In Poland, unburying a nation’s Jewish past

Adam Galicia / msnbc.com

Holocaust remembrance advocates plastered images of Polish Jews on buildings in Warsaw that were part of the Jewish ghetto before World War II wiped them out.

WARSAW – Zuzanna Radzik wants Polish children to know that almost every Polish town and village was part of the Holocaust.

There were about 3.5 million Jews in Poland before World War II, making up 10 percent of the overall Polish population. And some pre-war Polish towns Jews comprised as much as 70 percent of the residents.

But although Polish children learn about the Holocaust in school, many believe the killing was confined to death camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka.

However, the Holocaust also happened in little known places like Stoczek Wegrowski, a town of about 5,000 where 188 Jews were shot dead on September 22, 1942. The massacre took place on Yom Kippur, the most solemn Jewish holiday.

“We bring history to children in towns and villages who have never met a Jew or seen a synagogue,” Radzik said. “When we show them where the ghetto was in their town and that Jews were killed there, it all becomes real.”

Radzik represents an increasing number of Poles who believe Jewish heritage is integral to Polish history and that citizens must learn about that aspect of the past to understand contemporary Poland. The Holocaust all but wiped out the country’s Jewish population – today the number of Jews in Poland is estimated to be just 15,000, according to government estimates.


Teaching the next generation
Faith motivates Radzik, a 28-year-old Catholic theologian. “We have a long history of Christian anti-Judaism,” she said. “We should do our repentance for that and be strong about fighting anti-Semitism.”
Radzik supervises The School of Dialogue, sponsored by The Forum for Dialogue Among Nations, a Polish non-profit organization that seeks to eliminate anti-Semitism and to foster better relations between Poles and Jews.

The school deploys educators throughout Poland to teach young people about Judaism and the places in their towns where Jews once lived and worked. These educators highlight shared religious traditions and teach about Jewish holidays and their connections to Christian calendars. 

In Kielce, where 24,000 Jews lived before the war, making up approximately one-third of the city’s population, the educators’ effectiveness was clear after they visited. 

“I’ve been living here since I was a baby,” a local teenager wrote, “and I did not know the meaning of the monuments for Holocaust victims I passed by every day and where the Jewish cemetery is.” Thanks to the program, she now does.

Bringing life back to the old ghetto
But it is not just Radzik’s organization that is highlighting the role of Jews in Poland’s past.

Adam Galicia / msnbc.com

Beata Chomatowska, meets with a committee to plan education projects to teach residents about the Warsaw Ghetto's history.

Beata Chomatowska, a 34-year-old journalist who lives in Muranow, a neighborhood built on the rubble of the former Warsaw Ghetto, has created the web site Stacja Muranow (Muranow Station) to educate residents about their neighborhood’s history..

It’s estimated that up to 300,000 Jews from the area were sent to death camps, particularly in the wake of the famous Warsaw Ghetto uprising of April 1943. After brutally quelling the insurrection, the Germans leveled the site, leaving countless victims buried in the ruins.

“This area is still dead 68 years after the Germans destroyed it,” said Chomatowska.  “It is my obligation to remember the people and the place that was here before.”

There are few physical reminders of the former ghetto. One of them is Muranow’s sometimes hilly terrain, which results from the fact that much of the rubble was not cleared and new housing was built on top of the ruins.

However, Chomatowska is proud of recently completed murals by Warsaw artist Adam Walas in the entryway leading to an apartment complex. The artwork features prominent Jews who lived in Muranow before the war, such as Ludwik Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto.

Zamenhof intended Esperanto as a common language to unite people of different cultures. “I transferred Zamenhof’s hope to the mural with hope that people would see what is universal,” said Walas.

Thirty Muranow residents participate in Chomatowska’s education project. They meet in a ground floor office intended as a meeting place where neighborhood residents and Jewish visitors can learn about the district’s past.

Asked what motivates her, Chomatowska said, “I was always interested in Jewish culture and history, and a world that disappeared.”

Donald Snyder / msnbc.com

Zbigniew Nizinski found an unmarked grave near Lublin, in southeastern Poland, where 70 Jews, mainly women and children, perished during the Holocaust. After researching the story, he discovered the names of 26 out of the 70 people killed and the tombstone seen here was erected.

Looking for unmarked graves
Like Radzik and Chomatowska, Zbigniew Nizinski brings to light a world that disappeared. Inspired by the Bible and a fervent belief that the memory of the dead must be preserved, Nizinski has dedicated his life to finding unmarked graves of Jews murdered by the Germans.

In particular, the 52-year-old Baptist travels to tiny villages in eastern Poland.  “We discover and rescue the graves from complete oblivion and place memorial stones,” he said. “It is so unjust that there are so many Jewish burial sites that are not visited because there are no relatives left.”

