Central Europe Yearbook

Challenges to Preservation of Holocaust Memory in Poland

Natalia Bobowiec

University of Minnesota

Abstract

Holocaust memory in Poland has faced various challenges in its development and preservation in the last twenty years. Notably, widespread antisemitism and the political atmosphere has caused memory to form differently in Poland than in its surrounding nations. Holocaust memory is dynamic and fragile, meaning it is constantly being influenced by Polish politics, media, and institutions. Previously, historians commonly defended one of two main perspectives: that Poles were heros or helpless bystanders, or that Poles were active perpetrators in crimes against Jews. This original binary thinking ignores additional nuances such as the prevalence of nationalism in Polish history, as well as generational suffering following the Holocaust. Building upon a third perspective introduced by Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, this paper discusses Poles as both victims and perpetrators taking into account these additional nuances and further examining societal attitudes, Poland's educational systems, and the attitudes of young people in Poland today.