Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. The idea is to open your current read to a random page and share a few sentences. And try not to include spoilers!
Derrick Jensen on whether we should just go along because it’s easier that way…
…I’ll tell you something important: the Jews who participated in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, including those who went on what they thought were suicide missions, had a higher rate of survival than those who went along peacefully. Never forget that.
This is a thought-provoking and rather mind-blowing book. Stay tuned; although I don’t know how I’m going to do it justice when it’s time to write my review, not least because my reactions are so strong and so personal. Better yet, go get yourself a copy. You can buy it at the link above.
Filed under: tuesday teasers | Tagged: nonfiction |
pagesofjulia 
Interesting teaser. Is that really true?
The simple answer is that I don’t know (although at this point, late in the book, Jensen has earned my trust. I believe him; but I don’t have the source to back this up).
As far as substantiating, it depends how deeply one wants to delve. Jensen has included a good long bibliography in this book, but this passage doesn’t have a specific note, so it would be an investment of time to find the relevant source. (Or you could try emailing him, but I expect he’s rather busy.) I did some quick googling and didn’t find anything like a specific comparison of survival rates between concentration camps and the Warsaw Uprising. I did find several sources that agree that approximately 7,000 Jews died in the uprising and another 40-50,000 were deported to camps; but we’d need not only the population of the Warsaw Ghetto (or, those who participated in the uprising) but the concentration camp survival rates too. So, no answers here. They’re out there, but I’m not ready to invest the time.
On the other hand, think of how terribly low the survival rates were in the concentration or DEATH camps. Wikipedia claims some 20-30,000 came out of Auschwitz while over 2 million died there. To have a higher survival rate than that is not a terribly high threshold. If 7,000 died at Warsaw, survivors would have had to number… um… 84 or fewer, to disprove Jensen’s claim above. If they deported 40-50,000, I think that answers our question. Of course, those 40-50,000 went to the camps – do you roll their survivals or deaths into the camp rate, or the Warsaw rate?
I’m getting carried away; but the more I think about it, the safer I think Jensen’s statement looks.
Wow this is the most thorough response I have ever seen on a blog. I may have to check out this book. it’s obviously that you are enjoying it.
Ha! Why thank you.
I hope you do. It’s a powerful book.