Yes, the writer is correct that the Germans brought the Holocaust to Poland but the Polish people had been waiting for an opportunity to do a mass pogrom for a long time. Most Poles were more than happy to help the Germans be as inhumane as possible to their longstanding Jewish neighbors. I know, I lived in Poland even after the war. Now they like taking our money but they still hate us even though there are only a few of us left there. You don't know because you don't speak Polish & can't understand what they say behind your back.

is not just a flag....it´s a tallit - and for the goyem here...a prayer shawl get the drift ?????

The flag of The State of Israel includes two blue stripes on white background with a Shield (Star) of David (in Hebrew: Magen David) in the center. This design was first displayed in Rishon-LeZion in 1885 and was also used at the First Zionist Congress in 1897 (Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1971). It was inspired by the tallit (the prayer shawl with blue stripes worn by Jews during prayer) as a symbol. The Star of David is a common symbol of the People of Israel from Biblical times. The flag was adopted officially on October 28, 1948 (25 Tishre, 5709) by the Speaker of the Provisional Council of State

I really appreciate it. I think I understand the issue a little better. I misread part of the article and I didn't realize that they wear the flag on the streets. I thought it was when they were touring the camps only. There are so many raw feelings on both sides that it's not easy to give a fair opinion, but I'll try. 1) First of all, the idea of group tours may not be wise. These trips should be subsidized, when warranted, but youngsters should be encouraged to go individually when old enough to do so, or with an adult companion (a parent, older sibling). These trips should take place because of a genuine individual emotional need, not as group field trips. Some kids tend to behave badly when in a group. It happens everywhere, not just with Israeli kids. 2) Feelings about Poles. We must keep in mind that this is a new generation. They are not to blame for the pogroms or for historical anti-Semitism. That some Poles still hold anti-Semitic feelings is not surprising, considering the teachings of the Polish Catholic Church. It has always been notoriously anti-Semitic. But I don't think that Jewish kids are necessarily at more risk there than in other European countries. So in spite of existing anti-Semitism, we have to start building new relationships. People can change. Both Poles and Israelis need to get to know one another. Although I fully understand the pain experienced by Jews who still remember the loss of loved ones at the camps, or even their own personal experiences there, I think that we should give the younger Poles a chance to get to know their Israeli counterparts under more normal circumstances. It's not helpful to rub their sensitivities with displays that imply guilt in every Pole they meet. The flags in the streets, the body guards, and the personal accusations for things that happened two generations ago, all that makes them defensive and creates ill-feelings among even otherwise open-minded people. Along with keeping in mind that the last couple of generations are not to blame for the horrors of WW2, we must not forget that there were many Poles who risked their lives and those of their immediate family to hide and save Jews. I'm Jewish myself, and when I was in Poland I felt as safe as I would feel in any other European city. I think I look Jewish but I was never treated with disrespect. I tend to think that Poles would like to show the world that they are indeed a new generation, better educated, more aware of what even small acts of racism can lead to. I think we should give them a chance. How is anti-Semitism going to be overcome if we irritate people who had nothing to do with what their ancestors did. This is such a painful issue for all Jews, so these views are my own, and I don't attempt to represent anyone else. 3) A bigger concern right now is the survival of Israel. There are serious dangers for Jews these days, with millions of people sharing an ideology of violent hate, right outside Israel's borders, and spilling into Europe and America. We should do our utmost to contain it, and to overcome this danger, but we need to do it with the help of others. The Europeans must be reminded constantly of this danger, since their civilization is also at stake. That is one of our roles as Jews: to show the urgency needed in fighting off that ideology, and not to let it take root in the Western world.

My father, who survived to Holocaust, visited Auschwitz a few years ago. The kids with Israeli flags around their shoulders were a gift of God.

I have been to poland, and had a wonderful time everyday. I love poland, and can vouche that all are not jew haters or nazis or the like. In fact most are not. If anyone has told you otherwise, they are misinformed. That all said, ANY jew, should be allowed to wear a star of david ANYWHERE in poland. If they feel the need then more power to them. Nobody should feel uncomfortable with it unless the individual is acting incorrectly. (but wearing a flag is not) Everyone is quick to forget the history behind events. There were not only death camps in poland. There were ghettos. There were battles waged all over the nation. Where jews fought and died in the armies of POLAND. There were uprisings (think about warsaw) where jews were left by the russians to be exterminated rather then the soviet armies simply continuing their offensive. (the nazis and soviets aggreed to a temporary lull in order to allow the nazis to finish them off, so stalins henchmen wouldnt have to) In almost every town there are graves, battlefield, or some other reminder of what happened there. And it doesnt matter how ill-educated people are, or if they would prefer to forget....the decendants of those people have the RIGHT to wear whatever they like, to show that they are still here. The jews fought for POLAND and her right to self determination, and should be treated with due respect

