Author Description

A lecture delivered at the University of Tübingen on the occasion of the author receiving the Lucas Prize, 1997. Affirms that until the Holocaust, Poland was a real home for the majority of the world's Jews, the cradle of a rich Jewish culture; there was antisemitism, but it cannot be compared to the racist antisemitism in Nazi Germany. Protests against allegations that the concentration camps were possible in Poland because of Polish antisemitism and collaboration; this accusation, along with perceptions of Jewish participation in the hated communist regime, made postwar reconciliation between Jews and Poles almost impossible. Part of Germany's guilt is the taint left on Poland because of the Holocaust; therefore, Germany must take part in the effort for Polish-Jewish reconciliation. Sees hopeful beginnings of this process. Völker Drehsen's speech at the ceremony (pp. 53-73) touches on the problematic aspects of remembrance of the Holocaust in both Germany and Poland, and lauds Archbishop Muszyński for promoting Christian-Jewish dialogue and the study of Judaism in Poland.