The Forgotten Holocaust
The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939–1944 is a 1986 book by Richard C. Lukas dealing with the topic of occupation of Poland during World War II, with particular focus on the sufferings of ethnic Poles in occupied Poland in 1939–1945 during the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It is Lukas' most famous work. It has received a number of positive reviews and a single dissenting critical review which resulted in a series of letters published in the Slavic Review between 1987 and 1991. It had new English editions in 1997 and 2012. It was translated to Polish with editions in 1995 and 2012 as Zapomniany holokaust: Polacy pod okupacją niemiecką 1939–1944.
Subsequent editions contain updates and new content. 1997 edition has a foreword by Norman Davies. The 2012 edition also includes a preface by Lukas and an annotated list of Poles executed by the Germans for attempting to save the Jews.
Lukas noted that he decided to write the book when he realized that among the thousands of books about The Holocaust in Poland, there was not a single publication that discussed the suffering of the ethnic Poles.
The usage of the term Holocaust to refer to non-Jewish victims of the Nazi policies has been noted to be controversial, including by Lukas himself.
Content
The book focuses on the "slaughter of Poles by German Nazis", discussing both The Holocaust of Polish Jews as well as other Nazi crimes against the Polish nation targeting the non-Jewish, ethnic Polish population. Lukas notes that although The Holocaust in Poland has been extensively researched, the destruction of the non-Jewish population was under-researched, despite the number of non-Jewish Polish victims of the Nazis is similar to that of the Polish Jewish victims. The book also discusses the issue of Polish-Jewish relations during World War II with Lukas tackling difficult topics, such as issues of antisemitism and rescue of Jews by the Poles. One reviewer described the book as an attempt "to restore a balanced record of both Jewish and Christian Polish victimology."Reviews
writing for The New York Review of Books in 1986 referred to the book as an "absorbing account of wartime Poland".George Sanford in 1986 writing for the International Affairs notes that in tackling the subject of the suffering of ethnic Poles, Lukas work is "inevitably polemical", even as it is "strictly objective and academic in tone, presentation and content." He concludes that
There is little dramatically new for specialists in this sound study. But Lukas's argument that Jews and Poles were co-victims should be popularized amongst new generations, so that they can resist extremists, on both sides, who use this issue to drum up support for their respective national fanaticisms.
Also in 1986 the book was reviewed by the Michael R. Marrus for the Washington Post. He noted that "Lukas tells this story with an outrage properly contained within the framework of a scholarly narrative" but criticized the book he felt was an unjustified "sustained polemic against Jewish historians".
1986 also saw Donald E. Pienkos publishing a review of the book in the Slavic Review which he later described as "generally praising the book". A year later David Engel published a more critical review in the same journal, in which he states that while the book purports to counter bias, it is a one-sided rebuke of "Jewish historians". In his 1987 review, he enumerated alleged inaccuracies in the book and viewed it as "not only unreliable but thoroughly tendentious". This started a discussion published in Slavic Review until 1991, starting with Lukas' reply to Engel that year. Next year, Pienkos replied to Engel, defending his original review, criticized "Engel's attack upon Lukas's scholarship in his so-called ongoing discussion". Lukas and Engel continued to disagree with regards to the 1987 review with an exchange of several letters, with Slavic Review publishing the final series of letters in the 1991 issue of the journal. Maurer criticized Lukas's focus on Jews' "linguistic deficiency" versus other segments of Polish society and their respective dialects and jargons; and his reliance on selected witness statements, rather than on a rich history of Polish literature featuring Jewish characters. Redlich accepts Engel's critique that Lukas would have benefited from a deeper familiarity with his source material and Lukas's critique that Jewish historians have been "influenced" by the Holocaust, but writes the ultimate truth lies with the likes of Jan Błoński and Jerzy Turowicz, whose "intellectual integrity and personal courage" allowed them to admit the role of anti-Semitism in Polish society, and its effects on the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. The polemic series published in the Slavic Review concludes with Lukas comment that
Engel's polemics reveal fault-finding partisanship, and the extraordinarily rancorous tone of his comment strongly suggests personal animosity. Since I have demonstrated that his own scholarship is flawed, one cannot give credence to his sweeping criticisms of my book. Readers interested in the issues discussed in our exchange should read both of our books and draw their own conclusion.
