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Jan
Wasilewski
writes from Vancouver, Canada,
What did Jan Karski’s 1940 report actually say?
Michael Mills states that Jan Karski’s 1940 report to the Polish
Government -in-Exile “is quite anti-Semitic in some ways, as it accuses a portion of the Jews in the Soviet-occupied zone of having betrayed Poland by welcoming the Soviet invader.
In fact, it predicts an eventual bloody revenge against the
Jews by Polish patriots.” Let’s see what Karski actually writes in his report. He writes:
"The attitude of the Jews
toward the Bolsheviks is regarded among the Polish
populace as quite positive.It is generally believed that
the Jews betrayed Poland and the Poles, that they are
basically communists, that they crossed over to the
Bolsheviks with flags unfurled. In fact, in most cities
the Jews greeted the Bolsheviks with baskets of red
roses, with submissive declarations and speeches, etc.,
etc.Certainly it is so that Jewish communists adopted an
enthusiastic stance toward the Bolsheviks, regardless of
the social class from which they came. The Jewish
proletariat, small merchants, artisans, and all those
whose position has at present been improved structurally
and who had formerly been exposed primarily to
oppression, indignities, excesses, etc., from the Polish
element - all of these responded positively, if not
enthusiastically, to the new regime.Their attitude seems
to me quite understandable. However, there are worse
cases, where they . . . denounce the Poles,
Polish nationalist students, and Polish political
figures, when they direct the work of the Bolshevik
police force from behind their desks or are members of
the police force, when they falsely defame the
relations...in former Poland.Unfortunately it is
necessary to state that such incidents are quite common,
more common than incidents which reveal loyalty toward
Poles or sentiment toward Poland.In contrast, I have the
impression that the intelligentsia, the wealthiest Jews
and those of the highest level of culture (with, of
course, certain exceptions and not counting the
pretenders), rather think of Poland often with a certain
fondness and would happily greet a change in the present
situation (leading to) the independence of Poland
. . .In principle, however, the Jews have
created here a situation in which the Poles regard them
as devoted to the Bolsheviks and -one can safely say -
wait for the moment when they will be able simply to take
revenge upon the Jews. Virtually all Poles are bitter and
disappointed in relation to the Jews; the overwhelming
majority (first among them of course the youth) literally
look forward to an opportunity for 'repayment in blood' "
(“Jews in Eastern Poland and the USSR,
1939-46.” Edited by Norman Davies and Antony Polonsky
[sic]. Macmillan. Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire, 1991. 265-267.)
Mr. Mills didn’t read Karski’s report carefully. Is he merely repeating David Engel’s comments on the report?
Would Mr. Mills agree that there were Polish Jews who collaborated with the Soviets, denouncing ethnic Poles to the Soviet occupier, which resulted in imprisonment, executions, and deportations to the Gulag of many Poles?
Having read the report, I must say that I find plenty of compassion for the suffering of the Jews under the German occupation (Karski’s compassion toward the Jews seems far greater than toward his fellow ethnic Poles). The terseness and matter-of-factness of the report makes it quite a different reading than “Story of the Secret State.”
The report is entitled “An Early Account of Polish Jewry under Nazi and Soviet Occupation Presented to the
Polish-Government-In-Exile, February 1940.” It was reprinted from Jewish Social Studies, vol. XLV, no. I, Winter
1983, pp. 1-16.
So Karski was an anti-Semite? Well, then this
“anti-Semitism” is a nice addition to Karski’s long list of honours, which include an honorary Israeli citizenship, a
Righteous Among Nations title, and a Yad Vashem nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998.
Related items on this website:
In Defence of Jan Karski |
Ted O’Keefe adds his two ha’porth | Heath replies to
O’Keefe | Jan
Karski Dies: Pole who brought word of Holocaust |
O’Keefe responds to Heath on Belzec | Lowdown on the late Jan Karski | Ted
O’Keefe adds more | Michael
Mills sees More problems with believing Jan Karski