Monday, January 7, 2019

Blaming Poland for the Holocaust Is Unjustified: Moshe Arens, RIP

Moshe Arens, former Israeli defense minister, who wrote the February 5, 2018, Haaretz piece, "Blaming Poland for the Holocaust is Unjustified," has passed away at 93. RIP. 

Thanks for Lukasz for sending this in. 

3 comments:

  1. "Blaming Poland for the Holocaust is Unjustified."

    Yes.

    Just like the Earth is round and the sky is blue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. While I appreciate Mr. Arens presenting historical fact, i.e., unlike other governments of German-occupied countries, the Polish government did not aid Hitler in his attempt to destroy European Jewry, his one-sided generalizations aren’t helpful to Polish-Jewish discourse.

    “…the rampant anti-Semitism that existed in Poland before World War II…” While Polish anti-Semitism was prevalent, it’s important for Haaretz readers to understand that, so too was Jewish anti-Polonism. It’s also important for Haaretz readers to understand the main causal reasons. Jews, like the Germans, firmly believed Poles were racially inferior while Poles resented Jewish domination of the economy and resistance to Polish statehood.

    “…the widespread anti-Semitism that continued in Poland throughout the war…” I assume this is the same anti-Semitism that occurred before the war. The statement is superfluous.

    “…and the continuation of anti-Semitic outbreaks after the war when it was discovered that not all of Poland’s Jews had been exterminated during the Holocaust.” Arens would have Haaretz readers presume that Poles wanted to “exterminate” Jews who were “discovered” to have avoided German captivity. The causal relationship he presents is false, defamatory, and inflammatory. Such assertions not lonely discredit the writer and but also impede the advancement of Polish-Jewish relations.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the spelling correction

    ReplyDelete

Bieganski the Blog exists to further explore the themes of the book Bieganski the Brute Polak Stereotype, Its Role in Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture.
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