WHY DOES GEORGE WILL SLANDER POLES? THE ANSWER MAY BE TERRIBLY SIMPLE.
I first learned about George F. Will's anti-Polish views a few years ago
when he as well as many others protested against Poland entering NATO. Other
times, he mentioned Polish alleged anti-Semitism when there was no need to.
Now the chance of trashing Polish people comes again and Will grabs it. Such
a chance appeared as well before J.Gross the author of "Neighbors."
Encouraged by Rabbi Israel Singer's, the General Secretary of the World
Jewish Congress, statements in 1996 such as " If Poland does not satisfy
Jewish claims, it will be publicly attacked and humiliated in the
international forum." So it is a plan to deliberately slander Poland's name
and manipulate the American public's opinion against Poles. It was permitted
to slander Poles now. Both Gross and Will are driven by hatred and fame.
Gross (who is not a historian) while accusing Poles of a vicious crime,
failed to truly research the archives. None of them checked reliable
sources. Or they did but chose sensationalism over justice. If George F.
Will did what a professional journalist should do, he would know that there
are always two sides of a story. I say that he based his article on other
articles as such and did not read the book. Because if he did, he would know
that it's the best example of hoaxes, clumsy, and the best of ridicule. And
if he read it and still believed it, he is one naive fellow. His news is old
news anyway. The exhumation of the buried exposed some interesting facts.
Conducted by the Institute of National Remembrance against the protests of
Jewish leaders but with the presence of young Polish Jews reading prayers
revealed about 200 bodies compared to the 1600 expected. Also, 89 shells of
German type of weapons were found. With such serious accusations, Polish
historians surely hoped for an autopsy, but because of the protest of Jewish
groups it wasn't possible. Looks like someone isn't cooperating. Of course,
the author would rather keep the original story. It fits the stereotype
better of anti-Semitic Polish peasants turned murderers. The "eyewitness" on
whose accounts the book is based claimed that Jews were axed with no shots
fired, no presence of Nazis troops, appears wrong more than once. Other
potential burial sites were checked and no traces of human remains were
found. Sorry about that, Mr. Will, no more exciting revelations against
Poles. Lawsuits are pending. There is more bad news. The buried victims had
jewelry and money on them, which excludes greed as a motive. As it is the
degenerate imagination of Szmul Wasersztajn and J.Gross to make up stories
about the tortures and "little children being roped together by their
legs…then put on pitchforks and thrown into smoldering coals". Almost
forgot, the Lenin statue buried among suggests that revenge for Jewish
collaboration with Soviets was more likely the reason if Poles committed the
crime. Later, the author of "Neighbors" admitted that the number "1600" was
symbolic. He does not explain why he based the book on Wasersztajn's
accounts of the event alone rather than 29 other Jewish witnesses who had a
totally different story to tell. Gross admitted that he made a foolish
mistake by naming two more witnesses, one never lived or was near Jedwabne ,
the other was in …Siberia at the time. What's more interesting is the fact
that the documents J.Gross refers to, all say that it was the Germans who
carried out the killings not the Poles. How he came to his conclusion
puzzles everyone. One of the accused at the trial who came from a respected
family, a soldier of the Polish Underground, a prisoner of Pawiak, Aushwitz [Auschwitz - WK.],
Sachsenhausen was tortured in the prisons of communist Secret Service for
alleged involvement in the killings of Jews. Gross did not mention Jewish
collaboration with Soviets because as he said "it is a fact well known in
the West." Did George Will know about it or is it news to him? Gross also
failed to prepare the reader to objectively view the book by keeping silent
about tens of thousands Poles (innocent women and children included)
deported from the area to Siberia, by 1941, by the Soviets. Poles, whose
names appeared on deportation lists written by Jewish neighbors. Guess who
filled the positions of deported Poles? Polish historians accuse the author
of "Neighbors" of not using all the information from files available in
Polish and German archives as well. I'll say that George Will did not do his
homework, but repeated someone else's rubbish. How someone like George F.
