Between Nazis and Soviets

About this book

"Between 1939 and 1947, the county of Janow Lubelski, an agricultural area in central Poland, experienced successive occupations by Nazi Germany (1939-1944) and the Soviet Union (1944-1947). During each period, the population, consisting of a Polish majority with Jewish, Ukrainian, and German minorities, reacted with a combination of collaboration, resistance, and accommodation. In this detailed study, Marek Jan Chodakiewicz analyzes and describes the responses of the inhabitants of occupied Janow to the policies of the ruling powers. He provides a useful typology of response to occupation, defining collaboration as an active relationship with the occupiers for reasons of self-interest and to the detriment of one's neighbours; resistance as both passive and active opposition; and accommodation as compliance falling between the two extremes. He focuses on the ways in which these reactions influenced relations among individuals, among social classes, and among ethnic groups. Casting new light on social dynamics within occupied Poland during and after World War II. Between Nazis and Soviets yields valuable insights for scholars of conflict studies."--BOOK JACKET.