Sara Weinberger’s May 17 column titled: “‘Never again.’ Could the unthinkable happen?” poignantly reminds us that April 27 is the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day. My mind inadequately comprehends the meaning of the death of her 42 family members. My heart does not know such depth of sorrow, and I can only weep silent tears of sympathy.
Similar to pre-war Germany, today we bear witness to the alarming rise of various iterations of white nationalism worldwide. We must never forget it was nationalistic rhetoric that mobilized Germany’s resources to carry out the extermination of Jews. Now we watch with horror, the war in Ukraine where thousands of civilians are experiencing the tribulations of war in the name of nationalism.
Weinberger’s references to Poland stimulated me to re-examine my understanding of Poland’s role in the Holocaust and its enactment of the “Holocaust Law.”
During WWII, 3 million Polish Jews were murdered in concentration camps; 1.9 million Polish non-Jews were killed; and another 1.5 million Polish non-Jews were sent to work camps in Germany. (My non-Jewish Polish grandmother’s father died in a German work camp.) Also, there are accounts of Polish civilians who worked in the concentration camps, betrayed Jews, stole their property or killed them.
From 1818 until 1918, Poland did not exist as a nation after being partitioned and absorbed into Austria, Prussia and Russia. After WWI, Poland was reborn as an independent country. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and Russia’s invasion of Poland began on Sept. 17. Ten days later Poland surrendered to Germany. Shortly thereafter, the German/Nazis arrested 300,000 non-Jewish Poles and 200,000 Jewish Poles and killed or sent them to camps.
Germany immediately annexed western Poland while eastern Poland went under Soviet control. On October 26, 1939, Germany created the “General Government” and installed Hans Frank, a German civilian as its governor general. His authority extended over the territory that encompassed the cities of Warsaw, Krakow and Lvov. Krakow was declared an “Ancient German City” and made the General Government’s capital. The erasure of Poland from the family of nations was part of Hitler’s plan to remove Poles from their land, populate it with Germans and make Poles forced laborers.
During WWII, Poland was the only country controlled by the Nazis which ceased to exist as a nation. Although countries like France, Belgium, and Norway were occupied by Germany during the war, they retained their nation status.
In June 1941, Germany attacked its former ally Russia. By 1945, Russia defeated the German Army and restored Poland’s pre-war boundaries. However, it occupied Poland and installed a pro-communist puppet government.
With this historical context, I offer the following: (1) There were no Polish concentration camps. All concentration camps within the geographical boundaries formerly known as the Poland nation were created and operated by the German Nation. (2) Since the Polish nation and its government ceased to exist, it could and did not write a history of Nazi collaboration. (3) Poland’s “Holocaust Law” did not erase its history regarding the Holocaust. The original law passed in 1998 made it a crime to deny or downplay German, or Russian crimes during the Holocaust or during Russia’s invasion of Poland. The “Amended Act on the Institute of National Remembrance” passed in 2018 imposes the same penalties for anyone claiming that the Polish nation or the Polish state perpetrated Holocaust crimes. The law does not include claims made against Polish individuals or groups who participated in the Holocaust.
The Holocaust and how it came about should always be remembered so that we “… make sure never again will such barbarism happen.” The results of the U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey (2020) cited in Weinberger’s article reminds us that nationalism with its inevitable violence is born out of ignorance.
Robert W. Kubacki lives in Greenfield.