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It was in 1941 that the order went out that Jews were to be massacred. But the killing of Jews by Germans had already taken place under cover of the war. In war, the normal rules of living together are forgotten, and civilisation begins to crumble.
There is no end to the damage war can, and does, do. It is a catastrophe affecting everyone within its reach. At a time specially chosen for thinking about the horror of genocide, and how to prevent it in the future, it's worth thinking about war - which is also a massacre of innocents. How do we let ourselves become violent and murderous? Why do we abandon truth in favour of treachery? We have to recognise that this is something of which almost all of us may be capable, if we create (or allow) situations in which prejudice, anger and hatred govern what we do and how we struggle to survive.
Here is a case history to think and talk about. It raises a number of issues about the way war changes not only what we do, but how we handle what's been done.
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Content
Introduction
An outline of events
Witness statements
1945
1949
A school caretaker (aged 30)
A farmer (aged 48)
A farmer (aged 21)
A shoemender (aged 51)
A farmer (aged 52)
A farmer (aged 37)
A locksmith (aged 40)
A carpenter (aged 38)
A casual worker (aged 31)
Regional Commission Report 1989
2000
2001
The history of Jews in Poland
The controversy about Jedwabne, 2000-2001
Afterword
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