Unfair Ire Surrounding the Joint Israeli-Polish Holocaust Statement

A storm of criticism has been leveled from many quarters at the joint statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Some have gone so far as to call it “a betrayal of the Holocaust” – no doubt motivated by deeply rooted emotions and memories of Polish anti-Semitism in the years before World War II, and the years thereafter when many Poles were disappointed to learn that some Jews had survived the German slaughter.

Some critics seem to have lost sight of the purpose of the Israeli-Polish dialogue that has taken place in recent weeks and the subsequent statement by the two prime ministers.

It was a new law passed last February in the Polish parliament, which demanded criminal punishment for those making statements or publishing research claiming that Poles had been accessories to the Holocaust, that aroused the ire of Israel and Holocaust historians. The ensuing Israeli-Polish dialogue was meant to end this situation, which endangered the freedom to undertake and publish historical research on the Holocaust in Poland and was on the verge of ruining relations between Poland and Israel.

That was accomplished: This law has been now been cancelled. In the joint statement the two prime ministers declared (translated from the Hebrew version): “We believe that there is a common responsibility to make it possible to freely carry out research to advance the understanding and preserve the memory of the history of the Holocaust.”

It added: “We acknowledge and condemn all incidents of cruelty against Jews committed by Poles during World War II, and remember proudly the heroic deeds of many Poles and especially 'Righteous Among the Nations,’ who endangered their lives to save Jews.”

Striking a balance between the many Poles who as individuals were accessories to the Holocaust, and the much smaller number who risked their lives trying to assist Jews during the German occupation, is hardly possible.

The joint statement makes a very important point: “The Polish government-in-exile during the war attempted to halt Nazi actions by attempting to provide information to the Western Allies about the systematic murder of Jews carried out in Poland.” Actually, the first news of the mass killings was received by the Polish government-in-exile in London and from there reached the Allied governments and the media. Well known is the case of Jan Karski of the Polish underground, who visited the Warsaw Ghetto and arrived in London after a perilous journey, and related to Allied leaders in London and Washington the fate that had befallen the Jews of Poland, meeting only disbelief.

Researchers of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising know that a some small arms were provided to fighters of Mordechai Anielewicz’s underground organization by the Polish underground AK, on orders from the Polish government-in-exile in London, and that funds were transferred by the Jewish Agency to Anielewicz’s fighters who'd survived the uprising by using the auspices of that government via the AK. Some heavier weapons obtained by Pawel Frenkiel’s underground organization were obtained through Polish underground channels.

Since the war Polish governments have annually commemorated the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and have seen to it that signs have been posted where major battles of the uprising took place, including the location where Frenkiel fell in battle with German soldiers on Grziebowska Street. One of Warsaw’s major avenues is named after Anielewicz.

Much has been done over the years by Polish governments to commemorate the 1,000-year history of the Jews in Poland and to improve relations between it and Israel since the resumption of diplomatic relations in 1990. The joint statement by the Israeli and Polish prime ministers seems to have fortunately put an end to what was a needless perturbation of this process.