ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A book as detailed as this one must depend on the kindness of colleagues and friends who supported me, paving my way. My deepest gratitude goes to of Sara Arm; Manny Bekier; Andrzej Białek, Stowarzyszenie im. Jana Karskiego, Kielce; Bogdan Białek, Stowarzyszenia im. Jana Karskiego, Kielce; Barbara and Marek Brandys; Anna Brzezińska; Michał Chęciński; Jarosław Dulewicz; Martyna Fabisiak; Józef Fajngold; Ame Gilbert; Anka Grupińska; Ewa Gwóźdź; Eugenia Hinton-Pocałun; Wisława Keizman-Majtlis; Artur Karp; Adam Koński; Ewa Kossowsky; Yaacov Kotlicki; Mirosława Kropiwnicka; Bartłomiej Krupa; Julian Kwiek; Renée Levkovitch; Dariusz Libionka; Steve Lippman, Jewish Week, Boston; Marcel Łoziński; Anna Majdanik; Małgorzata Maliszewska; Steve Montag; Niusia Nestl (Henrietta Borensztajn-Nester); Anna Niklewicz; Margalit Suchoy and her husband, Eitan; Henryk Pawelec; Anna Piątek; Sharona Roffman; Andrzej Ropelewski; Joachim Russek; Joan W. Scott; Wojciech Wilczyk; Marcin Zaremba.

The research that forms the foundation of this book was carried out with the support of a Marie Curie Fellowship funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and the European Commission (2013–2015, in the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey) as part of the “Anti-Jewish Pogroms in Central and Eastern Europe” research theme of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw.

I would like to thank the Czarna Owca Publishing House, especially its director, Paweł Książkiewicz, for comprehensive assistance in the writing of the original Polish-language edition of this book, including the funding of costly translations and supplemental archival searches, as well as countless copies of archival documents and images.

I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of the Institute of National Remembrance (the branch at Krasiński Square in Warsaw and the branch in Kielce) for their efficient, patient, and comprehensive help during my many years of research in these archives. I am especially grateful to the Warsaw archivists Olga Laskowska and Andrzej Smolarek, whose advice I could always count on, and likewise archivists in the Kielce branch—Monika Adach, Monika Szczerba, and Andrzej Strzelecki. The archival documentation was transcribed by Wanda Ostrowska. The electronic documents were reviewed against the originals by Jolanta Sheybal, who is also the editor of both volumes of the original, Polish-language edition. The literary editing of the first volume of the Polish edition was carried out by Juliusz Kurkiewicz, and the proofreading was performed by Aleksandra Kiełczykowska. The footage for Marcel Łoziński’s film Witnesses was transcribed by Miroslawa Kropiwnicka. The materials from the second Kielce investigation, which professor Krzysztof Persak from the Institute of National Remembrance helped me to obtain, were photographed by Magdalena Prokopowicz. The search in the State Archives in Kielce was carried out by Jarosław Dulewicz; in the National Archives in Krakow by Karolina Panz; and in the Central Military Archives (today’s Military Historical Office, with branches in various locations) by Martyna Bójko. The photos of contemporary Kielce were taken by Wojciech Wilczyk; Alina Skibińska lent her own photo of 7 Planty Street for the cover of the second volume that was published in Polish. Rafael Blumenfeld’s account was translated from Hebrew by Anna Piątek, and Anczel Pinkusiewicz’s account from Yiddish by Sara Arm, to whom I am also indebted to for making many other valuable materials available to me. I am also grateful to Dr. Łukasz Śleszkowski for formulating a pathomorphological opinion on the 1946 reports of the external examinations of the bodies of pogrom victims, as well as to Ewa Kossovsky and Wojciech Tochman, who put me in contact with him. I thank Dr. Christi Cavaliere, MD, and Dr. Caroline Sturdy Colls for their expert assistance with the translation of the medical and forensic terminology in chapter 2 and elsewhere.

I thank the family of Dr. Michał Chęciński for their trust in opening his archive to me, and for their repeated hospitality. My husband, Michał Pawilno-Pacewicz, helped me to review this archive. I am grateful to Marcel Łoziński for providing recordings of conversations that were not included in his film Witnesses, and to Michał Jaskulski for generously providing access to visual materials collected during his work on the film Planty 7/9. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the survivors of the Kielce pogrom, as well as to their families and friends, for providing access to their accounts and archives. I am especially grateful to Sharona Roffman, and Chilik Weizman, who enthusiastically brokered my contact with Niusia Borensztajn-Nester, the hero of chapter 1; and to Bronek and Julietta Bergmans and Ame Gilbert, who made it possible for me to meet Józef Fajngold, as well as the youngest survivor of the pogrom, Renée Levkovitch, for their patience and long talks.

I am grateful to all the readers of the early versions of this book for their critiques: Natalia Aleksiun, Sara Arm, Baruch Bergman, Anna Bikont, Helena Datner, Andrzej Friszke, Irena Grudzińska-Gross, Jan T. Gross, Ewa Gwóźdź, Michał Jaskulski, Katarzyna Koschany, Yaacov Kotlicki, Bartłomiej Krupa, Łukasz Krzyżanowski, Marcin Kula, Juliusz Kurkiewicz, Marek Maciągowski, Leonard Neuger, Joanna Roszak, Szymon Rudnicki, Alina Skibińska, Aleksander Smolar, Michael Steinlauf, Mirosław Tryczyk, Izabella Wagner, and others. Their good will and perceptiveness allowed me to avoid many errors. I did not always listen to all the advice, so the responsibility for the present shape of the book rests entirely with me.

Many thanks to Rosie Cain and Steven Feldman of the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, as well as Susan Specter from Cornell University Press, for their engagement and assistance in the final stages of the book’s publication. I am especially grateful to Dorota Głowacka and Claire Rosenson, who believed in this book. Claire’s editorial talents are visible on every page. And finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Ewa Wampuszyc, my invaluable translator, for her tenacity and perseverance. The combination of her linguistic skills and area studies knowledge brought a level of nuance and understanding to this project that is uncommon when moving between languages and cultures. It was a privilege and rare opportunity to work with her.

I thank the sponsors of the English-language translation of the book from the bottom of my heart:

Yaacov Kotlicki (Kieltzer Society of Israel), in memory of his father Herszel Kotlicki, a survivor of the Kielce pogrom;

Manny Bekier, president, Kieltzer Society of New York;

Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak on behalf of Beit Polska, Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland, and the Ballonoff Family Foundation;

The Jack Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, thanks to which the English-language edition was made possible.

Last but not least, I thank my husband, Michał Pawilno-Pacewicz, always the first reader of my works, for creating a safe space where everything becomes possible.