Poland's Senate has passed a bill that would make it illegal to blame Nazi crimes on Poles, and which could send someone to prison for up to three years for using phrases like "Polish death camps." Poland's rightwing government says it's merely trying to protect the historical record, because apparently a whole lot of Polish people are deeply aggrieved at accusations that Poles -- any Poles -- were complicit in the Holocaust, even though it's well-documented that the Nazis did indeed have Polish collaborators. Not surprisingly, the measure has set off a furor in Israel, where the law is seen as an attack on historical reality; several Israeli politicians warn Poland is on the verge of giving state approval to Holocaust denial. Similarly, US diplomats have protested the law's potential to limit free speech.
For the same reason that Turkey stubbornly denies to this day any responsibility in the Armenian genocide (1915). There is a French expression which means to deny/cover up/conceal a highly embarrassing fact: "to hide the cat's shit". For decades, France, the US, and a bunch of other countries engaged into that, until historic truth became too obvious to deny.
You live in a country where denial of history (including the Holocaust) is protected by the first amendment. Holocaust deniers are out there in the open, complaining when they're denied the "right" to lecture on campuses. Their books are published in the mainstream press, they appear on TV as parties to "debates", and all that shit. And don't let me get started on the Confederacy and slavery denial. You do follow the news, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
Oh, you must be referring to one of the most despicable bipeds on the planet today: Binyamin Netanyahu, under investigation for various crimes (but not for crimes against the Palestinians).
Americans condemning Polish Nazi complicity should look in their own backyard. Since Trump became POTUS, neo-Nazis are running rampant in this country, and so is antisemitism.
I don't think it's a great idea to generalize all Poles based on anecdotes and the actions of a few, just like I think it's a bad idea to generalize about any group. I'm actually half Polish by birth, but my ancestors came over here in the 1860s so we've been here a long time. I don't follow Polish politics and I don't have any interest in visiting the motherland, but I do wonder what the hell happened with the rise and fall of the labor movement in Poland that began in the 80s. Apparently, they've thrown that all off in favor of oligarchy.
My late husband's grandfather was a Polish immigrant living in Cleveland. When I first came to meet him he constantly talked about "the Jews" and actually said to me "I don't care what anybody says, Hitler was right about the Jews" I almost cancelled the wedding because of this. When he first met my father, it was at my parent's home. My father was wealthy and the first question out of this man's mouth to my father was "are you a Jew?" My father was very disturbed about that. We were not Jewish but had an ambiguous surname (Myers). I only agreed to marry my husband if he would agree our children would not be allowed around their great grandfather after they reach an age of understanding.
There is no question anti Semitism is prevalent in Poland. I had never seen so much hatred in my life from one man.
Yes, and beyond this there were plenty of Nazi sympathizers in the States during the 1930's and early 40's as well. Again, it wasn't just Germans thinking those thoughts. They just happened to be one of the few places where those people took complete power. But there were people in America who were jealous. Especially all those tycoons who detested Roosevelt. But you don't hear about that. You just hear that the Germans were insane, and thank God we great Americans and English put a stop to that madness.
Pretending that those Nazi feelings didn't exist contributes to their growth right now. People who are Trumpists can pretend that they are doing something new, and that what they are doing is completely different from Nazism because Americans don't go in for that sort of thing.
I agree that it is a bad idea to generalize based on the actions of a few, and I did not do that after meeting my Polish neighbor, but then I began to watch documentaries about the Holocaust, and time and again the Polish people of the time displayed extreme anti-Semitism, which apparently had a long history in Poland and which was deliberately fed and supported by prominent Catholic churchmen. However, not all Poles succumbed to the propaganda, as there are isolated stories of great sacrifices made by Polish Christians to protect their Jewish neighbors. There is a good documentary about Polish women who saved the lives of thousands of Jewish children called "In the Name of Their Mothers."http://www.pbs.org/program/...Another is "No. 4 Street of Our Lady" which is about Franciszka Halamajowa, a Polish-Catholic woman who risked her life to save her Jewish neighbors.https://www.facebook.com/No...