That exchange has been described as "particularly vicious" by Marci Shore.
The Slavic Review also published another review of the book in 1986, by Adam A. Hetnal. Hetnal wrote that the book as "the first attempt in the English language to provide a full and impartial evaluation of Poland under Nazi rule". He noted that "Although Lukas's study is praiseworthy and his assumptions are correct, it does not contain any new revelations for well-informed reader". He also criticized the 1986 edition for "sloppy, careless, and hasty editorial work and proofreading" but concluded that "These shortcomings notwithstanding, Lukas deserves praise for his pioneering attempt to examine a neglected and distorted topic with scholarly impartiality".
Stephen P. Hoffmann writing in 1987 for The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society noted that the book "should further establish reputation as a scholar who has made important contributions to the study of modern Polish history", praising "the sensitivity of the author, who certainly seems to have no hidden agenda of minimizing the sufferings of the Jews".
Edward D. Wynot, Jr. writing for The American Historical Review in 1987 noted that
Although his observations and conclusions may not be welcome to some readers, they merit serious consideration by those seeking an objective and balanced treatment of this explosive subject. In sum, Lukas has produced a book destined to have a major impact on future studies of wartime Poland... Lukas has succeeded in fashioning a study that should stand the test of time and close scrutiny.
Czesław Madajczyk reviewed the book in 1987 for the . He notes that the book has a number of strengths as well as weaknesses, and concludes that " is a step forward in discussions about Nazi genocide and the fate of Jews".
Keith Sword reviewing the book in 1988 for The Slavonic and East European Review called the book a "notable contribution" and wrote that " is to be congratulated... for his own attempt to achieve a fair and balanced view", concluding that "His book must surely become required reading for students of the holocaust and of contemporary Polish history for many years to come".
In 1998 Ewa Thompson in the Sarmatian Review praised the book for focusing on under research area of history, not generally known to the American public. Publishing in the same venue in 2014, Farrah Madanay, a PhD student, wrote that "Lukas challenges the stereotype of the anti-Semitic Pole who willingly sides with the Nazis, a stereotype that persists in both dominant historical discourse and popular media in the West" and praises the book for "Lukas's distinct insights into Poland’s specific yet largely understudied Holocaust history."
Citing The Forgotten Holocaust, in 2000 Leo Cooper in his book criticized it as an example of a work written by "present-day Polish apologists". In turn, Cooper's usage of that term in this context has been criticized by John A. Drobnicki in a review of Cooper's own book.
John T. Pawlikowski in 2007 in a chapter published in a book Rethinking Poles and Jews: Troubled Past, Brighter Future, writes that The Forgotten Holocaust is the most comprehensive work covering the fate of ethnic Poles under the Nazis, however he criticizes its treatment as "a kind of Bible on the subject" within the Polish-American community. He states that Lukas's "basic error" is treating ethnic Poles and Jews as "coequal victims of the Nazis".
In 2012 Stanisław Salmonowicz reviewing the book for Studia Iuridica Toruniensia called the book "valuable" and suggested it can be seen as a balanced, middle ground treatment of the difficult area of the Polish-Jewish history.
The Polish edition was also well-received in Poland with positive reviews in 2013 in the popular history magazine Histmag and online history portal.
In 2018 Tomasz Szarota reviewing another book for Kwartalnik Historyczny, Im Schatten von Auschwitz. Deutsche Massaker an polnischen Zivilisten 1939–1945 by Daniel Brewing, published in 2016, noted that it had been inspired by Lukas' Forgotten Holocaust. Szarota also quoted Brewing's assessment of the book, noting that "Brewing admits that this book's author deserves credit for being the first to provide the western audience with an account of Polish suffering ".