Letter from Lech Bajan Polish American to Senator George Voinovich USA.
RE: U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) wrote to the Polish ambassador about anti-Semitism in Poland.
The Warsaw Uprising 1944 / Powstanie Warszawskie
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) wrote to the Polish ambassador about anti-Semitism in Poland.
In letters Voinovich sent to the Polish envoy on Nov. 5 and to the Ukrainian ambassador on Oct. 30, the senator noted his record advocating on behalf of formerly communist lands as well as his history monitoring and combating anti-Semitism.
Voinovich noted that under the previous Polish government, ousted in Oct. 21 legislative elections, Radio Maryja, a popular broadcaster, was allowed to broadcast a stream of anti-Semitism and asked if the new coalition government would address the incitement.
Senator Voinovich,
Radio Maryja is NOT anti-Semetic!
Please stay away from any of the kinds of statement which may cause damage to your Polish American votes.
The question of Radio Maryja in Poland is raised mostly by leftist groups, the post-communists,". "These people are usually against the church and not Radio Maryja itself."
Radio Maryja with community for over 4 millions poeple in Poland and all over the world.
15 years ago you began your work in humble conditions. Today Radio Maryja and your other enterprises have assumed large dimensions and are very important to the Church in Poland. The Radio is a sign of opposition. The media you have created proclaim the message, which is today important to the lives of millions.
But there are also opponents. Where do they come from?
- I think that they do not agree with what they hear. At the same time, they feel some threat to the present day monopoly to form public opinion according to their directions. We have played a different tune, different from the orchestras in which all people speak the same. Media were restricted to promote certain system of values in order to control people and to rule more easily. That was the case under the communist regime and the same can be applied to the liberal one. Media form people's opinions and thinking the way their opponents want and this is done for money. In turn, those who have money can have media and power. This is some closed triangle. But out of a sudden, a radio station has appeared and it courageously opposes the opinions, and hence it is a treat to them.
There are almost 40 million people in Poland and perhaps some 20 million Polish immigrants all over the world. We face a great task: to strengthen all people in faith and love for their Homeland.
Radio Maryja is the biggest Catholic station in Poland. About 12 % of Poles listen to Radio Maryja (CBOS opinion poll in 2003), which means four million listeners. More people listen to it from time to time. One must notice that the polls do not embrace listeners abroad; via the satellite Radio Maryja reaches almost every corner of the world where Polish immigrants live. Radio Maryja is also one of the most opinion-forming stations in the country; it is quoted by other media.
I believe the American and European media owe an apology to the Polish people for printing articles in which the authors refer to them as being anti-Semitic. Such publications and articles contribute even more to the ever-present anti-Polonism in the American and European media. Did any of those so-called American historians ever investigate any attacks on the non-Jewish population?
As far as Jedwabne massacre is concerned, Poles were the victims of such cruel acts on an almost daily basis during the WWII. This fact is kept from American and European readers. Instead, the massacre in Jedwabne, which was widely known in Poland and whose files were not hidden but open for everyone to investigate, had to be "discovered" by a fame-seeking author.
The fact that Mr. Gross left Poland in 1968 tells me that a touch of revenge may be the motive for his search. In the past, Kosinski's alleged autobiographical books were eventually proven to be hoaxes.
The thorough investigation into the case will only be in Poland's favor. There are files of the documents that Mr. Gross somehow ignored in his research, rather concentrating on the testimony of one witness. To understand the base of that attack, we must know the history of Poland and, in my opinion based on the observation of an average American person, we know nothing.
It is too difficult to understand the situation without being provided with wider information and truthful publications by OTHER than American and Jewish historians. Unfortunately, when a country is attacked - as in Poland's case - by two great powers, chaos occurs.
The double standards are evident by calling an event, such as the one in Jedwabne, an act of anti-Semitism, while in the United States, burning a synagogue in Worcester, Mass was called "an act of vandalism", a shooting in the Jewish Children Center in California -"an act of a mad man". If such acts took place in Poland, they would have been called anti-Semitic. American patriotism applied to Poles transfers into nationalism.
