Are Norman Davies books anti-semitic?

by [deleted]

I wanted to buy his books, as I'm Pole. Hoverer, I found that many sources claim that he is an anti-Semite. Is this true? Are his books biased?

HowdoIreddittellme

I've read some of Davies books, and I've also read some of the criticism of him.

Also, if it means anything, I'm a practicing Jew of Polish descent.

The kind of antisemitism that Davies is accused of is more antisemitism by omission, rather than antisemitism that "historians" like David Irving practice.

Davies has been accused by the Jewish historical community of not appropriately characterizing the historical antisemitism in Europe, and more specifically Poland, and how it influenced the Holocaust, and people's willingness to participate in it or stand by.

Now, Holocaust scholars do have disagreements about the role that historical anti-semitism played, the most famous of which was the feud between Christopher Browning and Daniel Goldhagen, in which Browning's book "Ordinary Men", alleges that a combination of factors created an environment where they could be conditioned to kill. These factors included peer pressure, a historical German allegiance to authority, and historical antisemitism exacerbated by Nazi propaganda. Goldhagen argued that what he called "eliminationist antisemitism" was the primary factor in German willingness to kill Jews. However, to make a long story short, Goldhagen's book is not thought highly of in the historical community.

My point is, historians can have disagreements about the role that historical antisemitism played in the Holocaust. But Davies books sometimes all but ignore historical anti-semitism. Now, it could be that he truly believes that historical anti-semitism didn't play a large role, but it could also be that some level of latent anti-semitism is involved.

My advice would be to read his books if you want, but be aware of what isn't there.