“black Book of Polish Jewry” Estimates 1,000,000 Polish Jews Killed by Nazis

An estimated 1,000,000 Polish Jews have been killed by the Nazis since the beginning of the war, it is stated in “The Black Book of Polish Jewry,” which is described by its sponsors, the American Federation of Polish Jews, as “the first fully documented account of the persecutions to which the Jews in Poland have been subjected by the Germans.”

The volume, published today, has been in preparation for a year. It says that approximately 1,200,000 Jews will be found within the boundaries of Poland when the Nazis are driven out, but hardly any of these will be in their original place of residence. Most of them are in concentration camps, labor camps, concealed in hiding places or fighting with guerrilla bands. The “Black Book” covers the period from Sept. 1, 1939 through last Spring when the Warsaw ghetto was liquidated after a lengthy pitched battle between the Jewish residents and regular German army troops.

Besides photographs of scenes of Nazi persecutions of Jews, the volume contains reproductions of Nazi documents, proclamations, posters, etc., and hundreds of affidavits of eyewitnesses to scenes of wholesale slaughter and deportations. In addition there are the complete reports of secret couriers who managed to spend long periods in occupied territory and escaped without detection by means of the well-organized underground system. Publication of the book is sponsored by a board consisting of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Mayor LaGuardia of New York, Congressman Emanuel Celler, Secretary Harold L. Ickes, Senator Robert H. Wagner, Polish Minister Sylwin Strakacz and others.