Barbara Engelking, Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c.
Professor of Social Sciences
Polish Center for Holocaust Research
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences
from September to December 2023
Born in 1962 in Warsaw
Studied Psychology at the University of Warsaw
Arbeitsvorhaben
Hiding Jews in Warsaw 1939–1946
I am working on a book about Jews in hiding in Warsaw under German occupation in 1939–1945. Some did not obey the ordinances from the beginning of the occupation – they did not put on armbands, did not go to the ghetto. Others escaped from the ghetto at various stages of its existence (before the deportation, after it, even during the Warsaw ghetto uprising), many came to Warsaw from other cities, hoping to remain anonymous more easily in a large city. All were threatened with death at any time, as well as denunciations and blackmail. Almost every Jew in hiding came into contact with Polish blackmailers – people who, under the threat of handing them over to the Germans, robbed them, often depriving them of their livelihood.My goal is to present the dangers and the many complex problems faced by those in hiding (including housing, false documents, livelihoods, security measures) and those who wanted to help them. I want to move away from the stereotype of the passivity of Jews and the crucial role of Poles for their survival. I intend to show how much determination and courage Jews showed when hiding on the Aryan side, how they were independent and helped each other. I want to describe the individual and organized aid and – above all – self-help networks that involved many Jews in hiding.
Recommended Reading
Engelking, Barbara, and Jacek Leociak. Getto warszawskie. Przewodnik po nieistniejącym mieście. Warsaw: IFiS PAN, 2001. English: The Warsaw Ghetto: A Guide to the Perished City. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
Engelking, Barbara. Such a Beautiful Sunny Day… Jews Seeking Refuge in the Polish Countryside, 1942–1945. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem Publications, 2016.
Grabowski, Jan, and Barbara Engelking, eds. Night without End: The Fate of Jews in German-Occupied Poland. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2022.
Publikationen aus der Fellowbibliothek
Engelking, Barbara (Jerusalem, 2016)
Such a beautiful sunny day … : Jews seeking refuge in the Polish countryside, 1942-1945 Jest taki pie̜kny słoneczny dzień ...
Engelking, Barbara (Paris, 2015)
"On ne veut rien vous prendre ... seulement la vie !" : des Juifs cachés dans les campagnes polonaises, 1942 - 1945 Jest taki piękny słoneczny dzień : losy Żydów szukających ratunku na wsi polskiej, 1942-1945
Engelking, Barbara (New Haven, Conn., 2009)
The Warsaw Ghetto : a guide to the perished city Getto Warszawskie <engl.>