it seems that you know nothing about WWII. it's you who is ignorant. There are documented incidents about jewish survivors returning after the holocaust was over to their homes in Poland only to be murdered by the poles. and also there are ducumented incidets about polish jews that were murdered by their polish neighbors during the holocaust. so greg please it is you that have to open the history books and yes think before you post anything.

Pau, your nonsense is just laughable. Poles were 'waiting for an opportunity to do a mass pogrom'?! Were they also waiting with impatience to be MURDERED by Germans? Think, before stating such a BS next time. Your money? Give me a break, what your turists leave in Poland is a chap-change. These lies that Poland took an acitve part in extermination of Jews are getting very old. "The camps were located in German-occupied Poland, the European country with by far the largest Jewish population, but they were most emphatically not "Polish camps". This is not a mere semantic matter. Historical integrity and accuracy hang in the balance. Poland was the first nation attacked by the Third Reich, which ignited the Second World War on September 1, 1939. Polish forces fought valiantly, but were overwhelmed by the larger and better equipped Nazi army that invaded from the west, and then by the Soviet army, an ally of Hitler at the time, which attacked from the east. Nonetheless, Polish forces in exile continued the struggle against Hitler, together, of course, with other Allied troops, until the war's end. And it should also never be forgotten that, in addition to Polish Jews, who were targeted for total annihilation by the Nazi Final Solution, other Poles, including political prisoners such as Professor Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, who spoke so movingly at Auschwitz on January 27, and who was a key figure in the Polish underground, were also seized by the Nazis and incarcerated in concentration camps. Any misrepresentation of Poland's role in the Second World War, whether intentional or accidental, would be most regrettable and therefore should not be left unchallenged." January 30, 2005 - New York - American Jewish Committee Executive Director David A. Harris -- Read some historic books, you uneducated and ignorant morons.

MIchelle, you addressed this paragraph to completely wrong nation: "Although I fully understand the pain experienced by Jews who still remember the loss of loved ones at the camps, or even their own personal experiences there, I think that we should give the younger Poles a chance to get to know their Israeli counterparts under more normal circumstances. " Are you forgetting that were Germans WHO killed people KLs? If you are claiming that Poles did that too, please provide ANY reliable historic document that says so. Poles killed about 400 people in so called pogroms. But also, any source that would tell you that, conveniently forgets about the other side's story. It's as simple as physics: action -> reaction. Poles didn't do what they did simply because they were bored or hated Jews so much. What do you know about your compatriost taking an active part in killing Poles, while helping Soviet invader, between '39 and '41? Presenting facts of one side, changing numbers, tweaking facts is nothing more then pure MANIPULATION. Also, you are wrong about this strong anti-semitism in Poland. I lived there for 27 years, and have never heard a word against Jews. When I moved abroad I learnt really interesting things. That my grandparent were helping German, that they built KLs, that Poland was a monster and that all Poles sucked their anitsemitism with mothers' milk. It's nasty propaganda and anti-Polonism. Any person (or most of them) who lives in Israel is taught to hate Poland and Poles, grows up with that hate and finally writes nonsense like: 'Poland killed 1 million Jews' My suggestion: to the historic books, my Israeli friends, read FACTS not propaganda. ~g.

The Germans located the death camps in Poland because they knew the Poles would not be uttlerly shocked. Remember the pre-1939 antisemitic laws and policies in Poland under the colonels regime, Poland's cooperation with Germany in the destruction of Czechoslovakia, the way the Polish resistance killed Jews throughout the war and declined to help the ghetto fighters, the pogroms after 1945, the antisemitic campaigns of 1956 and 1967. And how they pretented to "annex" Auschwitz in 1989.

another smart one... Thank you! Some of you are even worse than polish worst antisemities... Can't believe I can read such BS Guys: As Michelle said you're surrounded by enemies. To me, wise move is to make friends, convince people to your point of view. Make friends with other nationalities. And you act like blindfolded! Slamming locals with armed bodyguards is not the way! Also such opinion like presented here won't help in closeup between Poles and Jews. I think idea of trips to Poland is bad, right now. If you spend money for this - spend some more to meet local people. What lesson do you give to the teens: we're going to enemy country, be prepared for attacks, armed to teeth bodygourds are with us (!!) Without real dialog you just preserve old biases. The question is do you want dialog? Or it's easier to have clear enemy, you can always blame with antisemitizm ?! Reviewing your comments I think it's true. BR/ Pawel

So is it why we had largest Jewish community of all European countriest for hundreds of years? Because I thought it was due to the fact that Poland was the most tolerant country of all, giving shelter to Jews being oppressed in other countries. But what do I know, Jewish kids now have new history books...