For 1000 years, Poland was the spiritual and religious center of Jewish Diaspora and produced one of the greatest world centers of Talmudic studies. 300 papers in Hebrew were published in Warsaw alone. Jews, unlike Blacks in America, were not forced to settle in Poland; they came here on their own will, prospered, attended colleges and universities, owned factories, etc.
As early as in 1264, King Boleslav of Poland granted a charter inviting the Jews there. The charter was an amazing document, granting Jews unprecedented rights and privileges. For example, it stated that:
"The testimony of the Christian alone may not be admitted in a matter which concerns the money or property of a Jew. In every such incidence there must be the testimony of both a Christian and a Jew. If a Christian injures a Jew in any which way, the accused shall pay a fine to the royal treasury."
"If a Christian desecrates or defiles a Jewish cemetery in any which way, it is our wish that he be punished severely as demanded by law."
"If a Christian should attack a Jew, the Christian shall be punished as required by the laws of this land. We absolutely forbid anyone to accuse the Jews in our domain of using the blood of human beings."
"We affirm that if any Jew cry out in the night as a result of violence done to him, and if his Christian neighbors fail to respond to his cries and do not bring the necessary help, they shall be fined."
"We also affirm that Jews are free to buy and sell all manner of things just as Christians, and if anyone hampers them, he shall pay a fine."
Polish King Kazimierz was favorably disposed towards Jews. On October 9, 1334, he confirmed the privileges granted to Jewish Poles in 1264 by Boleslaus V. Under penalty of death, he prohibited the kidnapping of Jewish children for the purpose of enforced Christian baptism. He inflicted heavy punishment for the desecration of Jewish cemeteries. Although Jews had lived in Poland since before the reign of King Kazimierz, he allowed them to settle in Poland in great numbers and protected them as people of the king.
Another Polish king, Sigismund II Augustus, issued another invitation. Here is an excerpt from his edict, granting the Jews permission to open a yeshiva at Lublin, dated August 23, 1567:
"As a result of the efforts of our advisors and in keeping with the request of the Jews of Lublin we do hereby grant permission to erect a yeshiva and to outfit said yeshiva with all that is required to advance learning. All the learned men and rabbis of Lublin shall come together for among their number they shall choose one to serve as the head of the yeshiva. Let their choice be a man who will magnify Torah and bring it glory."
GOLDEN AGE OF POLISH JEWRY
In Poland, the Jews were allowed to have their own governing body called the Va'ad Arba Artzot, which was composed of various rabbis who oversaw the affairs of the Jews in eastern Europe. The Poles did not interfere with Jewish life and scholarship flourished.
Some important personalities of this period, which a student of Jewish history should remember, were:
Rabbi Moshe Isserles (1525-1572), from Krakow, also known as the Rema. After the Sephardi rabbi Joseph Karo wrote the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish Law, Rabbi Isserles annotated it to fill in the rabbinic decisions from Eastern Europe. His commentary was, and continues to be, critically important in daily Jewish life.
Rabbi Ya'akov Pollack (1455-1530), from Krakow. He opened the first yeshivah in Poland and was later named the chief rabbi of Poland. He developed a method of learning Talmud called pilpul, meaning "fine distinctions." This was a type of dialectical reasoning that became very popular, whereby contradictory facts or ideas were systematically weighed with a view to the resolution of their real or apparent contradictions.
Rabbi Yehudah Loewe, (1526-1609), not from Poland but important to Eastern European Jewry. He was known as the Maharal of Prague and was one of the great mystical scholars of his time. He has been credited with having created the golem, a Frankenstein figure, a living being without soul.
Along with the growth in Torah scholarship came population growth. In 1500 there were about 50,000 Jews living in Poland. By 1650 there were 500,000 Jews. This means that by the mid 17th century about majority of the Jewish population of the world was living in Poland!
Where did these Jews settle within Poland?
Jews were generally urban people as they were historically not allowed to own land in most of the places they lived. However, they also created their own farm communities called shtetls. Although we tend to think of the shtetl today as a poor farming village (like in Fiddler on the Roof), during the Golden Age of Polish Jewry, many of these communities were actually quite prosperous. And there were thousands of them.
