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List do redakcji Irish Times

W związku z publikacją 28 września 2019 roku artykułu w Irish Times  “Hidden for 40 years: Renia Spiegel’s second World War diary” autorstwa Rosity Boland oraz dwóch listów opublikowanych 4 października będących odpowiedzią na słowa ambasador Rzeczypospolitej Polski w Dublinie, Zarząd Forum Polonia w Irlandii wystosował następujący list do redakcji gazety.

Glówny artykul, 28 października: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/hidden-for-40-years-renia-spiegel-s-second-world-war-diary-1.4031160?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fbooks%2Fhidden-for-40-years-renia-spiegel-s-second-world-war-diary-1.4031160

List Ambasador opublikowany 3 października: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/nazi-germany-and-ghettoes-1.4037905?fbclid=IwAR3fxMZLvMf1A2YOkbQ_q5odq10F6YWonLMwW7AhesLnQs-dIE2DXipocYk

Odpowiedzi opublikowane 4 października:  https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/the-holocaust-in-poland-1.4039317?fbclid=IwAR3Rr7PNJimIwe1yGT1jfauquIUBDds-DUk-wuHbLe9u_UA9YC848u6-bmQ

 

Dear Sir,

We are writing in relation to the article “Hidden for 40 years: Renia Spiegel’s second World War diary” written by Rosita Boland and published in The Irish Times on 28th September.

Firstly, we wish to say the article was very interesting and contained significant detail concerning the atrocities suffered by Jews during the Second World War. It is vital to remind people about this very dark period of history in order to help prevent similar events happening again.

However, we wish to support the letter by the Ambassador to Poland in Ireland, Anna Sochańska, published in Irish Times on 3rd October in which she states that the article inaccurately used the phrases “Polish ghetto” or “Przemysl ghetto in Poland” in order to describe ghettos established and run by the Nazi regime on occupied Polish soil during the Second World War. Using the phrase of the kind cited above may mislead readers into assuming that it was the Polish government which was setting up ghettos.

No Polish government collaborated with Nazi Germany as happened in many other countries occupied by that regime. Within a month of Hitler’s invasion in September 1939, Poland was divided between Nazi Germany and the USSR. The Polish government fled to the United Kingdom and operated from there.

No one can dispute the fact that atrocities against Jews were committed by many governments which collaborated with Nazi Germany in other parts of Europe as well as by many individuals, including Polish citizens. However, there must be a clear distinction made between atrocities committed by individuals and those committed by the Nazi regime and the governments collaborating with them.

We were saddened when reading letters published in Irish Times on 4th October, in response to Ms Sochańska’s letter and alleging that she wished to distort history.

It is worth noting that before the Second World War, Poland had the biggest Jewish minority in Europe. It was mainly for that reason the Nazi regime chose occupied Polish territory to establish many of its ghettos and death-camps.

While it cannot be denied that there was a lot of prejudice towards Jews in Poland before and during the Second World War, this was unfortunately also true of many other European countries.

Claims that Poland has avoided painful discussions about atrocities committed by Poles during the War are untrue as is the claim that the current Polish government prosecutes those conducting research into this matter. On the contrary, Polish historians have been engaged in research of this area since1989. Indeed, in 2018 the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research in Warsaw published a two-volume study on the topic – “The Fate of Jews in Selected Counties of Occupied Poland”.

We call upon persons to duly consider all the facts when commenting on those dark times.

 

Your sincerely,

Barnaba Dorda

Chairperson
Forum Polonia

on behalf of Forum Polonia’s Board of Directors

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