Oh, I thought it was because Poland is the centre of the Europe and had largest Jewish community on her land. Does the word "logistics" ring the bell? And, of course, I must also repeat myself and write something about Polish antisemitism which caused Jews were happy to live on this land.

Dear writers, I see most of you consider Poland antisemitic country. I could discuss with that, but I won't. I will however say that Jews are the most anti-Polish nation of all - now tell me why should we respect your country? Poland was the only country where one could be killed for helping Jews and on the other hand - see how many "Polish" trees is in Yad Vashem. Also regarding the article - I have never heard that someone in Poland complained about Jews wearing Israeli flag (except for the skinheads and other freaks).

Sorry dude, but you are simply silly speaking with such a 'authority' - they did cause they knew. One and ONLY reason why KLs were built on Polish soil was a number of Jews living there - the biggest in whole Europe (that's probably because of that animal antisemitism, right?) "- Does the fact that the "Final Solution" took place in the East say anything about the nations of Eastern Europe? - No, it has to do with the concentration of Jews. Had there been a larger concentration of Jews in the Balkans, the extermination would have taken place there. Since most of the Jews were in Poland and Russia, the main killing centers were in those areas." - David Bankier, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

That's why I wrote that I have mixed feeling about that. I certainly have nothing against the Jewish flag, and I am perfectly aware that Jews died and fought all over Poland and in the Polish armies. But I think that maybe there is some exaggeration. I cannot speak definitely because I never really saw those groups. But I believe that one can use too much of nationalist symbols. You can identify your nationality by means of t-shirts, jackets, hats, flags attached to backpacks, and it's all fine and normal, and it gets the message through. There's no need to parade draped in huge flags. As I said before, I did it once myself - during the Catholic youth days. We had huge Polish flags, polish t-shirts, ¨Polish hats, etc. But after two days we started to feel strange about it. One of my friends joked that he wasn't going to be able to look at a Polish flag for a while. I took it as a lesson to not exaggerate with such things. But if they want to go around with huge flags, if it helps them, I don't mind. That's not the issue. "There were uprisings (think about warsaw) where jews were left by the russians to be exterminated rather then the soviet armies simply continuing their offensive." There were some Jews fighting in the 1944 insurrection...but are you sure you don't mix up the 1943 and the 1944 uprising? :)

Pre-1939 antisemitic laws and policies??? Colonels regime??? Destruction of Czechoslovakia??? You don't even know the history of Ghetto uprising... You, the Jew... Dear God, please send more history teachers to this blessed country of Israel....

Jack: I beg to disagree with you on this issue. In the melting pot of the US, the ultimate immigrant country, the concept of national identity is different than in the countries of Europe. It lacks many focal points the European countries use as markers of national identity. A flag is one of such markers (most Americans are fond of at least two national flags, the Europeans are not that ‘generous’). The question is not whether it is legal or not to walk in the streets and display a foreign flag. The law does not apply here. The question is whether you, as a guest to a foreign country, are willing to listen to your hosts, or in your arrogance believe you are entitled to set rules for them. It is manners, plain and simple, and by and large people across cultures understand it. That's why foreign nationals in general do not wave their flags in the streets of Tel-Aviv, London, Paris, and Warsaw. If you want to wear any symbols, national or religious, wear them on your lapel, close to your heart (a yarmulke is OK, too). Bigger and louder is not always better. You wrote 'everyone is quick to forget the history behind events'. I could not agree more, so I feel I need to correct some of your erroneous statements concerning the history of WW II. A temporary lull between the Germans and the Russians you are alluding to occurred in the late summer of 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising. The lull was not in order for the Nazis to slaughter the Warsaw Jews. It was designed to slaughter ethnic Poles who were taking part in the Uprising (the civilians were not spared, either). By 1944, the Warsaw Jews were no more, as the Warsaw Ghetto, following the suppression of its own Uprising, was liquidated by May of the previous year. In 1943, the Russians were nowhere near Warsaw. They did not even cross the Bug River yet. In contrast, by the summer of 1944, the Russians were watching Warsaw being destroyed from across the Vistula River. You are simply confusing two completely different events, two separate Uprisings in the Warsaw’s history. Hope it helps.