Nizinski usually travels by bicycle, finding elderly people who remember where murdered Jews are buried. That’s how he met 90-year old Wladyslaw Gerula near Przemysl in southeastern Poland.

The Germans killed Gerula’s parents for hiding Jews. They also killed the hidden Jews. Although Gerula does not know his parents’ burial place, he knows where the three Jews are buried and he placed a large stone, carved with a Star of David, on the spot. He considers the spot his parents’ memorial, although they were also honored at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, on April 25, 1995.

One of the unmarked graves Nizinski discovered is near Stoczek Wegrowski. Buried here are Rywka Farbiarz and seven other Jews murdered by the Germans on November 26, 1942. Farbiarz’s 10-year-old daughter, Chasia, survived the massacre, lying silent beneath the dead.

Chasia, who now lives in Israel, visited the grave with her two sons in June for the unveiling of a memorial stone Nizinski placed there.

‘We miss them’
Nizinski, Chomatowska and Radzik’s work reflects growing recognition that acknowledging the nation’s Jewish history is essential to Poland.

Dr. Alina Molisak, who teaches Jewish literature at Warsaw University, cites the tremendous influence of Jewish authors on Polish literature. “You can feel the Jewish absence,” she said, reflecting on the Holocaust, “Not only in literature, but in culture and science. We miss them.”

Related links; At Auschwitz, future U.S. military leaders learn what not to do

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The Poles understand and know their part in this horrible history. The story that's being told here inspires me to believe that there is hope. This effort to teach young Poles has a therapeutic effect on them as well as on the Holocaust survivors and their descendants. I can't say forgive and forget, but I can say the current generation of Poles should not feel shackled to this collective shame. Onward Christian Soldiers!

  • 15 votes
#1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:06 PM EST
Comment author avatarLuke-406706Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

What in the world are you talking about. What part of Poles history. Are you referring that they had something to do with it?

Your call-sign "Christian Soldier" already speaks to your ignorance.

Also, therapeutic effect... is this something that you pulled out of your hole or are you a psychologist who studied the effects of showing children the horrors of war for therapeutic purposes?

  • 9 votes
#1.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:43 PM EST

Luke...It is your ignorance that is on display here. Many Poles were complicit and in fact collaborated outright with the "GeneralGovernment" established by the Nazis. Polish Catholicism had an Anti-Semitic strain and many priests turned in Polish Jews to the Gestapo...Poland is still "Juden Frei" as result. In fact there is a convent within walking distance of Auschwitz. I know this because I have been there.

You need some serious meds bud or at the very least a visit to Holocaust Museum in DC.

  • 22 votes
#1.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:15 PM EST

To Luke"""

And what happened to a number of jews that survived the camps and the Holocaust only to be murdered when they returned to Poland searching for their loved ones... by the Poles...yes they had something to do with it....

  • 23 votes
#1.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:21 PM EST

Luke, I find your own ignorance horribly offensive. Those that didn't know this was happening in their own backyards were merely ignorant. Those that knew about it, and did nothing to try to help were disgusting humans. I won't get started on those that knew about it and perpetuated it.

Why is his tag offensive to you? He is a Christian Soldier, at least he believes in something beyond himself.

And yes, there is something to be gained from witnessing this. Mainly, it is to ensure that this NEVER happens again. People are already forgetting about the survivors of the Holocaust and their families. It's a disgrace to the human race in general. Secondly, it is to show people what hate can do. Hitler and his cronies were monsters, and lest we forget, everyone should be reminded of what comes from letting monsters in charge of the government.

אנו זוכרים

  • 16 votes
#1.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:21 PM EST

Keep drinking that Coolaid boys, you have swallowed the propaganda very well.

If I keep reading what you are writing I will also believe that it was in fact the Poles who were led by Hitler and initiated the camps.

And if you believe that it will never happen again then you need to look over some history books, its no different the other instances of genocide that occurred since. And maybe soon you all "Christian Soldiers" will gang together and show the pagan world whats up in the name of "Jesus".

  • 3 votes
#1.5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:00 PM EST

I don't think anybody stated that "it was in fact the Poles who were led by Hitler yada yada yada"

And I'm also 100% sure that nobody said this wouldn't happen again. It's happened MANY times since then in fact. But if we forget this, and other atrocities led by evil men, then we are no better than the evil men themselves.

You should try drinking the kool- aid, at least you won't look like you've had your head buried in the sand all these years.

  • 5 votes
#1.6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:14 PM EST

On August 22, 1939, Hitler authorized his commanders to kill "without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need".

Heinrich Himmler echoed Hitler's words: "All Poles will disappear from the world.... It is essential that the great German people should consider it as its major task to destroy all Poles."

Along with 3 million Polish Jews, 3 million Polish Catholics perished in Nazi death camps and firing squads. I am horrified that anyone wants to blame half the victims for the death of the other half.

