I’ve been trying to avoid going whole hog on the WWII Corner posts. I think it’s a fascinating subject, but I can just hear Kathryn rolling her eyes. So I’m not going to keep going with it. But a bunch of readers have taken passionate exception to a previous emailer’s inclusion of the Poles in the list of “accomplice populations.” And since I have a soft spot in my heart for the Poles, I think I’ll indulge the subject once more. Here’s a representative complaint:

I can’t speak for the other countries, but the population of Poland was anything but an “accomplice population.” More Poles died in WWII/Holocaust protecting Jews then any other country. Ever wonder why Poland had more Jews then the rest of Europe combined? It was that Poland gave the Jews the most religious freedom then any other country. England, Spain and France evicted most of their Jews in the Middle Ages. Poland, and only Poland, allowed the Jews to worship in their own way. By the end of the 15th century, Poland had three quarters of the world’s Jews. Even in countries when the Jews were allowed to stay or return, they were forced to assimilate. In Poland, the Jews didn’t have to. This had the unfortunate effect of making it easy for the Nazis to find them. In France, Jews knew how to speak French. In Poland, many didn’t (or spoke it with a heavy Yiddish accent.) One of the ways the Nazis used to determine who was Jewish in the heavily Catholic Poland was to force then to make the sign of the cross. Many did not know how.
Denmark was also, of all the countries occupied by the Nazis, given the easiest occupation. The Germans, (including Hitler) felt kinship with the Danes. Denmark had the least number of German troops stationed and the least number of restrictions placed on it by the Nazis. Poland had the most restriction, the most troops stationed in it by the Germans. More leaders of all types were murdered by the Germans then in any other country. More buildings were destroyed in Poland then in any other country in WWII (including Germany and Russia.) More ethnic Poles died in the Holocaust ( three million ) then any other group in the Holocaust, except for the Jews. Poland lost more people in WWII/Holocaust, as a percentage of population then any other country, including Russia.
Poland had the only formal organization devoted exclusively to saving Jews (Zegota). Poland was the only country which did not have its own government during the occupation. The Danish king was allowed to retain his throne for example.
A good book to read about this is the Forgotten Holocaust by Richard Lukas.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0781809010/102-7341692-0311343?v=glance&n=283155