shoah, » dans la seconde du résume du livre par Karski (Story of a Secret State), et dans la troisième, d’un ouvre fictif sur Karski par Haenel.
La partie la plus frappante du livre est la rencontre de Karski avec les chefs du ghetto de Varsovie, et ce qu’il y témoigne, et son essai vain d’obtenir le soutien des alliés – ces derniers étant divises entre eux-mêmes, en scellant le sort des combattants de la résistance.
March 20, 2017
In The Messenger, Yannick Haenel interchanges between non-fiction and fiction while providing the audience insight on the extermination of the European Jews by the Nazis, and challenging us on what we believe is merely 'history'.
The book centered around Jan Karski, a fighter for the Polish Underground. He escaped Europe in 1942 to travel to London and Washington to deliver the message given to him by two Warsaw Jews. After he delivered the message, he realized that no one cared about the horrors he had seen.
Yannick's story was told in three major ideas compelling on the idea of history. The first idea was Yannick's personal opinion as he included his own life into that of Jan Karski's. The second idea was the decision of making Jan an author. After the incidents with Jan, he decided to write a book to deliver what he felt and ask for that useless help. The third and final idea was the later life of Jan Karski, as he grew old and became a white-headed old man. He gave light to the young ones on what he experienced.
Yannick has made a historical context become controversial as Jan trespassed the realms of evil and justice. Will we hear his message today? Will we help?
The book centered around Jan Karski, a fighter for the Polish Underground. He escaped Europe in 1942 to travel to London and Washington to deliver the message given to him by two Warsaw Jews. After he delivered the message, he realized that no one cared about the horrors he had seen.
Yannick's story was told in three major ideas compelling on the idea of history. The first idea was Yannick's personal opinion as he included his own life into that of Jan Karski's. The second idea was the decision of making Jan an author. After the incidents with Jan, he decided to write a book to deliver what he felt and ask for that useless help. The third and final idea was the later life of Jan Karski, as he grew old and became a white-headed old man. He gave light to the young ones on what he experienced.
Yannick has made a historical context become controversial as Jan trespassed the realms of evil and justice. Will we hear his message today? Will we help?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2018
Interessant boek, maar tegelijkertijd niet helemaal overtuigend door de gekozen vorm, namelijk een rangordening van feiten en fictie. Met name het fictiegedeelte, het derde en laatste hoofdstuk van het boek, is in zekere zin een afknapper na lezing van het op het boek van Karski gebaseerde feitenrelaas. Haenel intrepreert in dit hoofdstuk onder andere op zeer subjectieve wijze de ontmoeting van Claude Lanzmann en Jan Karski.
March 4, 2021
J'aimé ce livre tout d'abord car je ne connaissais pas Jan Karski et son rôle pendant la Seconde guerre mondiale et je ne savais que peu de choses sur la résistance polonaise. J'ai surtout aimé la dernière partie du livre dans laquelle Yannick Haenel imagine les pensées de Karski et qui concentre aujourd'hui les polémiques. Ce chapitre ne reflète peut-être pas la vérité historique mais je le trouve juste dans certaines réflexions que Haenel a imaginées.
December 18, 2022
Très intéressant. Un peu répétitif par moment mais le sujet et le personnage sont captivants.
C’est un livre étrange, qui s’inspire/emprunte/vole à un documentaire et un livre, et transforme une histoire vraie en fiction. Auteur en mal d’inspiration ? Ou fascination pour la personne ?
J’ai beaucoup appris sur l’histoire et le rôle des Polonais face à l’extermination des juifs - et bien sûr sur l’inactivité des alliés face au genocide.
C’est un livre étrange, qui s’inspire/emprunte/vole à un documentaire et un livre, et transforme une histoire vraie en fiction. Auteur en mal d’inspiration ? Ou fascination pour la personne ?
J’ai beaucoup appris sur l’histoire et le rôle des Polonais face à l’extermination des juifs - et bien sûr sur l’inactivité des alliés face au genocide.
January 7, 2020
I read it in a single sitting. Devastating. The shift from parts 1 and 2, which describe the facts of Jan’s wartime experiences (often using his own words) to Part 3, a fictional attempt to make some sense of the aftermath, was extremely powerful. In a sense, it’s as if you are having the thoughts along with him.