Weren't a lot of the capos in these camps Polish?
For the same reason that Turkey stubbornly denies to this day any responsibility in the Armenian genocide (1915). There is a French expression which means to deny/cover up/conceal a highly embarrassing fact: "to hide the cat's shit". For decades, France, the US, and a bunch of other countries engaged into that, until historic truth became too obvious to deny.
You live in a country where denial of history (including the Holocaust) is protected by the first amendment. Holocaust deniers are out there in the open, complaining when they're denied the "right" to lecture on campuses. Their books are published in the mainstream press, they appear on TV as parties to "debates", and all that shit. And don't let me get started on the Confederacy and slavery denial. You do follow the news, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
And in America, some right-wing trash politicians claim that blacks were better off as slaves in the South.
Oh, you must be referring to one of the most despicable bipeds on the planet today: Binyamin Netanyahu, under investigation for various crimes (but not for crimes against the Palestinians).
You don't get out much, do you?
Only one thing?
Israel has a collective hard-on about Donald Trump, regardless of how much a Nazi sympathizer he is.
Americans condemning Polish Nazi complicity should look in their own backyard. Since Trump became POTUS, neo-Nazis are running rampant in this country, and so is antisemitism.
I don't think it's a great idea to generalize all Poles based on anecdotes and the actions of a few, just like I think it's a bad idea to generalize about any group. I'm actually half Polish by birth, but my ancestors came over here in the 1860s so we've been here a long time. I don't follow Polish politics and I don't have any interest in visiting the motherland, but I do wonder what the hell happened with the rise and fall of the labor movement in Poland that began in the 80s. Apparently, they've thrown that all off in favor of oligarchy.
You're disgusting.
Except in the US.
My late husband's grandfather was a Polish immigrant living in Cleveland. When I first came to meet him he constantly talked about "the Jews" and actually said to me "I don't care what anybody says, Hitler was right about the Jews" I almost cancelled the wedding because of this. When he first met my father, it was at my parent's home. My father was wealthy and the first question out of this man's mouth to my father was "are you a Jew?" My father was very disturbed about that. We were not Jewish but had an ambiguous surname (Myers). I only agreed to marry my husband if he would agree our children would not be allowed around their great grandfather after they reach an age of understanding.
There is no question anti Semitism is prevalent in Poland. I had never seen so much hatred in my life from one man.
Yes, and beyond this there were plenty of Nazi sympathizers in the States during the 1930's and early 40's as well. Again, it wasn't just Germans thinking those thoughts. They just happened to be one of the few places where those people took complete power. But there were people in America who were jealous. Especially all those tycoons who detested Roosevelt. But you don't hear about that. You just hear that the Germans were insane, and thank God we great Americans and English put a stop to that madness.
Pretending that those Nazi feelings didn't exist contributes to their growth right now. People who are Trumpists can pretend that they are doing something new, and that what they are doing is completely different from Nazism because Americans don't go in for that sort of thing.
I agree that it is a bad idea to generalize based on the actions of a few, and I did not do that after meeting my Polish neighbor, but then I began to watch documentaries about the Holocaust, and time and again the Polish people of the time displayed extreme anti-Semitism, which apparently had a long history in Poland and which was deliberately fed and supported by prominent Catholic churchmen. However, not all Poles succumbed to the propaganda, as there are isolated stories of great sacrifices made by Polish Christians to protect their Jewish neighbors. There is a good documentary about Polish women who saved the lives of thousands of Jewish children called "In the Name of Their Mothers."http://www.pbs.org/program/...Another is "No. 4 Street of Our Lady" which is about Franciszka Halamajowa, a Polish-Catholic woman who risked her life to save her Jewish neighbors.https://www.facebook.com/No...
oh no these people are truly scary..