I did not accuse Poles of the Holocaust. Where did you get that? That paragraph you quote was referring to the experiences that Jews had in Poland. The emotional link of all Jews with Poland is very strong, so strong that even I felt it while I was there, while walking ghettos now empty of Jewish life. I'm not interested in throwing accusations at Poles for things that their ancestors did. It's not fair. But since you bring something up, I have to respond. There were many cases where Poles behaved badly during and after WW2. There were pogroms after the end of the war, cases of individual violence against survivors who thought they could return safely home, and there were acts of anti-Semitism during the Communist years. Although you name 400 people killed in pogroms, there is a long history of pogroms in the area that is now Poland. When you consider that, the number of victims is much higher. I'm puzzled by what you write, about action and reaction. It's as if you are justifying any violent act on the part of Poles on Jews sympathetic to the Soviets and who sided against the Poles. If so, we are really reaching bottom in this argument. Greg, the harm done to Jews during hundreds of years, in addition to the Holocaust and post-war persecutions, cannot be equivalent to the actions of some desperate pro-Communist Jews. To blame those Leftist Jews for the atrocities committed against Jews is, quite frankly, obscene. This brings to mind Israel's own Leftists, Greg, who are a despicable bunch. Not that they deserve violence done against them, but as you can see, there have been misguided Jews throughout Jewish history. And as far as no anti-Semitism in Poland, that would be impossible. Just as there are strong feelings among Jews, there are strong feelings among some Poles as well. Maybe you never heard anything, and that's to the credit of Poles who are a polite society. Unlike you, I have a very superficial personal knowledge, having spent only a few weeks there, but my experience was positive. That's why I'm encouraging Jews to look into the future and to build bridges. I think that Poles have very good qualities and we need to reach out to the new generations in friendship instead of with an accusatory finger. So, in one sentence, we don't have to deny or forget the past, but we have to look into the future and build from there. Both Poles and Jews have bigger enemies now.

No, my friend. You are very wrong. I know history and don't tweak it to sell my propaganda. You are writting about post-war acts of barbarism. Don't you see a difference between this statement: "jewish survivors returning after the holocaust was over to their homes in Poland only to be murdered by the poles" and this: "the poles gladly handed over there jews to them (Germans) with all gladness indeed" or this: "the Poles were anti-Semites from birth, and were willing collaborators" or this: "Nazis crimes were impossible with out the help of Poles, French, Ukranians, Lithovenians and Russians" or this: "Didn't the Poles assist the Nazis in rounding up their Jews?" or this: "the Polish people had been waiting for an opportunity" or many other posted here?! No, Poland was NOT helping Germans. Poland was the first country to fight Germans off. Poles were the first victims of Auschwitz KL. Poland did not collaborate with Germans. Poland did not hand their Jews to the Germans. There no evidence of Polish collaboration with the Germans - those thugs and criminals who killed or denouced Jews cannot be seen as Polish population or Polish gov (in exile), plus such thugs often were killed by Polish Underground (now, vide Judenrat, you'll learn about Jews who were helping Germans - there are tones of Jewish memoires all over the net describing horrors they witnessed - horrors made by their fellow Jews). You hear and read only one-way stories. You don't know what was going on then. When Poland was about regaining Her independance, Jewish community was strong against it - they wanted to create a country called Judeopolonia, on Polish soil, under jurisdiction of Germany, with German language. When II war started they betrayed Poland joining Soviet invaders and taking active part in extermination of Polish population. (They - I don't mean ALL). Stating that Poland was always anitsemitic and killed Jews is very unjust and very wrong statement. If you don't believe me, read a quote I posted in other talkback here - a quote of your fellow Jew regarding Poles and Poland during IIWW.

