All of us walk around naked. The delousing is finally over, and our striped suits are back from the tanks of Cyclone B solution, an efficient killer of lice in clothing and of men in gas chambers. (…)
Source: Borowski, Tadeusz “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.” In: This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. Viking Penguin 1947.
Available at [🔗].
current affairs
The Washington Post article “Yes, some Poles were Nazi collaborators” discusses how Poland is attempting to pass laws which deny any responsibility by the nation for the Holocaust, though some Poles were indeed Nazi collaborators.
links
Jason Wittenberg and Jeffrey Kopstein “Yes, some Poles were Nazi collaborators.” Washington Post, 2 February 2018. [🔗]
questions
How do the prisoners of camp Canada deal with being forced to do inhumane labor? Do they express any moral qualms? What do you make of the quotes “I feel no pity” and “the easiest way to relieve your hate is to turn against someone weaker”?
Discuss this quote: “It is the camp law: people going to their death must be deceived to the very end. This is the only permissible form of charity.”
Are the prisoners of camp Canada guilty of complicity? Or do they just have no choice in the matter? The issue of revolt comes up briefly in connection with religion, but it is brushed aside as a rhetorical question. Why is it a rhetorical question?
The Washington Post article “Yes, some Poles were Nazi collaborators” discusses the difficult subject of assigning national and individual culpability in the perpetration of the Holocaust. Do you think it is helpful to have a law outlawing the term “Polish extermination camps” and criminalizing discussion of Polish crimes relating to the Holocaust? Should there be any restrictions on free speech when it comes to discussions of the Holocaust?