May 5, 2022
Kon er niet doorheen komen, vervelende schrijfstijl. Alsof de schrijver een opsomming/samenvatting neergepend heeft van een documentaire of een boek. Jan Karski heeft een bewogen leven achter de rug, dat is een ding wat zeker is. Maar omdat ik er niet doorheen kom zal ik nooit weten hoe het afgelopen is.
January 17, 2019
"Departe, departe de tine, se desfășoară istoria mondială, istoria mondială a sufletului tău... Credem că istoria mondială se desfășoară tot e departe de noi, în fiecare clipă ea pare să aibă loc fără noi, dar în cele din urmă ne dăm seama că această istorie este cea a sufletului nostru."
February 23, 2023
Novelised portrait of early Shoah witness and official Polish government messenger. I'd never heard of him, but really enjoyed Hanael's 'Le Tresorier-Payeur' novel last year, so when for it. Grim, but interesting.
December 23, 2024
Very interesting historical story , part fiction and non fiction about Jan Karski , a Polish underground fighter. Some illuminating aspects of the allies during World War Two . A terrible time to have to have lived through.
April 25, 2025
Magnifiquement écrit. Ça m’a frappé autant par la beauté de la prose que par la puissance du témoignage. Chaque phrase était portée par une urgence morale. On oublie souvent l’échec de l’humanité à se sauver d’elle-même.
July 16, 2017
Ver, ver van je af gebeurt de geschiedenis van de wereld, de wereldgeschiedenis van je ziel. (Kafka)
December 1, 2017
Les alliés ont laissé faire l’extermination en connaissance de cause pour les enjeux de la guerre
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2018
O carte care ne priveste.
April 6, 2023
Touchant et dur mais trop long sur les 100 dernières pages
November 8, 2023
Une construction originale - interview fiction... pour relater la résistance et le sort des juifs de Pologne
December 1, 2024
A good recount of Karski’s odyssey to make the world know of the horrors happening before it was too late and the toll it took on him. His personal story and the centering message of the allies passivity being part of the tragic outcome of the Shoah are very moving. I don’t connect with many of the strategies the author uses, but it’s a very important subject to highlight. Especially as Karski’s overwhelming mission to make aware those who chose to ignore genocide is playing out once again right before us. There is much to learn about Karski as a historical figure, of the abandonment Poles suffered and of apathy against the victims of extermination.
January 20, 2016
I could not put this down - I read it all in one go in a day.
It is the story of Jan Karski, a Polish Resistance operative who tried to bring to the world's attention what was happening to the Jews of Poland. A remarkable story, it tells how he became a member of the Resistance and was then tasked with travelling to the UK and USA to seek help for the Jews before it was too late.
He did not succeed, and has lived with the horror of having failed ever since.
But there is more to it than this. The book is written in three parts, firstly a reprise of Jan Karski's interview with Claude Lanzmann in the 1985 film Shoah (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoah_(f...). This part resonates with Karski's distress in having to witness yet again. It tells how he ventured into the ghetto and also - astonishingly - into one of the camps so that he could witness that he had actually seen what was occurring.
The second part summarises Karski's book, Story of a Secret State, published in the US in 1944, its message ignored. In this part it tells about his efforts to fight against the invading Germans as a Polish soldier; his capture, interrogation and escape; his activities in the Underground; and his recruitment by two men from the Ghetto who beseeched him to carry the message out to the world that if the Allies did not act immediately it would be too late for the Jews. It tells of his efforts in the UK and the USA - the talks, the interviews, the meetings and the conferences with powerful and influential people - all of whom did not act, for various reasons.
Part 3 is a fictionalised 'memoir' which captures the distress, the anger and blaming which Karski had to learn to live with. It is very confronting because it lays the blame for failing to act squarely on the Allies. He says that Poland's reputation as anti-Semitic is undeserved, in the sense that it was no more anti-Semitic than other nations and has been made the scapegoat, when (he says) Poland was the only country never to submit to the Nazis, or to collaborate with them. 'Being Polish meant being against all forms of tyranny. A Pole is someone who fought against Hitler, but also against Stalin. A Pole is someone who has always fought against the Russians, no matter what they called themselves, Stalinists, Bolsheviks or Soviets; a Pole, above all, is someone who was never taken in by the lie of Communism, and someone who has not been taken in either by that other lie: American domination, the criminal indifference which is typical of so-called democracies.' (p112) (Despite this, Karski made America his home and made a career there as an academic.)
