Saturday, January 23, 2016

German atrocity fuelled by Polish anti-semitism

Today's Irish Times carries a review of 'The Crime and Silence: A Quest for the Truth of a Wartime Massacre' by Anna Bikont.

The book is a study of a massacre that took place in summer 1941 in Jedwabne, which is a three-hour drive from Warsaw.

The book and a previous book on the subject 'Neighbours' unveil how this was no ordinary Nazi atrocity. "Half the population of a small east European town murdered the other half".

Both books created a great stir in Poland.

At a 60th commemoration of the massacre the then Polish President, Aleksander Kwasniewski begged the souls of the dead and their families for forgiveness.

According to Lawrence Douglas, who reviews the book, The Polish episcopate boycotted the commemoration.

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