There are Israelis, descendants of families from Poland, who will never agree to step on Polish soil. Some of them had relatives murdered by Poles, who collaborated with the Nazi occupier. Poland is taking great pains these days to minimize, and preferably erase, any historical documentation of those Poles who helped the Nazis carry out their "Final Solution."
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The threat issued by Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski, whereby his government will consider banning Israeli youths from attending March of the Living trips to the remnants of the Nazi death camps on Polish soil, is an important aspect of the effort to obscure the country's historic collaboration with the Nazi occupier. It's worth telling the Polish government in a clear voice: Indeed, even in Israel, the general consensus is that most of the extermination camps weren't erected by Poland, rather on its soil. These were not Polish camps. But we must ask, and the historians would answer: Why was Poland chosen by the Nazis as the place to establish their industry of death? Was it due to the country's massive Jewish population at the time? And perhaps other explanations exist as to why Polish soil was chosen to soak up the blood of those murdered in the Holocaust?
In his book Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland, Polish-American historian Jan Tomasz Gross didn't make up the fact that some 1,600 Jews were burned by their neighbors in a barn in the town of Jedwabne. Polish journalist and author Anna Bikont collected eye-witness testimonies from Poles who recounted how their neighbors had murdered Jews. Their books have been translated to Hebrew. It's extremely sad and unfortunate, therefore, to see Israeli politicians, of all people, welcome the Polish threat to ban Israeli youths from visiting Auschwitz. Their reasoning: These trips engender nationalistic sentiments among the younger generation.
Mordechai Anielewicz was the leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and a member of the left-leaning Hashomer Hatzair movement, and the bunker from where he commanded the uprising should be visited by Israeli youths. Is it not appropriate to salute Paweł Frenkiel, of the right-wing Beitar movement, for his important role in helping to lead that rebellion against the Germans? Only a modest memorial in Warsaw will remind us of this hero. For these reasons, too, we should continue these March of the Living trips and fight the threat to cancel them. Auschwitz is not a fabrication. We must strengthen, for our own sake, the study of history and its lessons, without skipping over and without exaggerating the role that some Poles played in the annihilation of the Jews.
The following expression is perhaps tough to hear considering the subject matter at hand, but must be said, somewhat apologetically, regardless: In Poland, better is what he sees with his eyes. If the extermination camps were not bombed during the Second World War, they must be preserved. The presences of the thousands of students and tourists who visit these sites, from Israel and beyond, also contribute to this living testimony.
And, some here among us also argue that relations with Poland should be tempered regardless, as the current Polish government is working to fan the flames of nationalism. These same folks also want relations to be tempered, and even severed, with Hungary and other countries in Eastern Europe. However, diplomatic relations are not built on the foundations of ethical and moral principles. That these countries are members of the European Union is critical to Israel. Once the current exchange of diplomatic blows between Israel and Poland dissipates, despite their harsh nature, discreet channels of contact should be opened for the purpose of reconciliation. The odds are exceedingly slim. It is still worth trying.
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