Michal Karski wrote in with a report of an anti-Polish
letter appearing in the Belfast Telegraph. Michal's letter is below:
***
An unbelievable letter appeared on Sept 16th, entitled
"Poles can't deny role in Auschwitz" (!!) The letter's author was a
certain Dr Kevin McCarthy of County Cork.
Predictably, a storm of protest ensued, with many
outraged comments posted. The last time I looked, I believe the number was
approaching 140 comments. Some were reasoned, some were abusive, some were
inarticulate. Several Polish websites featured the story, with at least one
accusing the Belfast Telegraph of being a Jewish paper.
A few days ago, the comments miraculously vanished.
Another letter appeared entitled "Dr Kevin McCarthy: a
clarification". It seems there is more than one Dr McCarthy of Cork and the
one who is at University College, Cork would like to make clear that he was not
responsible for the contentious letter.
The Telegraph has allowed precisely four comments with
the newest letter, but the original letter still stands. There has been no retraction
or apology. I wrote in myself several times, but it's proving impossible to get
comments or letters published. I believe even the Polish ambassador to the UK
has commented on this issue.
Nevertheless I haven't seen anything in the mainstream
Polish Press about this. Even the UK "Dziennik Polski" doesn't seem
to have noticed this.
You might suppose this would come into your category of
"Bieganski", but I actually think the Polish government ought to get
their legal experts in - if the Belfast Telegraph continues on its present
course - and maybe consider a case of defamation. I'd be interested to hear
your opinion.
***
***
Here is the text of the original letter:
Kaja Kazmierska is technically correct when she says
"Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp (was) in Nazi German-occupied
Poland" and not under the control of a sovereign Polish government (Write
Back, September 14).
However, the reason is straightforward: the Nazis knew
that Poland, with its deeply entrenched anti-Semitism, was arguably the only
place under its control that would accept such an extermination centre.
Indeed, Polish historical anti-Semitism was so ingrained
that on July 4, 1946 - barely 16 months after the liberation of Auschwitz - an
enraged Polish community in Kielce initiated a pogrom of brutal proportions.
This small town murdered nearly 50 Holocaust survivors.
This innate anti-Semitic world view was ultimately why
the Nazis located extermination centres in Poland.
And, although this might be unpalatable for modern-day
Poles, it cannot be denied.
DR KEVIN McCARTHY
Kinsale, Co Cork
Hi, to the person who has twice sent in a post saying, in all caps, that "Jews chose to be gassed," i will not post that, so please stop sending it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAfter several more exchanges in the Belfast Telegraph on the above topic, a columnist has just written a fairly reasonable assessment of the situation so far and the paper claims that the comments section gives everyone the right to have their say.
ReplyDeleteThis would be fine, except posting a comment at the Belfast Telegraph website (if you even manage to get that far), is like signing your name in the sand of Waikiki Beach: the comments are due to disappear by October 3. And the original offending letter is allowed to stand.
The Telegraph would clearly like to draw a line under this controversy and most of the remarks made by Paul Connolly, the columnist mentioned above, are welcome, but that still leaves the matter of the absence of any proper refutation of the arguments put forward in Dr McCarthy's original letter, and the snub to the Polish ambassador.
Stefan Komar managed to post some well-argued comments, and his anger reflects what a lot of us must feel . But his and other peoples' comments are going to be deleted today, apparently, because of maintenance work on the website.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Dr McCarthy, the writer of the letter which caused the firestorm, seems to be keeping his head firmly below the parapet.
Michal thank you very much for updating us.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI'm translating "Perceptions of Jews and Polish-Jewish relations". It will take some time before it's finished.
In the meantime...
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/reconciliation-between-jews-and-poles-is-possible-31565068.html
I enjoyed reading this article, but not the comments below it.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/193764#.Vg_UB-ztlHw
Hi Dr Goska. A little bit of controversy regarding history appear to have bubbled up. I was wondering if you would allow me to write something for a guest post in regards to the controversy. This is the controversy I am referring to.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/225180,Author-Olga-Tokarczuk-spurs-online-lynch-mob
Chris Helinsky
Chris send me whatever it is and let me see it and then I can let you know if I want to post it.
Delete