Thanks for your effort to understand our views. I agree with most of your points, here are some thoughts: 1. Group tours may not be wise, but it is a normal practice. As far as I know Polish schoolchildren also routinely visit camps. My mother used to be a teacher and she visited Gross Rosen with Polish kids who were at most 14-15 years old. So I think it can be done, you just have to control the reactions. 2. I don't think the Catholic Church is so much to blame for current Antisemitism. I think family history and political Antisemitism are more important. In contemporary Poland Antisemites are usually linked to the extreme-right and their views on Jews are related to a host of other attitudes - they tend to dislike the European Union, the West, the liberals, etc. It's not really about religion any more. 2. I agree that the new generations should not be held responsible for what happened during the war. But I also believe that the war-time generation cannot be held collectively responsible. One can talk about state and society's responsibility for prewar Antisemitism. And one can wonder about the link between prewar Antisemitism and wartime killings. But it's not a straightforward issue - most prejudiced people do not necessary support murder and I believe that the number of Poles who actually killed Jews during war is too small to allow generalizing to the entire society.

Germans located camps in Poland because of logistics - there is no proof of any other motives. I could give you the quote from an Israeli professor, but I'm too tired to look for it now - I can always oblige if you wish. Polish resistance didn't "killed Jews throughout the war" and it DID offer some help to the ghetto fighters. Besides, I was under the impression that Auschwitz is (very unfortunately) in our territory, therefore I see no point in "annexing" it. And most importantly - what is the point? Any link to the article or the subject matter? I only find it a pity that somebody with the name "Slonimski" has such a negative attitude towards Poland. Antoni Slonimski was a good prewar Polish poet of Jewish origin (though he converted to Catholicism). You can see in some of his poems that he suffered from Antisemitism - and it touches me more than all the rants of which your opinion is an example. But he still loved Poland.

I am sure that most Poles are not anti-semitic, but from speaking to some youths who visited Poland I learned that before the trip they are advised not to speak in Hebrew when they are outside and not to wear a star of David - to hide their nationality as much as possible. The trips are arranged by the Ministry of Education BTW but are not subsidized. When my daughter's friend was there, some Polish youths with knives came up to their floor of the hotel and started running around. Also, when this girl's boyfriend (who is very reserved and shy type) left a shop, the shopkeeper came out and threw a bucket of water on him - and it was freezing winter!!! They also got the impression that they were not welcome in shops. I just wanted to mention this as it seems there are isolated incidents of antagonism. Regarding the bodyguards, as these are school groups, Israel is responsible for safeguarding them and any group going abroad has guards, also children's football teams, etc.

thank you for pointing out my mistake when I alluded to the warsaw uprising. It was late. but thats no excuse. There were jews in the polish national resistance movement. And although the lull in the fighting meant the "polish" army units fighting under polish flags were finished off by the nazis for the soviets, this doesnt change the point of my tb just because the vast majority of jews had already been liquidated in the ghettos does not change my emphasis that the jews are still here I am not american, and I am not a jew. I am dutch, born and bred in holland. I live and travel around the world for a living. I found poland to be a great country, full of beauty, the people to be hard workers(who are given a unecessary bad rap in the rest of europe) And I still have some very good friends from there in and around swecie. You can feel free to come to my homeland, wear a pole t-shirt, wave a pole flag and most people will shrug it off to you being a little "loony" In other words feel free to do it. Even though my people never helped butcher your people! So that all said I know that many poles helped jews, but many used them as well. Many fought and died beside jews, but many turned them in for a reward so they would be sent to the gas chambers. My question is, which "host" says that it is arrogant to wear a star of david, or wave/wear the flag? In Israel many palis are saying go back to poland where you come from....go back to poland where you belong....well I think you might disagree with them? Jews belong in Israel....and the fact that many were driven there by hate I think gives them and their progeny the right to say proudly and clearly "it didnt work" "you haters, didnt get all of us" "we are still alive" Everyday walking around the streets in holland I am surrounded by middle eastern arabs. The jews in my little town were mostly sent to camps or fled. It brought a shame on our town/country that can never be washed away. For that reason I WILL ALWAYS support the jewish people. And also there are always moslem protests in the streets here calling for the death of jews and the destuction of Israel, and end the occupation nonsense. They wave around pali flags and arab flags. They however did nothing during the war, unless you count joining the ss...and in my opinion dont even deserve to reside in my homeland. But we let them parade around with their flags billowing in the winds. While they chant hatred for jews....is there a difference between their behavior and the jews going to poland? sorry if I pontificate, but I have seen them march in front of the homes whos former occupants were sent to the camps. And I seeth with anger when I see their purposful disrespect to the dead and the living