The Jews in these independent communities spoke their own language called Yiddish. Original Yiddish was written in Hebrew letters and was a mixture of Hebrew, Slavic, and German. (Note that Yiddish underwent constant development and "modern" Yiddish is not like the "old" Yiddish which first appeared in the 13th century, nor "middle" Yiddish of this period of time.) All in all, the Jews did well, but working alongside Polish and Ukrainian Christians.
How many African Americans till the 20th century were able to do so?
Jews came to Poland on their own will, to the country of great opportunity, found shelter from the hostilities of Western Europe, stayed and prospered, had representatives in the Polish parliament, and had the freedom of expressing their religion and customs. In some towns of Eastern Poland, Jews accounted for more than 50% of the occupants. They were respected citizens, how could this be possible if the country was, as it is widely presented on the Jan Tomasz Gross book as anti-Semitic?
Polish Jews enjoyed equal rights and full protection of the law under the Polish government. The laws changed under the rule of Prussia, Russia, and Austria.
Keep in mind that it also affected Poles as well. Their situation improved after WWI when the Polish government was reestablished.
Why, between wars, was the Jewish population growing 6 times faster than Christian population, if the alleged anti-Semitism took place?
The only prejudice that you can accuse Polish people of is to be anti-Communist.
Marek Edelman, the last leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, who still lives in Poland, said: "It is not a Jew who is the enemy, it is an enemy who is Jewish." I'm sorry to destroy the beautiful image of the peaceful and innocent Jewish people but at the time of the massacre it was well known that there were "informers," "observers," "advisors," or in plain English "Soviet collaborators" among Jews then and through the war and post.
Those did not see the wrong they were doing, the comfort came from accepting a different way of thinking. They considered themselves Poles or Polish Jews before the war, now comfortably became only Jews, so there were no ties of loyalty to Poland or to the Polish people. Collaborators gave out Poles and Jews as well (Jakub Berman as an example).
But this would be too difficult to understand for us who for decades were fed on anti-Polish propaganda. The same propaganda that Nazis used and later Soviets and now is being repeated with a nauseating consistency by the American press.
The public does not know that Poland and Israel have a very good relationship.
It is the backwardness of American Jews to prefer the stereotype. I was hoping that with the raising of the Iron Curtain, the flow of information about Poland would be available to the average American reader and TV viewer.
That did not happen, rather we prefer to publish such articles. Also by hiding from public Polish accomplishments, only adds to the image of the Poles as some primitive tribe.
The fact that Poland's economy is the one of fastest growing in Europe is a thorn in the eye for some. The anti-Polish sentiment spreads to minimize their success. We already forgot who first faced the Soviet power and fought Communism.
The difference between Holocaust victims in the USA and Poland is that in Poland Jews and Christians believe that there is no price on human despair; I guess American Jews found the price tag and the Holocaust became a good business. Some are even lining up to collect money. Poles never asked to be recompensated for their losses and they did not receive any help from the Marshall Plan either.
Besides, we must not forget that Poland was not only a victim during WWII but only recently freed herself from under Soviet occupation. We should remember that Communism in Poland was FORCED upon its people, that Soviets placed Jews on high positions, which triggered atrocities. There is no perfect nation, there are honorable citizens and there is scum in all of them. But it seems that we only find the bad in Poles and all the good in Jews. For a well-balanced story, the authors should mention what Soviet Jews did to Poles (Koniuchy massacre) and the fact that, from 34 countries, the Poles are those who have the biggest number of trees at Yad Vashem.
In WWII, Poland lost almost 20% of its population; 6 million Poles were killed. It was the only country in all of Nazi-occupied Europe with the death penalty for sheltering Jews. Germans knew how sympathetic Poles were to Polish Jews and that way, they could get rid of them both. Entire families, sometimes whole towns were murdered for sheltering Jews. 75% spoke only Yiddish, which later became a problem for those who wanted to be saved and pass as Poles. I guess American Jews don't rush to reveal some other information to the American public like: what were the Judenrat and the Jewish Police doing in the ghettos? Who took over the houses of Polish officers and their families when they were taken to Siberia?
