Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Poland: May Its Name Be Blotted Out


"The Hebrew phrase yimakh shemo ימח שמו "May his name be obliterated" [often translated as "May his name be blotted out" from the book of life] is a curse placed after the name of particular enemies of the Jewish people. A variant is yimakh shemo ve zikhro ימח שמו וזכרו "Obliterate his name and his memory." Yimakh shemo is one of the strongest curses in the Hebrew language." From Wikipedia.

This phrase is illustrated with references to "to any abhorrent enemy of the Jewish people" including the biblical Haman, Adolf Hitler, Josef Mengele, and Poland. Here is their text exemplifying use of this curse in relation to Poland:

From Yair Weinstock's "Holiday Tales for the Soul: A Famous Novelist Retells Classic Tales with Passion and Spirit"

"The Poles would ferret Jews out of their hiding places and hand them over to the Nazi SS, beaming with pleasure when the Jews were carted off to the death camps. The words 'yemach shemam' ('may their names be erased!') were frequently on Meyer's lips – referring as much to the Poles as the Nazis themselves. 'There is no forgiveness,' he would declare. 'The Poles are the lowest and most despicable race on the face of the earth.'"

21 comments:

  1. Which volume? There appear to be 5. I'd like to tag the book as racist on Amazon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Danuta. I know of this book only through the above-cited Wikipedia page, which I stumbled across yesterday. I wasn't even looking for anti-Polish material!

      I found the extended quote, above, by typing the name of the book into google. One of the first links took me to the Google book page for the book. Here it is:

      http://books.google.com/books/about/Holiday_tales_for_the_soul.html?id=CYIqAQAAIAAJ

      Delete
  2. And that is supposed to be "Holiday Tales for the SOUL" because of which quality?

    Interestingly, again-"nazis"= apparently a Rotaryclub-like organization of international fascists

    Poles=Poles

    Again-Poles are at fault,to. Our so-called "government" (post-communist mafia) in our so-called "independent" country (whos assets like newspapers,media are 80% owned by-sight-amongst others, German companies like Polskapresse from Passau) has the money to promote Bieganski-but no money to promote Pilecki.

    One hope remains-a national rebirth like the one in Hungary.Hungary is very often atttacked by the "enlightened" "progressives" in Europe as-yes! "anti-Semitic, rascist,anti-Gypsy and what not".

    But Orban and Fidesz they dont give two damns but are offering positive national pride in Hungarian history,language,customs to their people (which, as the new constitution stresses, consists of Hungarians (not in a rascist sense,of course) AND the national minorities)

    They seem to realize that only they themselves are holding the keys to Hungarys welfare-NOT the "progressive" haters in the West.

    So, everyone, pray (or, if you can spare a buck-donate to truely patriotic Polish organizations in Poland) that Poland will experience soon the vey same revival Hungary has.

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  3. Haman, Hitler, Mengele. Sometimes I wonder what name comes to mind of an average American Jew when they think of Poland. Can they find any Pole who deserves to be called "Polish Haman"? Some polish king who persecuted Jews? An inquisitor maybe? A Nazi collaborator perhaps? Centuries of coexistence. There should be a Pole known to the whole world for his undeniable, murderous anti-semitism. An ugly face of Poland.
    So, who's ready for a little test?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Conformer with a CauseDecember 12, 2012 at 3:10 PM

      Well Felix Dzerzhinsky must have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Jews. To be fair, he was also responsible for deaths of many thousands of others so probably couldn't be classed an "anti-semite" as such.

      Delete
    2. Since those "others" included thousands of Poles, I don't think he represents Poland. Plus he was on Russian side during Polish-Soviet War (1919-1920), so that hardly makes him a patriot. He was more like a polish equivalent of Leon Degrelle, Pierre Laval or Vidkun Quisling. A disgrace to his nation, a traitor of his country and a failure as a human being.
      By the way, anti-semites may also persecute non-Jews. In fact, they rarely limit their hate to just one group of people. Take Nazis or Ku-Klux-Klan for an example.

      Delete
  4. http://www.levitt.com/essays/forgiven

    I am not even in the slightest astonished anymore...

    They were able to do this because of the willing cooperation of many Germans, Poles and other European collaborators. Indeed, Jews were trapped in the European hell in part because of the indifference to their plight practiced by Britain, America and the rest of the world.

    Does "many Germans" also include the millions of German administration personel that made it possible in the first place? Sight....S.o plz write this guy, Im off to Austria tomorrow morning....

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is not the first time this has happened. I have read Jewish authors who have made similar vile collective comments about Poles. For an example, please click on my name in this specific posting.

    I have met Poles who had been tortured by Jewish Communist Bezpieka (U. B.) officers, yet have not met a single one who would curse all Jews because of this experience.