« To blame those Leftist Jews for the atrocities committed against Jews is, quite frankly, obscene." I will never say that the behavior of leftist Jews justifies crimes committed against random Jews. And I doubt that it was the motive in most cases. But the events in the East probably had some consequences and I think historians should be free to explore causal links between events. Causality is not necessarily justification. I’ll try to use an analogy. If a man kills his unfaithful wife, his crime is not "justified" by her cheating and she is not responsible for her own death. But there is a causal link between her behavior and his reaction. The same could have happened in this case. Some Poles did not need pretexts to hurt Jews, others hurt Jews because of greed, but it is not unreasonable to suspect that some events and attitudes – justifiable or not - were genuinely linked to the events in the East. This is a description from memories of a Jewish survivor: “Let me explain the euphoria among the Jewish population of the town. They lived in mortal fear of finding themselves surrounded by the brutal German soldiers whose reputation was by then well known in Europe. On the other hand, at that time the Soviet Union was known as a country where all nationalities were being treated equally and with respect. Thus, the Red Army was expected as liberators from a mortal peril. For the information of the reader, the Polish flag consists of two wide horizontal stripes, one red the other white. Each house was supposed to have a flag to display on national holidays. The inventive inhabitants ripped off the white strip from the available flags and in a short time the entire town was decorated with red flags as a sign of welcome to the expected Soviet soldiers. We four went to the town’s barber to shave off our ten-day growth and trim our hair so that we look presentable for the festivities. All of a sudden we heard salvos of machine guns. What happened? It turned out that a Polish iron-clad military train stopped at the railway station and, seeing the houses decorated with the hated red flags decided to teach the traitors a lesson. Within minutes the red flags disappeared. Somebody called the near-by town where the Soviet Army had already an outpost and fifteen minutes later the first Red Army tank arrived in our place. The train moved away and we avoided a massacre.” http://migs.concordia.ca/memoirs/zimmermann/zim4.html I’m not making claims about the representativeness of such events, I know there were ethnic Polish collaborators, I know that prewar European anti-Semitism pushed Jews towards communism and I understand why Jews in Eastern Poland preferred to see the Soviets rather than the Nazis. But there was a way of behaving with more tact and intelligence and when I read about profaning Polish flags and preparing “festivities” to greet a mortal enemy of Poland invading its territory, my hair bristles. Even if Poles did not react violently, such incidents might have decreased their willingness to risk their skin to help Jewish strangers and this would have been detrimental enough to the Jewish cause. And in this particular case, if the Polish soldiers killed some Jewish civilians it would have clearly been linked to the behavior of those "inventive inhabitants".

But other than that, I agree that we should not dwell endlessly on the war. We have much in common, and the reason why many Poles are so drawn to Jewish issues and culture is because many of us also feel those links. This month the construction of a big museum of the history of Polish Jews will start in Warsaw. I think it will be a big hit once built. And politically we are in the same boat.

Why limit wrapping flags around yourself with Poland, why not Germany too. And while you are at it, don't forget Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Iran..The possibilites are endless.

There was a time when the two flags: Polish and Jewish had been flying together over Muranowska 7 building. It was on April 19th. 1943. I wonder if these Israeli youth know about it and go to the place where stood this building. Probably not, and it has nothing to do with Poles. It is a matter of intra-Jewish conflict of two narratives about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943) – these two flags were put there by ZZW, an organisation linked to Revisionists and having strong links to the Polish underground army (AK). Marek Edelman from ZOB (linked to Bund) calls them fascists, some deny that they existed at all. The fact, that this ZOB narrative is dominating now, caused that also help given by AK to fighters of Ghetto is absent in popular thinking. So is Henryk Iwański, most important person behind this help, who lost his two sons during this uprising. For Polish readers: Marian Apfelbaum: Dwa sztandary, WL 2003 (in French: Retour sur le ghetto de Varsovie, Paris 2002), in English: Ch.Lazar Litai: Muranowska 7, Tel Aviv, 1966; D. Wdowinski: And we are not saved.

You are in a good company. When in 1994 the then president of Germany was invited to celebrations of 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising (1944), he started to speak about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943). Please understand why it irritates us so much – it is natural that for Jews the latter is more or even only important while for Poles the first one. But what does it mean that impartial people like you (or this German president, who should know better) are so ignorant of this 1944 Uprising that was by far the largest urban partisan battle in the WW II, that costed lives of some two hundred people on our side and quite a lot on the enemy’s? And ended with the death of my city. Please take a good history book. I hope a thought like that will come to you: If I was not aware of such important historical fact (because it is not present in the popular western thinking) than perhaps I should read more and reasses my other opinions on what Poles did, what Poles could do and what Poles should do.