Facing a Holocaust : the Polish government-in-exile and the Jews, 1943-1945

A sequel to Engel's book "In the Shadow of Auschwitz: The Polish Government-in-Exile and the Jews, 1939-1942" (1987). This volume examines the policies of this government in regard to Polish Jews from the end of 1942 to 1945, whether knowledge of the Nazi genocide altered those policies, and Jewish reactions. The government was pressured by Jewish groups demanding that it render aid to the Jews of Poland. However, the government saw itself first and foremost as a defender of ethnic Poles and relegated the Jews to the periphery of its concerns. Holds that the Polish attitude toward the Jews must be viewed in the context of international relations, especially between Poland and the USSR. The latter used the "Jewish question" as an anti-Polish propaganda weapon. The Polish government regarded the Jews as an anti-Polish and pro-Soviet force. It tried to attract the Jews to its side, but it made Jewish support for Polish interests a precondition for a positive response to Jewish rescue demands. In 1944 a scandal broke out over antisemitism in the Polish army; dozens of Jewish soldiers deserted to the British army. In the aftermath, the Polish government set up the Rescue Council on 20 April 1944. Sequel to: "In the shadow of Auschwitz: the Polish government-in-exile and the Jews, 1939-1942, which appeared in 1987"--Preface. x, 317 pages ; 25 cm