In the American consciousness the Holocaust has become synonymous with Jewish history. Historical literature of the Holocaust has focused on the six million Jewish victims with the exclusion of the sixteen to twenty million Gentile victims.
Do we inform that Poland's government was the only one in Nazi-occupied Europe to sponsor the organization to help Jews escaping the ghettos?
What did American Jews do to help their dying brothers?
We allow speculation on almost every aspect of Polish-Jewish relationship never asking: "Why don't we speculate how many Jews would save Poles if the roles were reversed?"
For me to have a different opinion is to risk being called an anti-Semite. An intelligent but objective Jewish person is called a "self-hating Jew". A "bystander" is someone who chose not to give his and his family's life for a strange, Jewish person.
Good things are happening in Poland .But noone rushes to tell the Americans about the annual Jewish Festival in Krakow or about the opening of yet another Jewish school in Warsaw. Or even about the commemorating of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. We don't rush to tell about the "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish at the Jewish Theatre in Warsaw. Instead we publish misleading stories about a music concert in Auschwitz (!?) and killings in Jedwabne. Why is that? American historians should stop wasting their ink only writing about alleged Polish anti-Semitism. Any atrocities toward Jews either occurred during Nazi or Soviet occupation or were triggered by revenge and greed not to be mistaken with anti-Semitism. Also to suggest that all Polish Jews are long gone is wrong; many survived and became famous: actors (Holoubek, Zapasiewicz, Himilsbach, Rudzki), movie critics (Waldorf), writers (Tuwim), philosophers and editors (Michnik), politicians (Mazowiecki, Suchocka), musicians (Szpilman, Zimmerman), heart surgeons (Marek Edelman), athletes (Kirszenstein a.k.a. Szewinska), singers (Szmeterling a.k.a. Jantar). Some Polish Jews just recently became interested in their religion; Jewish schools are reopening, while the synagogues, museums, and Jewish cultural institutes were always present in Poland's cultural life. Positive Jewish characters are in every Polish classic, there are streets named after Jewish heroes; monuments accommodate their heroism and their tragedy. All this does not seem like an anti-Semitic country, does it? But it will stay so in the American media, as long as we allow it to.
Alex Lech Bajan
Polish American
CEO
RAQport Inc.
2004 North Monroe Street
Arlington Virginia 22207
Washington DC Area
USA
TEL: 703-528-0114
TEL2: 703-652-0993
FAX: 703-940-8300
EMAIL: alex@raqport.com
WEB SITE: http://raqport.com
Information to contact Senator George Voinovich Office:
Washington D.C. Office524 Hart Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510phone: (202) 224-3353
Cincinnati Office36 East 7th StreetRoom 2615Cincinnati, OH 45202phone: (513) 684-3265fax: (513) 684-3269
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Toledo Office420 Madison AvenueRoom 1210Toledo, OH 43604 phone: (419) 259-3895fax: (419) 259-3899
Half of These Holocaust Victims Were Non-Jewish.
Half of These Holocaust Victims Were Non-Jewish.
On August 22, 1939, a few days before the official start of World War II, Hitler authorized his commanders, with these infamous words, to kill "without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space [lebensraum] we need". Heinrich Himmler echoed Hitler's decree:
"All Poles will disappear from the world.... It is essential that the great German people should consider it as its major task to destroy all Poles."
On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland from three directions. Hitler's invincible troops attacked from the west, the north and the south. Poland never had a chance. By October 8, 1939, Polish Jews and non-Jews were stripped of all rights and, were subject to special legislation. Rationing, which allowed for only bare sustenance of food and medicine was quickly set up.
Young Polish men were forcibly drafted into the German army.
The Polish language was forbidden. Only the German language was allowed.
All secondary schools and colleges were closed.
The Polish press was liquidated. Libraries and bookshops were burned.
Polish art and culture were destroyed.
Polish churches and snyagogues were burned.
