Appelbaum and the ‘compromise’ with dissident historians

Jan
Wasilewski writes from
Vancouver, Canada, Tuesday, July 18, 2000

Appelbaum and the ‘compromise’ with dissident historians

ANNE Applebaum’s article “The battle for the Holocaust legacy” appears to be a harbinger of the Holocaust establishment’s willingness to soften their ultra-orthodox stand. Historians who dare to ask questions, notably yourself, may be tempted now with the carrot of “recognition,” if they agree to come to tacit terms with the Holocaust elite.

For example, it may be suggested to you that you shift the main responsibility for the Nazi atrocities against the
Jews on to representatives of nations other then the
Germans, so that there’s still somebody to blame and the
Jewish special victim status remains intact. By those other nations I mean those who are today less powerful, and so more vulnerable, than the Germans, in particular my own nation, the Poles.

If the Holocaust elite indeed sought such a “compromise,” would you be strong enough, would you be willing not to accept it? Forgive me, Sir, but I think that if you did accept it, then it would mean that both your quest for historical accuracy and all the suffering that the elite has inflicted on you were in vain.

There are many Jewish allegations made about us Poles in regard to the Holocaust. Some of them may have a factual basis, others seem totally absurd. I think that dissident historians should scrutinize those allegations as thoroughly as the allegations made against Germans and others. Would you be willing to do that?

I hope that the purpose of dissident historians is not to establish a more accurate view of what the Nazis did (which is the right thing to do), while allowing mere allegations about others to linger on unchallenged ? And I hope that historical dissidence doesn’t signify some sort of harmonious accord between those Jewish Holocaust historians who are less orthodox in their views, and non-Jewish Western historians, all at the expense of nations such as Poles
?

Applebaum mentions an “anti-Semitic Polish nun who considered it her duty to save Jewish children” (notice the ageless propaganda trick of associating the word
“anti-Semitic” with the word “Polish”). Now in the
German-occupied Poland any assistance given to Jews was punishable by death. What sort of “anti-Semite” would be one who risks one’s own life to save Jewish children?

Does it follow that one who lets Jewish children perish is a Semitophile? Applebaum also states that the
Holocaust “was” an Israeli tragedy. How is it possible that the Holocaust “was” an Israeli tragedy if there was no state of Israel when the Holocaust happened ? Applebaum is wrong when she states that “the Holocaust was not an American tragedy.”

Actually, the Holocaust is, or rather should be, also a (Jewish) American tragedy, because American Jews did not consider it their duty to save European Jews, including
Jewish children.

AS a Pole, I am particularly grateful for your book on
[General Wladyslaw] Sikorski. You perhaps know that in Poland your books are published and distributed without any hindrance? You have many grateful readers there.
I have to admit that I discovered the real David
Irving not so long ago. Until then, my image of you was derived (unconsciously) from the Canadian media. I’d like to write about it on another occasion.

Jan
Wasilewski

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