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The Politics of Retribution in Europe: World War II and Its Aftermath
 
 
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The Politics of Retribution in Europe: World War II and Its Aftermath (Paperback)

by Istvan Deak (Editor), Jan T. Gross (Editor), Tony Judt (Editor) "CONQUERING ARMIES over the centuries have always found willing collaborators in the countries they occupy, and, if sufficiently oppressive and brutal, they have also met..." (more)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press (27 Mar 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0691009546
  • ISBN-13: 978-0691009544
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 595,083 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Trevor Burridge, History
This book makes a splendid contribution toward the rewriting of postwar European History. . . . A riveting book.

Review
This book makes a splendid contribution toward the rewriting of postwar European History. . . . It is quite indispensable for college students and serious adult readers of recent European history. . .
(Trevor Burridge History )

The first question that leaps to mind is why the story of a massacre so monstrous, and of such historic significance, should surface only now, half a century after the fact. The answer to this question is both startling and complex . . . A detailed account is provided by the sociologist and historian Jan T. Gross in his book. . . .
(Abraham Brumberg Times Literary Supplement )

Not surprisingly, Mr. Gross's book has sparked wails of outrage from many in Jedwabne and across Poland, where many feel he has greatly damaged the country's reputation. In time, however, it should become apparent that Mr. Gross has really done Poland an inestimable favor. His book has effectively thrown down the gauntlet, challenging Poles to live in truth.
(Bruce I. Konviser Wall Street Journal )

A fine example of comparative history . . . introduced and concluded by some of the most thought-provoking meditations on the general sculpting of post-war identity, the continental shift from 'war' to 'peace,' and the implications of the nascent cold war that this reviewer has encountered
(Donald Bloxham History )

This collective work is an essential source for anyone interested in the many complex and controversial questions associated with World War II and its aftermath.
(Randolph L. Braham Slavic Review )

"An] important volume . . . [It is] successful because the editors themselves make important contributions to the analysis of retributive justice. . . The cases that are discussed . . . add a great deal to our understanding of the political determinants of postwar justice.
(Norman M. Naimark American Historical Review )

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First Sentence
CONQUERING ARMIES over the centuries have always found willing collaborators in the countries they occupy, and, if sufficiently oppressive and brutal, they have also met with civilian resistance. Read the first page
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, hugely informative, a major corrective to 'standard' accounts, 8 April 2007
History of the recent past in Europe seems to be almost as much about forgetting as remembering. Growing up in '70s England, I practically never encountered a reference to what happened 'après la guerre finie.' The odd mention of collaborators, women tarred and feathered - and George Steiner musing on the quality of writing somehow divorced from the moral nastiness of certain writers - the theme arose so rarely as to suggest that retribution had been incredibly limited in scope. By contrast, we were fed a hearty diet of tales of the resistance in France and elsewhere. The weight and prevalence of these narratives suggested that they were backed by an immense, wide-ranging experience.

This admirable volume goes a long way to both filling in blanks and redressing the balance between collaboration and resistance. A collection of papers dealing with individual national experiences, it fights shy of extrapolating a wider theme from these, yet leaves the reader with enough hints to enable such a narrative to emerge.

Certain regrettable consequences are likely to flow from reading this book. Poland emerges as a thoroughly unattractive nation, for example; it came as no surprise, having read the papers here, that Poland's current leaders have recently attempted to argue at the European level that anti-semitism is not a form of racism. The true record of almost all Continental nations during the war, however, is hardly edifying. In the wake of victory, there was clearly a sorting out of 'victim' nations (eg the Dutch) and perpetrator/collaborators (eg Sweden, within Scandinavia) - this made for a useful narrative in which most European states could be almost immediately cleared of blame for their degree of cooperation with Nazi Germany. The alternative might have had to involve -what?- the deposition of an entire political and administrative leading elite in state after state?

Most of these papers are well written and clearly argued, the contributions of Tony Judt and Istvan Deak being the best and clearest. This is a much-needed corrective to our highly incomplete knowledge and understanding (in the UK) of our neighbours' -and EU partners'- recent history. Whether it may help to analyse or suggest practical responses to the aftermath of wars in our own time is hard to say. Probably this is neither the intention nor an especially relevant goal. In rescuing from oblivion so much that, in theory, is still within living memory, it demonstrates a lot about the writing and function of history in justifying or legitimizing the status quo at the moment it is written. For such works of demystification one must be grateful, especially when, as in the present case, their scholarly and writerly quality is impeccable.
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5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Provocative Examination Of Post WWII Politics, 31 Dec 2002
By Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Politics of Retribution in Europe: World War II and Its Aftermath (Hardcover)
It's an old and acknowledged saw that "to the victors go the spoils". What should be added to this splendidly commonplace bit of street lore is the similarly well-acknowledged fact that it is indeed the victors who get to write and thereby promulgate the official version of history, interpreting it to their advantage, giving it such spin, direction, and body language as needed to serve the perceived needs and political purposes of the present. In this sense the historical treatment of the past, especially the recent past, tells us volumes about what forces exist to warp into particular forms and modes today. This is especially true in this absorbing and well-edited series of essays by a number of noted historians and critics relating to the subject of the relative merits of the retribution process in Europe following the conclusion of the Second World War.

As is likely true for all conflicts, the punishment delivered in the aftermath of the war was by no means fair, equitable, or necessarily deserved by those it was haphazardly visited upon, and some who deserved to be punished walked away unblemished, while others who did nothing wrong were falsely accused and punished. Indeed, one of the consistent themes in these essays is the degree to which the captive people of Europe engaged in what has to be recognized as being a widespread accommodation and cooperation with the Nazi authorities and their lackeys. Yet although their were obvious many who escaped getting their just desserts, and many more who were unfairly castigated and punished, by and large the effort at social retribution after the war appears to have served a wider and more useful role in expiating the collective guilt and anxiety that literally permeated the continent in the wake of the war's end.

This is a fine collection of essays that seek to address the complex welter of needs, drives, and issues that had to be settled in the postwar period, and among the competing strands of thoughts and arguments one finds that the historical interpretation of the past was indeed manipulated and bastardized, often at the expense of specific groups and individuals, who had to suffer the continuing social indifference to the injuries they had suffered, or worse, the accusation and punishment for deeds they either did not commit, or that they had committed in such a strange and sordid set of constraining circumstances that to make an issue our of it was existentially absurd. It is in this sense that a kind of selective amnesia overtook many of the survivors, such that they repressed the ugly truth in favor of more palatable and pleasing fictions.

Of course, many of the issues discussed here are neither fully resolved nor completely played out. Just as many of the events of the war itself found their genesis in attitudes and cultural predispositions formed long before the war, so too, do many of the issues and dilemmas of the present find their antecedents in facts and circumstances located in postwar activities, and these may never be resolved. Whether talking about ethnic differences within a specific country or cultural predispositions existing between reviving cultures, many of the complex issues and concerns threading through these essays may never be resolved. This is a fascinating and quite worthwhile book, and one I am sure you would benefit from. Enjoy!

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