Josif Tito, leader of the Partisans and future leader
of Communist Yugoslavia.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Compare Jakub Berman to the character of Szczuka in
Ashes and Diamonds in terms of their ideals, ideology, character and what
they believed was possible. If you were to impersonate Berman, how would
you explain the purges (Slanski, for instance?)
2. What is Milosz's concept of Ketman? Does it help to
explain how people both conformed to and differed from official ideology
under conditions of Stalinist communism? In what way would Ketman apply
to some of the situations in the East European films we have seen?
3. From reading Blonski, Milosz's poems and Korbonski,
how did/do Poles deal with the perpetrators of the Holocaust on their soil?
Cite 2 examples of attitudes.
4. What arguments can you come up with, based on readings,
Kanal and Ashes and Diamonds, to explain the imposition of Stalinism in
Eastern Europe. What argument does Longworth make? Does Churchill have some
fault in the matter? What did the Soviets do or didn't do to take over Poland?
Are the beliefs and practices of Berman and of "ketman" somehow
responsible? |
