The book describes the perpetration of the massacre by Polish civilians (a fact

first was noted by Szymon Datner in 1966), refuting a common notion that the
perpetrators were the German occupation forces. The debate that ensued in the
media prompted the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) to open a
forensic investigation, which confirmed parts of Gross's findings.[5][6] The
IPN's report stated that "[depositions] made by witnesses confirm complicity of
both Germans and Polish inhabitants of the town,"[7] and that "residents of
Jedwabne and its environs, of Polish nationality, committed these acts."
However, if concluded that Gross's estimate of 1,600 victims "seems highly
unlikely,"[8] giving a plausible range of 250[9] to 340 victims.[10] Other
historians have suggested anything from 600[11] to close to 1,000 victims.[12]

At the time of the book's publishing, the Nazi plan to exterminate Europe's
Jewry was well known, but the fact that ordinary Poles in Jedwabne committed
such atrocities less so. The publication resulted in much controversy, and a
vigorous debate in Poland and abroad.[13] It has led to further forensic study,
and discussions of the history of Polish-Jewish relations.

Neighbors resulted in provoking an intensive two-year debate in Poland on

Polish-Jewish relations.[14] In response to 'Neighbors,' the Polish Parliament
ordered an investigation of the Jedwabne pogrom, the IPN investigation. From May
2000 onward, Jedwabne became a frequent topic of discussion in the Polish media.
A list compiled by the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita counted over 130 articles in
Polish on the pogrom.[15] The Catholic periodical Wiez published a collection of
34 articles on Jedwabne pogrom, Thou shalt not kill: Poles on Jedwabne,
available in English.[16] In 2003 an extensive collection of articles from the
Polish debate, in English translation, was compiled by Joanna Michlic and
Professor Antony Polonsky of Brandeis University and published under the title
The Neighbors Respond.[17]

Neighbors sparked a controversy in Poland. Some readers refused to accept it as

a factual account of the Jedwabne pogrom. While Polish historians praised Gross
for drawing attention to a topic that had received insufficient attention for a
half-century,[18] Marek Jan Chodakiewicz and Tomasz Strzembosz criticized
Neighbors for including accounts they considered uncorroborated, and for
editorial decisions they believed Gross had made, such as favoring testimonies
that presented the Poles in the worst possible light when there were conflicting
accounts.[19][citation needed]

At the same time, it inspired among Poles "a new curiosity in Polish Jewish
history," including for the Polish film director and screenwriter Władysław
Pasikowski. The book and its related controversy inspired his dramatic film
Aftermath (2012 Pokłosie), which he wrote and directed.[20] Pasikowski said,
"The film isn't an adaptation of the book, which is documented and factual, but
the film did grow out of it, since it was the source of my knowledge and
shame."[21]