    'The Poles are the lowest and most despicable race on the face of the earth.' Huh? I heard all this somewhere before. That is exactly what the Nazis said about the Jews! One would think that Jews, of all people, would know better than to think in this way.

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  6. Hanna, which organisations in Poland do you think are are truly patriotic?

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  7. To Pawel: There are several- f.e the Instytut Sobieskiego, Fundacja Republikanska.You could buy books by f.e Osrodek Mysli Politycznej,You could donate money for patriotic film projects (like Pilecki Project or Historia Roja) or help out the magazine Nowy Obywatel (which has a patriotic left-wing tendency :-)). Of course, it should reflect Your personal feelings as well. If You want to help out the Polish Catholic church who runs Polish language lessons in many countries. Or help out organizations who help the Polish minority left behind Polands borders-Just some of my personal ideas :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Having looked at the web sites of the first three organisations you listed Hanna, I can't see what is especially "patriotic" about them. They espouse a variety of centre right/right views on a range of socio-political and economic issues. In the discussions on this blog you have articulated, on more than one occasion, several of the positions found on these web sites.

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  9. Your name is Komuchruski - enough said

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  10. The above is your attempt at humor? I believe you've just made an ad hominem attack on me and so I hope the moderator takes the appropriate action.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pawel Komorowski, would you like me to delete the comment? I'm happy to do so. On the other hand, it is evidence of something -- mostly how weak some arguments can be.

      Delete
  11. Don't delete it because it's evidence of something - perhaps not of how weak some arguments are because it is not an argument - but perhaps of how some people are prepared to be nasty when they have nothing intelligent to say.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay. Every now and then I do post insulting messages just to let readers know how this conversation can go wrong.

      Any point anyone wants to make about these matters can be made without resorting to insults.

      Delete
  12. The response is commensurate with the comment you made - clearly, these kinds of snide remarks add to the conversation:

    "I can't see what is especially "patriotic" about them. They espouse a variety of centre right/right views on a range of socio-political and economic issues."

    do you know what patriotic means? why do you feel you need to put patriotic in quotes? what do you consider "truly patriotic"?

    "In the discussions on this blog you have articulated, on more than one occasion, several of the positions found on these web sites."

    Thanks Captain Obvious.

    Anything else?

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  13. Since patriotism was not defined but implicitly and then explicitly, identified with a number centre-right/right views, I put it in quotes because there is no agreed definition. However, Hanna has argued for a number of these view on more than one occasion.

    Your poor attempt at a pun on my family name, designed to imply that I am a communist or have strong communist sympathies, simply indicates a high level of anger looking for an outlet but no argument worth bothering with. The fact that you end with another insult simply confirms that.

    If you have something to contribute to this discussion that actually moves it forward, please go ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  14. "Since patriotism was not defined but implicitly and then explicitly, identified with a number centre-right/right views, I put it in quotes because there is no agreed definition."

    Discussing which views best fit a term whose meaning the participants do not agree on is, charitably, a discussion about nothing.

    Don't be coy. Your question was snide and dishonest. Since you noted that Hanna has made such statements before, you must have been well aware of why she considers the views of these kinds of establishments to be "patriotic". By your question we can assume that you do not, although, and notwithstanding the q above, you still have not answered what it is that you consider "patriotic."

    "The fact that you end with another insult simply confirms that."

    As I said before, thanks Captain Obvious.



    ReplyDelete
  15. "Discussing which views best fit a term whose meaning the participants do not agree on is, charitably, a discussion about nothing". So you say, presumably based on your experience, but the process itself may lead to something positive or, as in the case of your intervention, allow scope for the angry and frustrated to vent their spleen.

    You ask me for a definition of patriotism. I don't think I need answer that since I didn't introduce it into the discussion. However, I will say this much: on one of these "patriotic sites" it states that they believe in a liberal economy. I don't see what that has to do with patriotism but perhaps you can throw light on the matter.

    "As I said before, thanks Captain Obvious." Sometimes the obvious has to be pointed out again and again - ask any teacher, but I am heartened to see that you agree with me here that you have little to contribute.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "So you say, presumably based on your experience,"

    No, rather based on l o g i c .

    "You ask me for a definition of patriotism. I don't think I need answer that since I didn't introduce it into the discussion"

    Since you latched onto it, and suggested that certain sites are not "particularly patriotic", it seems fair to assume that you have in your head a definition of what it is and it also seems fair then to ask of you to come up with something to share.

    If you don't have one, then this really is a series of pointless posts. If you do, then we will assume you are uncomfortable sharing it perhaps b/c it's not easily defensible or perhaps b/c you do not think that the participants of this forum would appreciate it or relate to it.

    Ok

    "but I am heartened to see that you agree with me here that you have little to contribute"

    Ha, I agree with you that it was an insult - that's about it.

    Merry Xmas

    ReplyDelete

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