Grand Illusion

Andrzej H. Mrozewski is a librarian at Laurentian University.

Egit dedicated his life to the cause of Jewish people and his memoir
reflects this commitment. This personal narrative comprises several
distinctive parts: the author’s younger years in his native eastern
Poland; the beginning of his involvement in politics; the Soviet
invasion and occupation from 1939 to 1941; Egit’s deportation to
Kazakhstan; and a description of a short (1945–49) but very intensive
period of Egit’s activities when, as the chairman of the Central
Committee of the Jews of Lower Silesia, he organized the survivors of
the Nazis into Jewish Yishuv. This is the most interesting part of the
memoir, as it describes a unique and often ignored event in the history
of Polish Jews. The author’s Polish period ends with the account of
his imprisonment and work as an editor in a Warsaw publishing house. The
last chapters deal with Egit’s years of work for the Jewish community
in Canada, mainly in Toronto and Montreal, and for the Jewish people in
the State of Israel.

The thousand years of Polish–Jewish relations are most intricate and
the subject of countless books and studies. Many of those books are very
good; however, others simply repeat, without question, the same
statements or accusations. Egit believes passionately in what he is
writing, and factually reports the events he witnessed or experienced.
Nevertheless, a problem arises when he omits some historical facts that
are essential in order to understand what was happening in Poland during
the years he covers. For example, there is little mentioned on the
treatment Poles received at the hands of the Nazis and the Soviets, or
on the three million who were killed, or on the millions who were
deported by both occupants. Furthermore, there are frequent statements
making Poles accomplices of the Nazis in their treatment of the Jews,
but only passing recognition of the Poles who saved their Jewish
compatriots—often at the cost of their own lives. The references to
the then-governing group in Poland as an “elected” or
“democratic” government are completely ridiculous. Among the ignored
facts that Egit must have known about as a member of the ruling
Communist Party is the mass murder and deportations of those against the
Soviet occupation. While he does mention the infamous Kielce pogrom, he
overlooks the role played by the Polish Jews who were part of the
security and “justice” apparatus. For this reviewer, no distinction
should be made as to who committed the more horrible acts of racism.

This is an unfinished memoir, and to quote the author: “I am not an
historian and I cannot write the history of this period. But I hope that
someday, a qualified historian will fully cover the period of the Lower
Silesia experiment and its aftermath and throw a new light on those dark
and stormy times.”