The Perpetrator-Bystander-Victim Constellation: Rethinking Genocidal Relationships

The susceptible circle: A taxonomy of followers associated with destructive leadership

“…Sankowsky (1995) suggested that these followers may hold negative opinions of such leaders in private, but will often do their bidding and even publicly endorse them to be seen as "good" followers. Given they do not tend to personally support destructive leaders, but act out of fear, their behavior may range from disengagement to obedience depending on the degree to which they are coerced into acting (Ehrenreich & Cole, 2005).…”

Were There ‘Bystanders’ in Topol'čany? On Concept Formation and the ‘Ladder of Abstraction’

“…By placing the 'bystander' concept on a horizontal line, the authors manage to include a broad spectrum of involvement under the concept and show how interdependent all three concepts in reality are. 22 More recently, the 'bystander' concept has come under criticism from scholars who investigate the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. Initially Omer Bartov included all 'those who did not carry out genocide and related atrocities, and those who were not subjected to these policies, namely, the vast majority of German occupied Europe's population' under the 'bystander' category.…”

The Holocaust: Commemorated but not remembered? Post‐colonial and post‐traumatic perspectives on the reception of the Holocaust memory discourse in Poland

“…This issue is connected with the status of non‐Jewish Poles, including our interviewees, as witnesses of the Holocaust. The term “witnessing” that I am using in this text does not imply that I treat them simply as “bystanders” to the Holocaust, especially taking into account the ethical criticism and theoretical deconstruction of this category in contemporary literature, in particular with reference to Jan T. Gross' description of the crime committed in 1941 by the Polish inhabitants of Jedwabne on their Jewish neighbors (Ehrenreich & Cole, ; Friedrich, ; Gross, ; Michlic, ; Törnqvist‐Plewa, ). Generally, I follow a balanced standpoint of Tom Lawson (: 168) that “there is no single Polish experience of Nazi anti‐Judaism, no one label—be it perpetrator, rescuer, victim, or bystander—that can be applied.” But it does not remove the issue of responsibility, even for the Polish rescuers and victims, because, as Stephen L. Esquith (: 37) convincingly argues, “those who are morally tainted by the behavior of a group they belong to, even though they did not participate in this behavior, they are morally responsible” because they were aware of the situation.…”

“…In the case of the interview presented here, it must be noted that the home town of the interviewee was located in the area of Poland described in Jan This issue is connected with the status of non-Jewish Poles, including our interviewees, as witnesses of the Holocaust. The term "witnessing" that I am using in this text does not imply that I treat them simply as "bystanders" to the Holocaust, especially taking into account the ethical criticism and theoretical deconstruction of this category in contemporary literature, in particular with reference to Jan T. Gross' description of the crime committed in 1941 by the Polish inhabitants of Jedwabne on their Jewish neighbors (Ehrenreich & Cole, 2005;Friedrich, 2005;Gross, 2001;Michlic, 2012;Törnqvist-Plewa, 2005). Generally, I follow a balanced standpoint of Tom Lawson (2010: 168) that "there is no single Polish experience of Nazi anti-Judaism, no one label-be it perpetrator, rescuer, victim, or bystander-that can be applied."…”