[ad_1]
The following is Yad Vashem's full statement in response to the joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki on the so-called "Holocaust Law" last week [19659002]. 2018, regarding the intention of the Government of Poland to revise the controversial amendment to the Law on the Institute of National Remembrance, approved on January 26, 2018 by the Polish Sejm, has sparked the hope for a positive development and a step in the right direction. Following the announcement, the Prime Ministers of Poland and Israel issued a joint statement declaring the removal of Articles 55a and 55b of the amendment, which defined any public reference – "contrary to the facts" – that the Polish nation or the Polish state was liable and / or shared responsibility for "Nazi crimes committed by the German Third Reich" as a criminal offense, subject to up to three years in prison.
>> Yad Vashem against Bibi: When there is nothing to celebrate, Netanyahu flees the cameras | Analysis <<
An in-depth examination by historians of Yad Vashem shows that historical badertions, presented as uncontested facts, in the joint statement contain grave errors and deceptions, and that the essence of the law remains unchanged even after the Repeal of the aforementioned articles, including the possibility of real harm to researchers, unhindered research, and the historical memory of the Holocaust.
Historical Affirmations in the Statement
The statement contains very problematic wording that contradicts existing and accepted historical knowledge in this area. The wording of the joint statement effectively supports a story that research has long refuted, namely that the Polish government in exile and its underground weapons have worked tirelessly – in occupied Poland and elsewhere – to thwart the extermination of Europe. Polish Jewish community. As such, they created a "mechanism of systematic help and support for the Jewish people" and even took vigorous action against the Poles who betrayed the Jews. Although the joint statement acknowledges that there have been cases in which Poles have committed cruelties against Jews, it is also said that "many Poles" risked their lives to save the Jews.
Existing documentation and decades of historical research give a totally different picture: the Polish government in exile, based in London, as well as the Delegatura (the representative body of this government in occupied Poland) do not have any. did not act resolutely on behalf of the Jewish citizens of Poland at any time of the war. Much of the Polish resistance in its various movements not only failed to help the Jews, but it also often participated actively in their persecution.
On the issue of the balance of power between aid and persecution, the last three decades of historical research reveal a totally different picture: the help of Poles to Jews during the war. Holocaust was relatively rare, and attacks on the very killing of Jews were widespread phenomena. Despite the existence of the egota emergency relief organization (Council for Help to Jews), supported by the Polish government in exile, the activity of this body can not be projected on the society Poland as a whole and its actions can not be attributed to the institutions of the Polish resistance in general. In addition, a review of the literature and research shows that even the Poles who tried to help the besieged Jews were afraid of their Polish neighbors as well as German occupiers. The attempt to amplify the relief that has been extended to the Jews and to portray it as a widespread phenomenon, and to minimize the role of the Poles in the persecution of the Jews, is an offense not only to the historical truth, but also to the memory of heroism. righteous among the nations.
The declaration also unlawfully disbadociates the disaster that has struck Jews from its concrete historical context and the reality of occupied Poland during the war by claiming that during the war "some people, regardless of their origin, religion, or vision of world, have revealed their Beyond the scandalous insinuation that the Jews also revealed "their darkest side at the time", those who revealed this side, in the context of the world. specific amendment in question, the one that proposes to fight those who defame the "Polish nation" were not without identity.They were Polish and Catholic, and they collaborated with the German occupiers, who They hated, persecuting the Jewish citizens of Poland.
Similarly, we vehemently reject attempts to juxtapose the phenomenon of anti-Semitism with the so-called "anti-Polonism". While we should put an end to the use of the misleading and ill-conceived concept of "Polish death camps," to call the use of such terms "anti-polonism" is fundamentally anachronistic and does not make any sense. has absolutely nothing to do with anti-Semitism.
Review the amendment without changing the essence
The removal of the sections of the Act that deal with criminal sanctions is undoubtedly important. The repeal, however, reverses the explicit exception that was made for academic research and artistic effort in the wording of the amendment. Other sections that remain unchanged make it likely to be attacked in civil law to attack the reputation of the Polish state and the Polish nation. The joint statement says that no legal action will be taken in the field of Holocaust research or education. However, this is not clearly stated in the amendment. Our position in principle is that any attempt to limit academic and public discourse on historical issues to a single, immutable national narrative through laws and sanctions is inappropriate and constitutes a substantial violation of research.
Accordingly
· It is the duty of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, with his experience in the research and commemoration and remembrance of the Holocaust, to highlight historical inaccuracies and warn against the risk of violation of the freedom of the Holocaust.
· Poland is a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). For this reason too, it is incumbent on Poland to act for the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust and to combat the distortion of the facts of the Holocaust.
· The correct way to correct historic distortions and mistaken historical conceptions is to use reliable historical research, free and unpressed public discourse, and unbiased and open educational activity.
Yad Vashem will continue the academic and moral mission he has pursued since its inception: to promote responsible research by providing opportunities and conditions for researchers and educators from all over the world as well as in Israel, to struggle without restriction against the complex truth of the Holocaust era, including relations between Polish non-Jews and Polish Jews before, during and after the Holocaust.
[ad_2]
Source link