Most of the priests were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
Street signs were either destroyed or changed to new German names. Polish cities and towns were renamed in German.
Ruthless obliteration of all traces of Polish history and culture.
Hitler's Goal: Terrorize Polish People Into Subservience.
Hundreds of Polish community leaders, mayors, local officials, priests, teachers, lawyers, judges, senators, doctors were executed in public.
Much of the rest of the so-called Intelligentsia, the Polish leading class, was sent to concentration camps where they later died.The first mass execution of World War II took place in Wawer, a town near Warsaw, Poland on December 27, 1939 when 107 Polish non-Jewish men were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and shot.
This was just the beginning of the street roundups and mass executions that continued throughout the war.
At the same time, on the eastern border of Poland, the Soviet Union invaded and quickly conquered. Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland in half. The western half, occupied by the Nazis, became a new German territory: "General Gouvernment". The eastern half was incorporated within the adjoining Russian border by Soviet "elections". This new border "realignment" conferred Soviet citizenship on its new Polish inhabitants. And all young Polish men were subject to being drafted into the Soviet army.Just like the Nazis the Soviets also reigned terror in Poland. The Soviets took over Polish businesses, Polish factories and destroyed churches and religious buildings. The Polish currency (zloty) was removed from circulation. All Polish banks were closed and savings accounts were blocked. During the period of the Holocaust of World War II, Poland lost:
45% of her doctors,
57% of her attorneys
40% of her professors,
30% of her technicians,
more than 18% of her clergy
most of her journalists.
Poland's educated class was purposely targeted because the Nazis knew that this would make it easier to control the country. Non-Jews of Polish descent suffered over 100,000 deaths at Auschwitz. The Germans forcibly deported approximately 2,000,000 Polish Gentiles into slave labor for the Third Reich. The Russians deported almost 1,700,000 Polish non-Jews to Siberia. Men, women and children were forced from their homes with no warning. Transferred in cattle cars in freezing weather, many died on the way. Polish children who possessed Aryan-looking characteristics were wrenched from their mother's arms and placed in German homes to be raised as Germans. The Polish people were classified by the Nazis according to their racial characteristics. The ones who appeared Aryan were deported to Lodz for further racial examination. Most of the others were sent to the Reich to work in slave labor camps. The rest were sent to Auschwitz to die. Polish Christians and Catholics were actually the first victims of the notorious German death camp. For the first 21 months after it began in 1940, Auschwitz was inhabited almost exclusively by Polish non-Jews. The first ethnic Pole died in June 1940 and the first Jew died in October 1942. Because of the obliteration of the Polish press by the Nazis, most of the world was not aware, including many parts of Nazi-occupied Poland, of the atrocities going on. Even to this day, much documentation of the Holocaust is not available. The entire records of Auschwitz were stolen by the Soviets and not returned. It was Hitler's goal to rewrite history.
The Nazis destroyed books, monuments, historical inscriptions. They began a forceful campaign of propaganda to convince the world of the inferiority and weakness of the Polish people and likewise, their invincible superiority and power.
Holocaust Forgotten - Six Million Polish Citizens Were Killed During the Holocaust
I was born shortly after W.W.II in the US I hold advanced degrees in medicine and I had considered myself an educated man with a particular interest in the War. I have been to Poland, visited Auschwitz, and I came away humbled and shaken, but still I was not aware of the magnitude of the tragedy suffered by the Polish people in W.W.II until now. I wish there was a way to apologize for tolerating such ignorance for so long.
J.W. Seeds
Sophie Was Eight Years Old Living in Lodz, Poland in 1939
First person story just published!
Desperate Attempt to Defend their Homeland
Using secret code-names, they gathered underground - in damp sewers and dark forests.
Yad Vashem Righteous Rescuers
List of over 700 Holocaust Rescuers
Polish men, women and children killed while helping Jews.
Poland's Holocaust
Amazon.com
Award-winning book. Extensive documentation. Excellent source for students. Gives much more understanding of the complicated issues of this volatile time than available in the media.
