Am I A Murderer?: Testament of a Jewish Ghetto Policeman

Rating:
Summary: Author Was Forced to Choose Among the Lesser of Evils
Review: Calel Perechodnik personally experienced very little anti-Semitism previous to the Nazi invasion of Poland. He and his wife had an opportunity to move to Palestine, but opted to remain in the country of their birth. The young engineer lived a low profile life in his hometown of Otwock, and expected the lives of Jews to only improve as the overall Polish culture turned more secular. Calel respected his Jewish traditions, but perceived himself as primarily a cosmopolitan man who took organized religion with a huge grain of salt. Everything, however, dramatically changed for the worse once the Nazis became the occupying power of Poland. The anti-Semitism of the Roman Catholic majority thereafter ceased being dormant and subtle, and many of these ordinary citizens became vile monsters. Virtually overnight they treated their Jewish friends and neighbors as akin to vermin requiring elimination.

The author attempts to save his wife and young daughter by becoming a ghetto policeman. The German Nazis cynically realized that Jewish men could best keep their fellow human beings under control. False hopes were conveyed to the Jews promising that their situation would be secure if only they cooperated. "Jews perished first of all because they didn't realize in time what level German cruelty and barbarism would reach," added the author. The 27 year old Perechodnik is forced to choose the less of evils. Ultimately, his family is not spared and the author is trapped in an environment where treachery, greed, and murder are the norm. Perechodnik's chronicle is not easy reading. It is a moral duty, and not in the least bit pleasurable. The reader will constantly be challenged to dwell upon the horrific choices of Perechodnik. The awkward question of how we would behave under similar circumstances is inevitable.

There are a few other books mandating your legitimate interest. Only a few months ago, the Holocaust scholar Jan T. Gross released his superb work "Neighbors" which deals with similar atrocities committed in the Polish town of Jedwabne. Peter Wyden's "Stella" published in 1992 concerns a young Jewish woman who for purely selfish reasons betrayed her friends to the Nazis. Only the very thin veneer of civilization separates us from barbarism. Thus, we are obligated not to ignore the unpleasant truths about the recorded depths of human depravity. Increasing our knowledge betters our chances of curtailing future horrors.

Rating:
Summary: Author Was Forced to Choose Among the Lesser of Evils
Review: Calel Perechodnik personally experienced very little anti-Semitism previous to the Nazi invasion of Poland. He and his wife had an opportunity to move to Palestine, but opted to remain in the country of their birth. The young engineer lived a low profile life in his hometown of Otwock, and expected the lives of Jews to only improve as the overall Polish culture turned more secular. Calel respected his Jewish traditions, but perceived himself as primarily a cosmopolitan man who took organized religion with a huge grain of salt. Everything, however, dramatically changed for the worse once the Nazis became the occupying power of Poland. The anti-Semitism of the Roman Catholic majority thereafter ceased being dormant and subtle, and many of these ordinary citizens became vile monsters. Virtually overnight they treated their Jewish friends and neighbors as akin to vermin requiring elimination.

The author attempts to save his wife and young daughter by becoming a ghetto policeman. The German Nazis cynically realized that Jewish men could best keep their fellow human beings under control. False hopes were conveyed to the Jews promising that their situation would be secure if only they cooperated. "Jews perished first of all because they didn't realize in time what level German cruelty and barbarism would reach," added the author. The 27 year old Perechodnik is forced to choose the less of evils. Ultimately, his family is not spared and the author is trapped in an environment where treachery, greed, and murder are the norm. Perechodnik's chronicle is not easy reading. It is a moral duty, and not in the least bit pleasurable. The reader will constantly be challenged to dwell upon the horrific choices of Perechodnik. The awkward question of how we would behave under similar circumstances is inevitable.

There are a few other books mandating your legitimate interest. Only a few months ago, the Holocaust scholar Jan T. Gross released his superb work "Neighbors" which deals with similar atrocities committed in the Polish town of Jedwabne. Peter Wyden's "Stella" published in 1992 concerns a young Jewish woman who for purely selfish reasons betrayed her friends to the Nazis. Only the very thin veneer of civilization separates us from barbarism. Thus, we are obligated not to ignore the unpleasant truths about the recorded depths of human depravity. Increasing our knowledge betters our chances of curtailing future horrors.

Rating:
Summary: No, you were not a murderer
Review: Calel, suffered deadfully with the most horrendous guilt imaginable when believing he was saving his wife and child from the Otwock Treblinka bound transport in being a "Jewish Policeman" and having certain "priveleges" with the SS who in fact condemned them to death, as at the last moment a reprieve was denied them. The book is invaluable as it was written during the Nazi occupation of Poland and Calel's description of an unseen Treblinka is very detailed, proving that the Jews of the time mainly knew of their fate. Personally speaking though his mother and father wouldn't have needed the Nazis to kill them as if it were my parents i'd have finished them off myself. What vile people they were, making me realise how unselfish my own family actually are. This is a must read for anyone with a "close knit" family, you wont be able to get your head around it. I hated them. I cannot believe the War had this effect on all people be they Jews or Gentiles and that these monsters were just off a minority or there is really no hope for family's of the future if this is to be the norm.

Rating:
Summary: Important Document
Review: When I read Perechodnik's book years ago, I was profoundly moved by the experiences of the writer in the war years. Having just travelled to Germany and seen some concentration camps, I started reading avidly on the Holocaust and the experiences of survivors and perpetrators. The poignant title of the book was the thing that caught my eye and it remains one of the most startling and powerful accounts of the evil that took place in WWII. It is amazing that this first-hand account survived and I wish it was as highly circulated and read as Anne Frank's diary. Perechodnik's account lets us into the sacrifces one has to make in extreme situations and the guilt he feels throughout the war for abandoning his wife and kid entreats us. A harrowing experience. Let us never forget the humanity in us.