Sunday, May 13, 2018

Wither Polish War Guilt

In 1939 over 3,000,000 Jews lived in Poland. Today 8,000 remain.

A new study by the Warsaw based Center for Research on the Holocaust of Jews says Poles were mostly complicit or active participants in the destruction of Polish Jewry. The Times of Israel says, 'According to new research done in Poland, two-thirds of the local Jews who hid in the country from the Nazis lost their lives due to the actions of their non-Jewish neighbors.'

That is, Poles ratted out Jews. The Times goes on:
Arriving amid a polarizing debate in Poland over a law that limits rhetoric on Polish complicity in the Holocaust, the study suggests Poles bore partial responsibility for hundreds of thousands of deaths of Jews in the Holocaust — a figure that is significantly higher than previous estimates. 
This is commonly understood on the Jewish side of things. Poland, which has spent the 25 years since the end of the Cold War mourning its own dead and subsequent Soviet occupation, is having a hard time coming to grips with its own role in the Holocaust. Which is understandable. In the interest of fairness let us quote The Times once more:
The Polish government is also leading a campaign that celebrates the actions of Poles who risked their lives to save Jews. The Yad Vashem Holocaust museum has recognized more than 6,000 Poles for such actions – the highest number of any nation.
The times goes on to note that this year has seen an outbreak of Juden-Hasse in Poland. As noted before, about 8,000 Poles still reside there. Why?

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