But I wanted to say something about one of the reasons I wrote One Amber Bead.
A few days ago, President Obama got into hot water by referring to "the Polish concentration camps." Many Poles and Polish-Americans were upset. I suppose a lot of people thought this was an example of political correctness gone wild. But when a person who is as well-educated and as sensitive as President Obama can use that term, it becomes apparent that many people have distorted ideas about Poland's part in World War II.
I grew up hearing from some people that the Poles pretty much handed their country over to the Germans, and that Poles collaborated willingly with Germans in the Holocaust. It wasn't until my mother-in-law, Maria Stolarek, told me about her experiences in a German labor camp during WWII that I realized I had gotten a very distorted view.
Yes, some Poles were anti-Semitic. As were some British, some French, some Americans. As are some misguided souls today. But the Poles did not institute the concentration camps; the correct term to describe camps in Poland is "the Nazi concentration camps in occupied Poland."
The Nazi occupation of Poland was brutal beyond comprehension. People from many countries died during WWII, but Poland suffered the highest percentage of losses. For example, 1 of every 74 French people died during WWII; 1 of every 106 British; 1 of every 313 Americans. What were the Polish losses?
ONE OF EVERY 6!
That's right. Out of a population of about 36,000,000, 6,000,000 Poles died In WWII. This number includes 3,000,000 Polish Jews, 2,000,000 ethnic Poles, and 1,000,000 Polish citizens of other backgrounds.
Imagine that slaughter. And imagine having to make the kinds of decisions Poles had to make.
In One Amber Bead, the character Apolonya chose to defy the Nazis. The character Jadzia, whose story is based on my mother-in-law's experiences, chose to live. Given the choice of working for the Nazis or watching your whole family murdered, followed by your own death, what would you choose?
We in this country were fortunate not to have to make that choice.
So Poles tend to be sensitive about that "Polish concentration camp" term.
Thanks for reading this. I hope to get some response!
Rebecca