I do not know quite what to make of this scathing damnation of the Allies in general and Roosevelt in particular. He talks about suffering from Nazi violence and Soviet violence and the 'insidious violence of the Americans. A cosy violence, made up of couches... and yawns'. (p117) He makes passing acknowledgement that it was the Germans who were committing the atrocity, but his anger seems to be with those who (according to this account) knew about the fate of the Jews and didn't do anything about it.
But when I read what it was that Karski as emissary was asking for, I feel a bit uneasy. The proposal was, since the war could no longer be considered in merely military terms because of the genocide against the Jews, that the Allies should initially do a leaflet drop on German cities telling the citizens about what was being done to the Jews - and that there would be terrible reprisals against the German people and the total destruction of Germany unless the atrocity was stopped at once. (p83)
Leaving aside the issue of whether such a strategy might have had any effect on Hitler and his henchmen, was it militarily feasible to do that? And, considering the Blitz and Dresden and Hiroshima and suicide bombers and Hamas v Israel, is it ever justifiable to use civilians in this way? Is the answer to that question different if the cause is noble? I do not know - I don't know how military strategists can manage to put the human cost out of their minds when they're planning strategy anyway.
It's a very thought-provoking book because it demands an answer to the question of whether 'the world' can ever have a conscience, and whether ignoring Jan Karski's message was a crime against humanity or a crime by humanity.
It is the story of Jan Karski, a Polish Resistance operative who tried to bring to the world's attention what was happening to the Jews of Poland. A remarkable story, it tells how he became a member of the Resistance and was then tasked with travelling to the UK and USA to seek help for the Jews before it was too late.
He did not succeed, and has lived with the horror of having failed ever since.
But there is more to it than this. The book is written in three parts, firstly a reprise of Jan Karski's interview with Claude Lanzmann in the 1985 film Shoah (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoah_(f...). This part resonates with Karski's distress in having to witness yet again. It tells how he ventured into the ghetto and also - astonishingly - into one of the camps so that he could witness that he had actually seen what was occurring.
The second part summarises Karski's book, Story of a Secret State, published in the US in 1944, its message ignored. In this part it tells about his efforts to fight against the invading Germans as a Polish soldier; his capture, interrogation and escape; his activities in the Underground; and his recruitment by two men from the Ghetto who beseeched him to carry the message out to the world that if the Allies did not act immediately it would be too late for the Jews. It tells of his efforts in the UK and the USA - the talks, the interviews, the meetings and the conferences with powerful and influential people - all of whom did not act, for various reasons.
Part 3 is a fictionalised 'memoir' which captures the distress, the anger and blaming which Karski had to learn to live with. It is very confronting because it lays the blame for failing to act squarely on the Allies. He says that Poland's reputation as anti-Semitic is undeserved, in the sense that it was no more anti-Semitic than other nations and has been made the scapegoat, when (he says) Poland was the only country never to submit to the Nazis, or to collaborate with them. 'Being Polish meant being against all forms of tyranny. A Pole is someone who fought against Hitler, but also against Stalin. A Pole is someone who has always fought against the Russians, no matter what they called themselves, Stalinists, Bolsheviks or Soviets; a Pole, above all, is someone who was never taken in by the lie of Communism, and someone who has not been taken in either by that other lie: American domination, the criminal indifference which is typical of so-called democracies.' (p112) (Despite this, Karski made America his home and made a career there as an academic.)
I do not know quite what to make of this scathing damnation of the Allies in general and Roosevelt in particular. He talks about suffering from Nazi violence and Soviet violence and the 'insidious violence of the Americans. A cosy violence, made up of couches... and yawns'. (p117) He makes passing acknowledgement that it was the Germans who were committing the atrocity, but his anger seems to be with those who (according to this account) knew about the fate of the Jews and didn't do anything about it.
