EVERYONE WAS BEATING EVERYONE

I READ Jolanta Żyndul's review of my book in Gazeta Wyborcza (8 March 2001) with great interest, though with regret I must point out that much of the information contained in the review either does not conform to the truth or has nothing to do with the content of the work. I therefore feel obliged to correct at least a few of these distortions and misunderstandings.

Nearly half of the article is devoted to an inexact description of the genesis, course, and consequences of the events of 9 March 1936 in Przytyk. On this Żyndul remarks: ‘The author's description of the course of events in Przytyk does not differ from what was already known from historical literature.’ I find it difficult to agree with this. It is precisely the absence of a balanced study on this subject that encouraged me to write this book. In fact, I devoted a section to the question of how Przytyk is treated in the literature. In commenting on various studies and articles that touched on the subject, I came to the conclusion that, with perhaps one exception, they were of little value. My harshest opinion was reserved for Jolanta Żyndul's Zajś cia antyżydowskie w latach 1935–1937 (‘Anti-Jewish Incidents in Poland 1935–1937’), that is, for my present reviewer. I wrote that the description of the Przytyk issue in her book had little acquaintance with historical truth, and I summed up as follows: ‘Owing to unreliable methods and use of facts, it cannot be treated as a serious work’ (p. 14). Seen in this light, Żyndul's assertion that my description of the events in Przytyk does not differ from what was already known is as strange as it is unconvincing. Fortunately, though, in writing her Gazeta article, Żyndul based her argument on my book, not on hers, which made it possible for her to avoid some of her previous errors.

THAT'S NOT WHAT I WROTE

The greatest deficiency in the article under discussion is its reference to statements that supposedly come from my book but which in fact are not to be found there.