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Last update - 22:29 15/01/2008
Historian threatens to reveal Polish atrocities against Jews if tried for slander
By Adi Schwartz, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Poland, Auschwitz 

A U.S. historian has threatened to publicly reveal alleged Polish atrocities against Jews in the aftermath of World War II, if the Polish State Prosecution tries him for "insulting the nation."

The Polish State Prosecution said last week that it would consider pressing charges against historian Jan Tomasz Gross for "insulting the nation" in his book "Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz."

In his book, Gross covers the Kielce pogrom and other instances of post-war violence perpetrated by Poles against Jews. A Polish translation of the book came out last week sparking the current row.
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"If they will take me to court, I will bring witnesses, Jews and Poles, to say exactly what happened [in Poland] after the war," Gross said Monday by phone. "It will be a big scandal."

Gross said that the Polish prosecution was prompted by articles published in the media accusing him of tarnishing the country's reputation.

According to a Polish law passed two years ago, anyone found guilty of accusing the Polish nation of cooperating with Nazi or Communist war crimes can be imprisoned for a maximum of three years in jail. The legality of the law is currently being debated in the country's high court and is expected to be rescinded, Gross said.

"I expect that the prosecutor general will give up the prosecution," Gross said. "I am confident nothing will come out of this. But if they do, there will be a big scandal. The book is not a slander; it is a description of a period. There are people in Poland who are already willing to deal with this subject, and there are people who don't. There is a debate now, and I hope it continues. Only that it will be a substantial debate".

The Kielce pogrom occurred July 4, 1946, when a mob including policemen in uniform attacked a group of Jewish refugees taking shelter in a building in the center of town. Some 27 Jews of the 200 that had been in the building were killed. The incident began when a child who had gone missing told police that he was kidnapped by Jews.

Gross, 61, is a Polish-Born U.S. citizen who has taught at Yale, NYU and Princeton. His books have dealt primarily with anti-Semitic incidents during and after World War II. In one of his best known books, "Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland," Gross argues that the Jewish population of the village was massacred by its Polish neighbors, and not by the Germans as previously believed.



Related articles:
  • 2007 sees record number of visitors at Auschwitz extermination camp
  • Poland's twins and Israel: A love story
  • At Yad Vashem, Bush says U.S. erred in not bombing Auschwitz