Poland - Maps, General Information
Polish Home Army
Underground, clandestine
Return
Half of These Holocaust Victims Were Non-Jewish.
On August 22, 1939, a few days before the official start of World War II, Hitler authorized his commanders, with these infamous words, to kill "without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space [lebensraum] we need".
Heinrich Himmler echoed Hitler's decree:
"All Poles will disappear from the world.... It is essential that the great German people should consider it as its major task to destroy all Poles."
On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland from three directions. Hitler's invincible troops attacked from the west, the north and the south. Poland never had a chance. By October 8, 1939, Polish Jews and non-Jews were stripped of all rights and, were subject to special legislation. Rationing, which allowed for only bare sustenance of food and medicine was quickly set up.
Young Polish men were forcibly drafted into the German army.
The Polish language was forbidden. Only the German language was allowed.
All secondary schools and colleges were closed.
The Polish press was liquidated. Libraries and bookshops were burned.
Polish art and culture were destroyed.
Polish churches and snyagogues were burned.
Most of the priests were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
Street signs were either destroyed or changed to new German names. Polish cities and towns were renamed in German.
Ruthless obliteration of all traces of Polish history and culture.
Hitler's Goal: Terrorize Polish People Into Subservience.
Hundreds of Polish community leaders, mayors, local officials, priests, teachers, lawyers, judges, senators, doctors were executed in public.
Much of the rest of the so-called Intelligentsia, the Polish leading class, was sent to concentration camps where they later died.
The first mass execution of World War II took place in Wawer, a town near Warsaw, Poland on December 27, 1939 when 107 Polish non-Jewish men were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and shot.
This was just the beginning of the street roundups and mass executions that continued throughout the war.
At the same time, on the eastern border of Poland, the Soviet Union invaded and quickly conquered. Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland in half. The western half, occupied by the Nazis, became a new German territory: "General Gouvernment". The eastern half was incorporated within the adjoining Russian border by Soviet "elections". This new border "realignment" conferred Soviet citizenship on its new Polish inhabitants. And all young Polish men were subject to being drafted into the Soviet army.
Just like the Nazis the Soviets also reigned terror in Poland. The Soviets took over Polish businesses, Polish factories and destroyed churches and religious buildings. The Polish currency (zloty) was removed from circulation. All Polish banks were closed and savings accounts were blocked.
During the period of the Holocaust of World War II, Poland lost:
45% of her doctors,
57% of her attorneys
40% of her professors,
30% of her technicians,
more than 18% of her clergy
most of her journalists.
Poland's educated class was purposely targeted because the Nazis knew that this would make it easier to control the country.
Non-Jews of Polish descent suffered over 100,000 deaths at Auschwitz. The Germans forcibly deported approximately 2,000,000 Polish Gentiles into slave labor for the Third Reich. The Russians deported almost 1,700,000 Polish non-Jews to Siberia. Men, women and children were forced from their homes with no warning. Transferred in cattle cars in freezing weather, many died on the way. Polish children who possessed Aryan-looking characteristics were wrenched from their mother's arms and placed in German homes to be raised as Germans.
The Polish people were classified by the Nazis according to their racial characteristics. The ones who appeared Aryan were deported to Lodz for further racial examination. Most of the others were sent to the Reich to work in slave labor camps. The rest were sent to Auschwitz to die. Polish Christians and Catholics were actually the first victims of the notorious German death camp. For the first 21 months after it began in 1940, Auschwitz was inhabited almost exclusively by Polish non-Jews. The first ethnic Pole died in June 1940 and the first Jew died in October 1942.
Because of the obliteration of the Polish press by the Nazis, most of the world was not aware, including many parts of Nazi-occupied Poland, of the atrocities going on. Even to this day, much documentation of the Holocaust is not available. The entire records of Auschwitz were stolen by the Soviets and not returned. It was Hitler's goal to rewrite history.
The Nazis destroyed books, monuments, historical inscriptions. They began a forceful campaign of propaganda to convince the world of the inferiority and weakness of the Polish people and likewise, their invincible superiority and power. Copyright 2007 - Terese Pencak Schwartz
