The General Prosecution of Krakow in Poland considers serving indictment, against the Polish American historian Jan Tomasz Gross, for slandering the Polish people, as a result of the publishing of his book on anti-Semitism in Poland, following the Second World War. The Name of the book: “Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz”.
Since the Polish version appeared on the shelves, about a week ago, the book is causing public controversy. A few academia people, religion figures and politicians are claiming the book contains generalizations concerning the attack of Jews in Poland following the end of the war, others are protecting his contribution to the debate concerning Poland past.
Gross’s book is focusing on the Kilza Pogrom of 1946, in which the Polish residents have murdered about 40 Jews who came back from the concentration camps and other places where they were hiding during the war. He claims that such cases prove the common aspiration of the Polish society to be reed of the Jews. This aspiration was motivated by anti-Semitism and the apprehension of many Polish people that they would have to turn back to the returning Jews the property they took control of.
According to the Polish Institute of National Memory, that is investigating the Nazi crimes together with the Communists crimes, 3,000 to 6,000 of the remaining 300,000 Jew who survived the Holocaust in Poland, were murdered. Gross, a professor at Princeton University says that 200,000 Jews had decided to leave Poland because of the anti- Semite attacks.
The Krakow Prosecution started an investigation against the author because the publishing company that has published the book “Zanek” is operating in that city. The prosecutors are checking if the law against slandering the Polish people was violated. Article 132, this is the law’s name, was initiated by the previous prime minister’s government Jaroslaw Kaczyinski on 2006. According to this law a three years sentence will be imposed on any one publicly accusing the Polish people in participating in the Nazi or Communists crimes, organizing them or responsible for them.
Professor Gross says that he was shocked by the investigation. “I fined it un worthy to put books on trail or burn them”, said the professor when interviewed for the “Der Spiegel”, “Books should be discussed on other forums entirely”.
The prosecution has 30 days to decide, but their announcement is expected sooner. Gross is sure they would not go as far as prosecuting him, after all, the law itself would be checked at the constitution court soon following complaints of activists of human rights against it.
Even if the issue will not end by prosecuting Gross, the book has already caused a public controversy in Poland. Many of the right wing commentators are quick to draw conclusions. Gross suspects that most of the criticism comes from those who haven’t read the book. “I think that the criticism would move to more essential lines once people will start reading it”, said the author hopefully.
Source: Nfc.co.il
Dated January 19, 2008
By: Moshe Rainfeld
