Protest ambasadora i Alexa Storożyńskiego przeciwko fałszowaniu historii

29 września, 2014 roku w programie radiowym Glenn Beck Radio Program, jego autor Glenn Beck, przywołując kontekst Holokaustu, zarzucił Polakom całkowitą bierność i obojętność wobec dokonujące się na ich oczach zagłady Żydów.

W związku z wypowiedzią G. Becka, Ambasador RP wystosował list, w którym podkreślono zasługi Polaków na rzecz ratowania Żydów podczas II Wojny Światowej. Odwołując się do postaci Jana Karskiego oraz obchodzonego w br. 100-lecia jego urodzin, przekazano zaproszenie do udziału we współorganizowanej przez placówkę konferencji na temat wielkiego Polaka, która odbędzie się w październiku br. w Bibliotece Kongresu USA.

Treść listu Ambasadora RP:

Dear Mr. Glenn Beck:

I am writing in regards to your radio segment from Monday, September 29, 2014 entitled: “It’s wrong to excuse Shariah Law as part of a ‘different culture’, and here’s why.”

In this segment you make a sweeping generalization about the behavior of the Polish nation during the great calamity that was World War II. In doing so you present to your listeners a wrongful perception of Poland’s past.

Poland’s history is not black and white. However during the Holocaust, at a time when even the Free World did not show enough compassion and was not ready to give shelter to Jewish refugees, it is unfair to condemn Poles - who were also subjugated to cruel Nazi occupation - for their behavior. For when the world stood by, Polish individuals and government officials worked to aid the persecuted Jews of Europe. The Polish government in exile and its underground resistance structures operating in Poland took concrete steps to subvert the occupying régime and aid the plight of Polish citizens, including Polish Jewry. The Polish government in exile in London organized and funded “Zegota” a Polish Council to Aid Jews during WWII. This organization aided Jews in finding shelter, and assisted those who hid Jews from the occupying German forces. Poland was the only state to organize and fund such an organization in all of Nazi-German occupied Europe.

Hopefully you have heard of Jan Karski, the Polish resistance fighter and recipient of the US Medal of Freedom who’s centennial the world celebrates this year. Rather than watching the, “smoke billow out of the chimneys,” Karski on orders of the Polish government in exile was smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto and the Izbica Nazi transit camp to witness the persecution of Jews and the Nazi extermination machine first-hand. With these images seared into his mind he travelled to Great Britain and the United States to report to Allied leaders about the atrocities occurring to the Jewish peoples of Europe. Yet Karski’s first-hand accounts were met with Allied inaction. I find it difficult to understand your call for more from those oppressed while sitting in the comfortable chair.

Poland suffered greatly during the Second World War, with over 6 million of its citizens killed over the course of the war, including 3 million Polish Jews. Yet, although themselves persecuted by Nazi Germany as a subhuman race, Polish gentiles were not indifferent to the Nazi killing of Jews. Today there are more Righteous Among the Nations from Poland than any other country, even though aiding Jews in Nazi occupied Poland was a capital offense.

As an ambassador of Poland, but also as a son of the "Righteous Among the Nations" on one side, and Holocaust survivors on another, I ask you to apologize for this offensive generalization about the Polish nation and additionally wish to invite you to a conference being organizing at the Library of Congress on October 23, 2014 entitled, “Jan Karski: Messenger to the World.” Here you will certainly be able to learn more about Poland’s efforts to inform the Free World about the Holocaust and to try and stop the unfolding tragedy. I hope that you will then be able to inform your listeners about Jan Karski, as his legacy can inspire us all to “be the best person you can be.”

Ryszard Schnepf
Ambassador

Do protestu przeciwko fałszowaniu obrazu Polski i Polaków w trakcie II wojny światowej włączył się również znany dziennikarz, autor książek historycznych oraz b. prezes Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej Alex Storożyński. 6 października br. opublikował on na łamach "The Huffington Post" artykuł zatytułowany "Glenn Beck Is Wrong to Disparage Poland\'s World War II Record", w którym wskazał na przykład szeregu tysięcy Polaków, którzy zapłacili najwyższą cenę za pomoc Żydom ukrywającym się przed hitlerowskimi okupantami.

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