The Ultimate Polish Joke
Denying responsibility only opens up the possibility of repeating your past.
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Late on Tuesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law a law would make it illegal to accuse the nation of complicity in crimes committed by Nazi Germany, including the Holocaust.
It would also ban the use of terms such as "Polish death camps" in relation to Auschwitz and other such camps located in Nazi-occupied Poland.
While changing the historical records, will it also expunge the acts against Jewish people directly attributed to the Polish people and government?
In Jedwabne, in July of 1941 saw the residents of that city murder hundreds of Jewish residents while taking ownership of their properties. Blame the Nazi's on that?
How about the pogroms that were carried out after Germany had been defeated, against the surviving Jews who had the gaul to think they could return to their homes? On July 4th 1946, In Kielce; over 50 returning and surviving Jews were killed when they returned to their town.
Postwar killing of Jews have been estimated at 1500 to 2000 Jewish murders. This while no Nazis were around.
Back in August of 2017, The European Jewish Congress stated that Anti-Semitism is being "Normalized" in Poland.
In November, 100,000 Polish marched for Poland's 99th year of independence—chants of "Get the Jews out of Poland" were prevalent.
In December, a Jewish burial ground in eastern Poland was dug up and dumped in an empty lot to make way for the construction of an electrical substation and a parking lot. Human, Jewish, skulls and other remains were piled up in mounds of dirt. No outrage, no Polish people protesting for the sanctity of the dead. Just denials from the local law enforcement.
Where do we stop? Is this the latest in political correctness where the living no longer want to be blamed by the sins of the deceased? Or is it simply the latest case where a leader is trying to increase patriotism by using hatred as a unifying ploy.
Germany did it after their devastating losses in World War one. The Jew became the scapegoat with pogroms and blood libel accusations. They were too powerful and not even true Germans.
Love should unite but if you think about it—it's easier for people to choose a common foe then it is to love everyone and have to point at themselves for the problems that plague them.
So people avoid blame, they point fingers outward and never look in the mirror. No one wants to carry the burden of accountability—so they wash their hands of any guilt and declare themselves “pure.”
Now, the President of Poland wants to wash Poland's hands of any complicity with the Nazis during World War 2. Not only that, but he has signed a law making it punishable up to 3 years in prison.
That basically is setting a dangerous precedent. Speak against the government and go to jail. Sounds like dictatorships to me. Just as Lady Macbeth could not wash the blood from her hands, so too Poland cannot simply decide to erase use an eraser to rub away any historical blemishes.
History cannot be changed. 3 million Jewish Polish were exterminated in Polish death camps. Not simply killed, but utterly destroyed in every sense.
Mr. Duda wants to rewrite history.
You cannot rewrite history, Mr. Duda. If you try and deny history you will be complicit with the return of hatred, fascism and death of innocents.
Never again was the rallying cry—we have seen those two words being erased recently by the world's silence regarding the genocides in Syria and other parts of the world. Now the President of Poland is trying to erase the responsibility of his people. If we erase the historical responsibilities of a people, of a nation—never again will happen over and over.
About the Creator
Freddy Zalta
Currently working with families to develop personal biographies to be handed down to future generations.
Also writing fiction and poetry.
https://linktr.ee/Freddyzalta
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