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      1.   Good Work 07:05  |  Danite 15/01/08
      2.   I Don`t Want To Fight With Poles Anymore 07:10  |  Yosemite 15/01/08
      3.   Were jews ever welcome anywhere ? 08:29  |  Proud Pollack 15/01/08
      4.   Who but the Poles? 08:36  |  Mike 15/01/08
      5.   An irrelevant accusation 08:41  |  Dani Reiss 15/01/08
      6.   Neighbors 09:14  |  Bandar Michaels 15/01/08
      7.   #3 Proud (Stupid) Pollak 09:21  |  Proud American Jew 15/01/08
      8.   Historian "threatens to reveal Polish atrocities " 10:12  |  Yonatan 15/01/08
      9.   #3 10:13  |  sceptnick-true Pole 15/01/08
      10.   Atrocities in Poland after WWII 10:38  |  Leon Blaustein 15/01/08
      11.   Nobody move, or the ****** gets it! 10:54  |  Clickfool 15/01/08
      12.   Poles colloborated with Nazi and Communist war criminals 11:01  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/01/08
      13.   Poles 11:04  |  Robin 15/01/08
      14.   #10 11:10  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      15.   @3. proud pollak. there is nothing to be proud of 11:18  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      16.   #12 11:28  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      17.   Insulting the Nation? 11:29  |  D Hirod 15/01/08
      18.   #15 11:33  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      19.   MR Gross is an acclaimed Academic and scholar, he is from a mixed 11:34  |  Elizabeth 15/01/08
      20.   #11 Clickfool 11:35  |  Sarah 15/01/08
      21.   #17 11:41  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      22.   Whats to reveal 11:44  |  Paul Wood 15/01/08
      23.   Sarah, take it easy on the FOOL, he is british and we are dealing 11:47  |  Elizabeth 15/01/08
      24.   A culture cannot be changed overnight 11:56  |  Edith 15/01/08
      25.   #12 Cipora Julianna Kohn 11:58  |  Marcin 15/01/08
      26.   Setting "gut reactions" straight 12:11  |  Dani Reiss 15/01/08
      27.   #26 12:26  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      28.   #15 Watch your tongue Vladimir 12:32  |  Joe 15/01/08
      29.   For Sarah # 20 12:35  |  Clickfool 15/01/08
      30.   Gross can`t back up his comments 12:42  |  David King 15/01/08
      31.   To # 12 Cipora Julianna Kohn 12:48  |  Velvl Shmerlson 15/01/08
      32.   Polish Anti Semitism 12:50  |  Naim S. Mahlab 15/01/08
      33.   #25 Marcin 12:52  |  Freddy 15/01/08
      34.   Cipora J.K. What do you know about the Poles, you poor soul? 12:55  |  zmogus 15/01/08
      35.   #25, Marcin 12:56  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/01/08
      36.   @28, joe you are nobody to describe myself, probably 13:02  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      37.   "PROUD Pollak"You are talking absolute nonsense. 13:04  |  PETER SM 15/01/08
      38.   @!8, guy from zelenaia gora, good name for the town 13:07  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      39.   #35 13:10  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      40.   It` not Polish nation, which massacred Jews!!! 13:11  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 15/01/08
      41.   @21, zel. gora. 13:15  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      42.   #38 13:17  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      43.   #40 13:29  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      44.   Poles Were Anti Semites But Not Nazis 13:30  |  dyinglikeflies 15/01/08
      45.   @34 zmogus, cipora and cross discuss poland after 13:33  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      46.   #34, zmogus 13:34  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/01/08
      47.   @35, cipora 13:39  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      48.   Nazi policies in Poland... 13:42  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 15/01/08
      49.   #32, Naim S. Mahlab`s monocausal root of anti-Semitism 13:43  |  zmogus 15/01/08
      50.   cipora to zmogus @34 13:52  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      51.   #31, Velvl, you should write your own post 13:55  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/01/08
      52.   Proud Pollack You lost we won, shut up 13:57  |  Petra 15/01/08
      53.   Yosemite your a live Polish Jew what about the others? 13:58  |  Petra 15/01/08
      54.   #47, vladimir 14:05  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/01/08
      55.   #46, Cipora J.K. Here`s your missed connection: 14:15  |  zmogus 15/01/08
      56.   #50, vladimir 14:15  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/01/08
      57.   Mr. Mahlab... 14:16  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 15/01/08
      58.   historian 14:20  |  elliot 15/01/08
      59.   @47, cipora i did not say that poles perpetuated 14:30  |  vladimir 15/01/08
      60.   Here is a story from after the War 14:33  |  Jackie 15/01/08
      61.   #55, zmogus, so much double talk 14:43  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 15/01/08
      62.   Leave Poles alone 14:45  |  Gene 15/01/08
      63.   TO PROUD POLLACK 14:45  |  Poznan Resident 15/01/08
      64.   Historian 14:54  |  jn 15/01/08
      65.   #63 14:59  |  sceptnick 15/01/08
      66.   #3 proud racist: I am so glad my grandparents ran away from your. 15:10  |  Alain 15/01/08
      67.   to 3: who wellcomes poles in this world?? 15:10  |  Alain 15/01/08
      68.   zmogus #55 15:15  |  Hubal 15/01/08
      69.   Kilece Pogrom 15:15  |  Asher Ben Avraham 15/01/08
      70.   Here we go again,using the Holocaust to distract,confound & 15:17  |  lakshmi 15/01/08
      71.   To Sceptnick 15:29  |  Dani Reiss 15/01/08
      72.   Give Poles a credit 15:35  |  Gene 15/01/08