Quote:
Originally Posted by Twosugars
Again, for a full picture, you are aware that there were Jews who worked for Germans in camps too?
Tbh with you Livia, knowing human nature, I'm not surprised people's basest instincts were on show, are you? And I'd hazzard a guess that villains outnumbered heroes.
And you're right that Poland still needs to have moral reconning with the past. Honest national debate in Poland during decades of communism was impossible. Communists distorted the whole history of WWII and such distorted version was taught in schools. This version of exclusively heroic actions of Poles and saviour role of Soviets is deeply ingrained in people's psyche, they were brought up on it.
My point is that officials in Israeli government should have a more nuanced view of the situation and see the full picture.
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I understand all that TS. But you know, every time I discuss the Holocaust someone always wants to remind me that other people died too. I know they did. And I know some Jews worked for the Nazis. I also knew the kind of choice they had in the matter. Conversely lots of Poles volunteered to work in the concentration camps, and a number of them were extremely good it.
The Poles co-operated with the Nazis probably more than any other nationality. Members of partisan organisations actively hunted and killed Jews who escaped ghettos and camps, and they weren't alone, ordinary Polish citizens also hunted and killed Jews, especially in rural areas. After the war, lots of collaborators were tried an executed, and rightly so; but this doesn't, for me, wipe out the wrongs. It is not an end to the matter. What's more, anti-Semitism in pre-war Poland was rife and the government excluded Jews from certain areas of public life.
I acknowledge the wrongs my country has done. I acknowledge the wrongs Israel has done... time for Poland to do the same.