Rabbi Zev Friedman holding Dr. Jan Gross’s book “Neighbors” at the rally
Rabbi Zev Friedman holding Dr. Jan Gross’s book “Neighbors” at the rally
Rabbi Zev Friedman holding Dr. Jan Gross’s book “Neighbors” at the rally

Students and faculty members of the Rambam Mesivta rallied outside the Polish Consulate on Yom HaShoah to call attention to Poland’s recent attempt to rewrite Holocaust history. Dr. Jan Gross, a professor of history at Princeton University, authored a book titled Neighbors, which documented the brutal murder of the Jews in the town of Jedwabne by their own Polish neighbors. In July 1941, the Poles in that town herded 1,300 Jews into a barn, doused it with kerosene, and burned all of the Jews trapped inside.

Recently, Dr. Gross was quoted as saying that “Poles killed more Jews than Germans,” referring to the activities of the Polish resistance fighters. This indictment of Polish citizenry evoked an outcry by thousands of people in Poland today, and the Polish prosecutor is looking into indicting and jailing Dr. Gross for the crime of ”insulting the state.”

According to rally organizer Rabbi Zev Friedman, “I’ve heard many survivors speak of the glee their Polish neighbors had when Jews were being mercilessly persecuted. It was reported that eyewitnesses in the Warsaw ghetto saw Poles watching approvingly or even helping out, acting as spotters as German soldiers shot Jews. Today’s rally calls on the Polish government not just to drop charges and exonerate Dr. Gross, but to admit their history and take full responsibility for what its citizens did to their own neighbors during the Holocaust. The attempts of the government of Poland, which holds itself to be a democracy, to stifle the free speech and historical documentation of an internationally acclaimed professor of history, smacks of charges one would expect to hear emanating from North Korea and other totalitarian regimes.”

At the rally students chanted, “Do what’s right–don’t rewrite”; “Your land is drenched in blood”; and “Remember Jedwabne.”

A handful of nationalistic Polish protesters attempted to deflect blame and responsibility and spoke about how Poles, in fact, aided Jews during World War II. Rabbi Friedman lauded the heroic efforts of those Poles who were brave enough to help Jews and said, “They are heroes because they were willing to stand up against the tide of their communities. Contrast that to the history of Denmark. In that case, history tells us that it was an overwhelming Danish population that is noted for standing up against Nazi orders to liquidate the Jewish community. The focus there is not on the heroics of certain individuals but rather on the bravery of the entire community.”

The students felt strongly that with so many attempts at Holocaust denial and revisionism, it was important to speak out on behalf of Dr. Gross and defend him in light of the charges against him, and to speak out against the Polish government’s campaign to whitewash the murder of Jews in Poland by their Polish neighbors.

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