Poles still coming to terms with Jedwabne massacre
PR dla Zagranicy
Agnieszka Skieterska
11.07.2011 14:53
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Jedwabne – 70 years on - 11.07.2011
In this special audio report on the 70th anniversary of the Jedwabne massacre, we speak to Poland’s former president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, as well take a closer look at Sunday’s commemorative ceremony in Jedwabne itself.
Photo:PAP/Artur Reszko
On 10 July 1941 the inhabitants of the village of Jedwabne killed between 300-400 of their Jewish neighbours.
“This is a very painful lesson for the Polish people,” Aleksander Kwasniewski told Polish Radio, adding that “Polish history is full of fantastic and heroic chapters, but has some dark and very tragic elements like the Jedwabne massacre.”
Aleksander Kwasniewski’s presence on Sunday comes as he apologised ten years ago to the Jewish people on behalf of Poles following revelations in a book published Polish-born Princeton academic Jan T. Gross which put the blame on Poles for the Jedwabne pogrom.
The commemorative event on Sunday was also attended by a high-ranking Church official for the first time. Bishop Mieczyslaw Cislo joined in the Kaddish, Jewish prayers for the dead, saying that “united in prayer at the graves of these martyrs, we want to continue building bridges of reconciliation, peace and brotherhood.”
Listen to the report of the anniversary ceremony, with additional comments from an eye-witness who managed to escape from Jedwabne at the age of 11, and the leader of Poland’s Jewish community, Piotr Kadlcik. (jb)