HERALDS OF TRUTH
588 Essex Dr., Rochester Hills, MI 48307, Tel. & Fax: (248) 650-8553
E-mail: [email protected]
Editor-in-Chief, NEWSWEEK
251 W. 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
Dear Sir,
We would like to comment on the article titled "Revisiting a Massacre" by
Andrew Nagorski (Newsweek, March 5, 2001). In spite of the allegedly "careful
research" conducted by prof. Jan T. Gross in preparing the book "Neighbors",
he used almost exclusively documents written in Poland in the postwar
Stalinist era, when historical facts were arbitrarily changed or distorted
and adjusted to communist ideology and its adherents. The scene of the
described events, a small town - Jedwabne - was located in the region of
eastern Poland, from where the Soviet occupiers with significant support of
local Jews, during the period of September 1939 to June 1941, deported to
Siberian concentration camps nearly 2 million Polish inhabitants. From
Jedwabne itself - about 300 Poles were exiled, several of them in the last
few days before the arrival of the German Army. Prof. Gross forgets
repeatedly in his book about the massive Jewish cooperation with the Soviet
NKVD - the Soviet secret police, much worse in cruelty than the German
Gestapo. It is no wonder, that during the next German occupation Poles were
none too eager to risk their and their families' lives in saving communist
party Jews. In Poland and only in Poland capital punishment was meted out to
the entire family, which was executed for the slightest evidence of aid given
to Jews.
Gross' principal source for "Neighbors" - Szmul Wasersztajn alias Calka -
collaborated with the Soviets, despised his Polish neighbors, and was
personally responsible for many tortures and deportations. After the war, he
served the Polish communist Soviet regime as an officer in the secret police.
Therefore his maliciously anti-Polish testimony is not credible at all and it
is surprising Gross sympathizes with his account. According to numerous
eyewitnesses of the tragic July 1941 events, about 300-armed German soldiers
(members of the so called "Einsatzgruppen", special troops for Jewish
extermination) arrived at Jedwabne to terrorize Polish inhabitants and commit
genocide on the Jews. That was a policy of the German occupant and Gross'
insinuations regarding the Germans, as looking for Polish advice or
protecting the Jews, is simply an incredible lie. As a rule, Germans
confiscated Jewish property, so the incentive alluded to is falsely
attributed. There were probably few Polish hooligans participating in
marginal robbery, like the three in Jedwabne who were immediately shot and
killed by Germans, since confiscated Jewish property was always considered to
be the property of the Third Reich. However every nation has its dregs of
society and such were also present among the Jews. The infamous role of
numerous Jewish leaders and officials (Jewish Councils so called "Judenrat",
Jewish Ghetto Police and so on) is well documented as collaborators with Nazi
authorities.
The multitude of errors and distortions contained in Gross' book makes it a
worthless secondary source in Holocaust studies. However, we are afraid, its
publication and promotion could further deteriorate Polish-Jewish
relationships and provoke mutual animosity. Is it the intent of NEWSWEEK to
play into such a sinister role?
Mr. Nagorski with his article performed a very poor job in evaluating the
book's validity equally as bad as that done by Jan T. Gross!
| |
Karol Gutowski
|
Andrzej Zawadzki
|
| |
President
|
Secretary
|
back to the english home page
|