The Strange Allies and Bitter Legacy

Lukas wrote two scholarly books on Allied wartime and American post-war relations with Poland. His book, The Strange Allies: Poland and the United States, 1941-1945 (1978) concerned the relationship between the United States and the Polish government-in-exile and highlighted the impact of American Polonia in United States-Polish relations. ^[13] The sequel to The Strange Allies was Bitter Legacy: Polish-American Relations in the Wake of World War II (1982), which dealt with postwar Polish history and Polish-American relations, as well as the aid that was extended to Poland after World War II. ^[14] George J. Lerski reviewing the book for The American Historical Review called it an "important and well-documented study" featuring "impeccable research in primary and secondary sources". ^[15]

The Forgotten Holocaust

The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939-1944 (1986) is Lukas's most famous work and has been re-published in two subsequent editions (1997 and 2012, with a foreword by historian Norman Davies). ^{[16] [17] [18]} It focuses on the sufferings of ethnic Poles in German- and Soviet-occupied Poland from 1939 to 1945. ^[19]

Reviewers had differing views of the book. ^{[20] [21] [22] [19] [23] [24] [16] [25] [26]} Donald E. Pienkos published a review in the Slavic Review (1986) that he later described as "generally praising the book"; ^[27] it was followed by a critical review by David Engel in the same venue describing Lukas's book as a one-sided rebuke of "Jewish historians" and detailing "distortion, misrepresentation, and inaccuracy" in the book. ^[20] An extensive correspondence followed among Lukas, Engel, and others in Slavic Review. ^[27] Michael R. Marrus wrote in The Washington Post that "Lukas tells this story with an outrage properly contained within the framework of a scholarly narrative" but criticized what he felt was an unjustified "sustained polemic against Jewish historians". ^[21] George Sanford noted in International Affairs that in tackling the subject of the suffering of ethnic Poles, Lukas's work is "strictly objective and academic in tone, presentation and content. But the underlying purpose is inevitably a polemical one, as he has to rake over the smouldering ashes of numerous sensitive controversies." ^[22]

Out of the Inferno

Out of the Inferno: Poles Remember the Holocaust (1989) is a volume edited by Lukas dealing with memoirs of Poles concerning the Holocaust. John Klier noted in his review in The Slavonic and East European Review that the book is "a useful contribution" to the literature about The Holocaust in Poland. ^[28] Jerzy Jan Lerski writing for The Polish Review called the book "timely", but noted it is the weakest of Lukas's books up to date, criticizing it as "uneven, poorly organized and [lacking] focus". ^[29] The book was also reviewed in German by Dieter Pohl for Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas  [ de ]. ^[30]

Did the Children Cry?

Lukas' next book, Did the Children Cry?: Hitler's War Against Jewish and Polish Children, 1939–45 (1994), deals with the topic of Nazi crimes against children. Karl A. Schleunes in his review of the book for The American Historical Review noted that it deals with an under-researched topic, and is a valuable contribution to studies of Germanization and the Holocaust. Schleunes writes that "Lukas makes it a point... to stress 'the commonality of suffering of Jewish and Polish children', an effort in which he largely succeeds." ^[31] Barbara Tepa Lupack, in The Polish Review , wrote that "Lukas in the current volume provides a gripping portrait of the Nazis' systematic genocide plan for all of Poland as well as an excellent analysis of the relationship between Poland's Jewish and gentile communities". ^[32]

The book received the Janusz Korczak Literary Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The prize was withdrawn by ADL executives,^{[ when? ][ why? ]} then reinstated, leading to a controversy. ^{[18] [33] [34]}

Forgotten Survivors

Lukas's continuing interest in the Polish tragedy during World War II culminated in his final volume, the Forgotten Survivors: Polish Christians Remember the Nazi Occupation (2004). ^[35] Isabel Wollaston in her review of the book for The Slavonic and East European Review noted that "if approached as a memorial volume and/or a collection of oral histories, this is a fascinating book", but due to methodological issues and containing mostly primary accounts, "it should be handled with care and needs to be supplemented and contextualized from other sources if it is to be used for scholarly purposes". ^[36]

The Torpedo Season

In 2021 Lukas published The Torpedo Season: Growing Up during World War II, a memoir of his experiences as a Polish-American child growing up during World War II. A review by John M. Grondelski for the Studia Polonijne  [ Wikidata ] stated that the book has insights on "sociological impact of the War on American life" and "the challenges of growing up a Polish-American boy in the United States", and concludes it is a useful work for understanding the American Polonia. ^[1]

Bibliography

Awards

He has received awards for his work:

• National History Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (1971) ^{[18] [4]}
• Fellow, American Council of Learned Societies, (1980) ^[18]
• Doctor of Humane Letters, from Alliance College, (1987) ^{[18] [2]}
• Kosciuszko Foundation's Joseph B. Slotkowski Publication Fund Achievement Award ^{[18] [17]}
• Order of Polonia Restituta, from the Government of Poland (1988) ^[18]
• Janusz Korczak Literary Award, from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (1994) ^[37]
• American Council for Polish Culture Cultural Achievement Award (1994) ^[18]
• Waclaw Jedrzejewicz History Award, from the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America (2000) ^{[18] [38]}
• The Catholic Press Association Award (2009) ^[18]
• Mieczyslaw Haiman Award, presented by the Polish American Historical Association, (2013) ^[39]

Notes

External links

• Richard C. Lukas's homepage
• Bitter Legacy: Polish-American Relations in the Wake of the World War II - Book review.
• Forgotten Survivors. Polish Christians Remember the Nazi Occupation - Book review, The Sarmatian Review, January 2006