Will could not distinguish fact from fiction, amazes me and proves that not
only American society at large but also the educated ones are showing signs
of ignorance and prejudice. Does this carnival of anti-Polish
propaganda ever end? Is 60 years of prejudice not enough for American Jews
and American media to do what they please? Vicious racial
statements like " The hatred of Jews is fed to Poles with mother's milk" are
just one of many examples. If George F. Will did not hear about Jewish
collaboration, it does not mean that it did not happen, his knowledge of
history must be limited then. Not surprisingly, this aspect of living in a
Soviet occupied country is never mentioned in "Neighbors." Since the Soviets
took over, there were more Jewish denouncers to Soviet authorities in the
Lomza district than any other parts of occupied Poland. The trial of the
Jedwabne massacre that took place in 1949 was conducted by communist UB
(Office of State Security). People like Jakub Berman, Shlomo Morel, and
Rubin Nussbaum ruled the country. At a time when according to Arthur Bliss
Lane, the American Ambassador in Poland " the government composed of Jews
who have received their indoctrination in the Soviet Union and who are
responsible for the repressive measures of the Security Police, the lack of
freedom of the press, and the lack of independence of the nation". The trial
was based on the testimony of one "eyewitness," Szmul Wasersztajn, who
claimed to see the massacre although from 3 km away. The number of persons
suspected in the crime was 9 (yes, nine) which is far from the 1600 stated
by Gross, repeated by Will ("…half of the Polish town murdered the other
half" as 1600 was the number of victims). But it stands for 1/200 of the
Poles and that hardly represents "the whole Polish community." You tell me
how can 9 people without guns terrorize 1600? And if it was possible to fit
1600 Jewish souls (some other "eyewitnesses" claim 2200 and 3300) into one
barn, that must have been the largest barn in all of Europe at the time. The
original barn was actually big enough to fit less than 400. So, let's say
those barbaric Poles locked in the first 400, burned them, then locked the
next 400, then burned another 400 and one more group of 400. That way you
could fit 1600 or even more. But you can burn the old wooden barn, only
once. The book is full of such misrepresentations and the most respected
scholars won't touch it knowing how ridiculous some claims are. I was
surprised to see that Newsweek picked that story out. The only explanation
would be the great anti-Polish propaganda. There is hardly a paper in the US
or a TV station that is not a part of it. Why is it that the public hears
nothing about Jewish Police or Judenrat in the ghettos or rich Jews who let
their poor Jewish brothers suffer and die on the sidewalks while they dined
on caviar and collaborated with Germans to buy their way out? Because the US
seems to be a country consisting of the greatest censorship among other
great things. Freedom of speech applies to the one who has access to the
media. And people like J.Gross or George F. Will don't want to give up their
"talking stick" just yet. Not until they trash Poland's name completely.
So again, why does George Will popularize anti-Polish sentiments?
Because it is permitted. BECAUSE HE CAN.
Re.: George Will - THE LAST WORD - Newsweek, July 9, 2001; p. 68
Why does George Will take part in a hate Poland campaign? He gives a
strong support to a propaganda book by T. J. Gross's entitled
"Neighbors" - a fraudulent publication - now a subject of law suits - a
book full of made up stories compromised by the results of exhumation
and current investigation by the Polish government. Gross, a New
York sociologist, apparently frustrated by his own obscurity, exploits the
tragedy in Jedwabne to finally attract attention. In the process Gross
demonstrates an extraordinary hatred for the Polish people. His
book
about events of 60 years ago is based on selected and anecdotal reports
manipulated to make it a thrilling horror tale - a fiction passing for a
documentary.
George Will usually writes about matters he is familiar with - but not
this time.
Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski Blacksburg, July 5, 2001
Author, among others, of: Poland - A Historical Atlas (200 maps and
graphs), Hippocrene Books, NY, 1987,
Jews in Poland - A Documentary History - The Rise of Jews as a Nation
from Congressus Judaicus in Poland to the Knesset in Israel, Hippocrene
Books, NY, 1993,
Unabridged Polish English Dictionary (200,000 entries), Hippocrene
Books, NY, 1993,
Poland an Illustrated History, Hippocrene Books, NY, 2000.
Address: PO Box 10037, Blacksburg, VA 24062; tel (540) 951 2343; fax:
(540) 951 1329
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