But when I read what it was that Karski as emissary was asking for, I feel a bit uneasy. The proposal was, since the war could no longer be considered in merely military terms because of the genocide against the Jews, that the Allies should initially do a leaflet drop on German cities telling the citizens about what was being done to the Jews - and that there would be terrible reprisals against the German people and the total destruction of Germany unless the atrocity was stopped at once. (p83)
Leaving aside the issue of whether such a strategy might have had any effect on Hitler and his henchmen, was it militarily feasible to do that? And, considering the Blitz and Dresden and Hiroshima and suicide bombers and Hamas v Israel, is it ever justifiable to use civilians in this way? Is the answer to that question different if the cause is noble? I do not know - I don't know how military strategists can manage to put the human cost out of their minds when they're planning strategy anyway.
It's a very thought-provoking book because it demands an answer to the question of whether 'the world' can ever have a conscience, and whether ignoring Jan Karski's message was a crime against humanity or a crime by humanity.
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March 21, 2015Ce livre était une lecture imposée, sujette à un débat qui je ne manquera sans doute pas d'être intéressant. Pour ma part j'ai trouvé le parti pris tout à fait déplaisant. Le livre est séparé en trois parties, la première décris l'interview de Jan Karski dans le documentaire de Lanzmann "Shoah", la seconde résume le livre Karski, deux partis donc tout à fait peu intéressante sauf si l'ont veut l'avis et les ressentis d'Haenel sur la question. La troisième est celle que j'attendais le plus.
La partie où Haenel fait de Karski son narrateur. Le fait d'utiliser Karski en tant que narrateur pose un certains nombres de problèmes. Haenel s'approprie la voix d'une personne pour faire passer un discours, Karski agit comme vecteur de culpabilité sur le lecteur, ensuite le livre se veut porteur d'un message sur le non agissement des alliés, comme un rétablissement de l'Histoire, mais le livre est sorti en 2009, ce n'est pas un scoop que les alliés ne sont pas des chevaliers blancs, en outre quelques affirmations sur le refus de Churchill de concéder un territoire au juif (et se serait la raison pour laquelle il aurait laissé les juifs se faire exterminer) me parait très amplement discutable, je ne suis pas historienne, mais il me semble avoir vaguement entendu parlé "du livre blanc" mais ça les Historiens m'en apprendront peut être plus.
Entre deux références à Kafka, une prose plutôt jolie, le discours me parait simplement polémiste, ni franchement utile historiquement voir un tantinet insultant. J'ai pas besoin de vous dire que j'ai peu apprécié ce livre et l'utilisation d'une figure héroïque pour faire passer un discours, même si c'est très à la mode en ce moment.
La partie où Haenel fait de Karski son narrateur. Le fait d'utiliser Karski en tant que narrateur pose un certains nombres de problèmes. Haenel s'approprie la voix d'une personne pour faire passer un discours, Karski agit comme vecteur de culpabilité sur le lecteur, ensuite le livre se veut porteur d'un message sur le non agissement des alliés, comme un rétablissement de l'Histoire, mais le livre est sorti en 2009, ce n'est pas un scoop que les alliés ne sont pas des chevaliers blancs, en outre quelques affirmations sur le refus de Churchill de concéder un territoire au juif (et se serait la raison pour laquelle il aurait laissé les juifs se faire exterminer) me parait très amplement discutable, je ne suis pas historienne, mais il me semble avoir vaguement entendu parlé "du livre blanc" mais ça les Historiens m'en apprendront peut être plus.
Entre deux références à Kafka, une prose plutôt jolie, le discours me parait simplement polémiste, ni franchement utile historiquement voir un tantinet insultant. J'ai pas besoin de vous dire que j'ai peu apprécié ce livre et l'utilisation d'une figure héroïque pour faire passer un discours, même si c'est très à la mode en ce moment.
November 15, 2014
It's not a bad book. It's a good book, it's been pronounced a masterpiece by media and historians. My problem with it is that the story gets too close to the reality, being in a part a literary fiction. Chapters 1 and 2 contain many almost exact citacions from Karski's "Story of a secreat state" (why?), chapter 3 is a casual variation on Shoah by Haenel, as could be by Karski. Many interesting thoughts on the situation of Karski in America (such as the thought, he was expected to be "entertaining", that is why nobody believed his story, or the reasons why the West did not react to information on Shoah) and re-working the seen, coming to live again/being reborn after Holocaust.
Probably it's a must and it's just that Poles are a bit conservative when it comes to talking about people who contributed to understanding the painful happenings of the II World War.
Probably it's a must and it's just that Poles are a bit conservative when it comes to talking about people who contributed to understanding the painful happenings of the II World War.
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