On August 22, 1939, a few days before the official start of World War II, Hitler authorized his commanders to kill "without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need".

Heinrich Himmler echoed Hitler's decree: "All Poles will disappear from the world.... It is essential that the great German people should consider it as its major task to destroy all Poles."

Along with 3 million Polish Jews, 3 million Polish Catholics perished in Nazi death camps and firing squads. I am horrified that anyone wants to blame half the victims for the death of the other half.

  • 13 votes
#1.8 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:29 PM EST

The numbers of Germans that were used in the Holocaust were almost always supplemented with locals. Even in the camps where many of the guards were Ukrainian. Every conquered country had a SS legion like Latvia and in the Balkans. Even the French and Low Countries. The Einzatsgruppen were heavily supplemented by locals. Jews actually stood a better chance of surviving in Italy where the Fascists where not anti Semites. The Nazis where not dumb they handed out homes, apartments , farms, and loot to locals in return for their help.

  • 9 votes
#1.9 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:32 PM EST

For some reason, we think of the Nazi genocide as a Jewish event, but while it did eliminate a greater portion of the Jewish population than the other non-Jewish groups targeted, the majority of civilians who died in WWII were NOT Jewish.

The real shame is, due to ignorance, the Polish Gentiles who died in WWII are not remembered as victims.

  • 9 votes
#1.10 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:41 PM EST

If I keep reading what you are writing I will also believe that it was in fact the Poles who were led by Hitler and initiated the camps.

Luke -- your ignorance is indeed appalling. You NEED to keep reading. Truly, you really do. (and leave the Kool-Aid alone too)

Here's the ironic part. The Jews of Poland actually thought the Germans were liberating them when they invaded! Yes liberating! They were treated so badly (pogroms, etc.) that they thought life HAD to get better under the "civilized" Germans. After all, until WWII, Germans were assimilated and accepted members of German society. What a mistake! So, it was no problem at all for the Poles to go along with the Nazis, they already hated Jews! Why do you think most of the camps were in Poland?????

  • 6 votes
#1.11 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:05 PM EST

For some reason, we think of the Nazi genocide as a Jewish event, but while it did eliminate a greater portion of the Jewish population than the other non-Jewish groups targeted, the majority of civilians who died in WWII were NOT Jewish.

The real shame is, due to ignorance, the Polish Gentiles who died in WWII are not remembered as victims.

Bill -- you explain it yourself. The Nazi GENOCIDE is a Jewish "event". When one group goes to totally exterminate another ... just because of religion, ethnicity, etc. That is a genocide. The Nazis were determine to eliminate ALL the Jews, thus GENOCIDE.

Now, that' not saying that all the others killed in the Holocaust were not equally tragic ... but generally speaking, it wasn't GENOCIDE. In your example, the Poles ... the Germans weren't out to kill them all, simply because they were Polish. The did kill 10's of thousands of innocents, and that's tragic, but it was the fact that they were trying to wipe out a whole group of people -- based only on religion -- that makes it a "Jewish" event in many people's minds.

And, btw, there are plenty of memorials to the gentile Poles who died as well. They are not ignored.

  • 5 votes
#1.12 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:10 PM EST

When Jews were driven out of Polish towns and cities into the ghettos, and later into the concentration and work camps, Poles would often get to keep their goods, and they were complicit in a lot of the Nazi actions there when they were getting free stuff because of it (the very stuff the Jews had taken away from them).

Your historical ignorance is shining bright Luke.

  • 6 votes
#1.13 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:52 PM EST

Beth is a moron. No, the Poles did not view the Germans as a liberating force. And the Poles fought hard against the Germans, at the time of invasion, and all throughout the war. You should be ashamed of yourself for insinuating that Poles were so stupid as to welcome German invasion. You disgust me.

  • 4 votes
#1.14 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:53 PM EST

If your life is under threat you'll do what ever you have to do to preserve it. It's natural to want to survive. Nothin' wrong with that.

  • 1 vote
#1.15 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:52 PM EST

The Poles had nothing to do with the holocaust nor were they complicit. Let me remind everyone that it was Nazi Germans that carried out this hideous act throughout Europe. Shimon Peres of Israel declared in Warsaw a couple of years ago that "the Polish people are NOT responsible for the holocaust ". The concentration camps that were established during WWII on Polish soil were done so by the Germans. The atrocities were carried out by the Germans not only on the Jews but also on Christian Poles. The reason that many of those camps were established in Poland was simply out of logistic considerations. After all, there were some 3 million Jews living in Poland at the outbreak of the war and many more in central and eastern Europe. Poland experienced the greatest brutality of any country at the hands of Nazi Germany and Communist Soviet Union. The greatest number of Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem come from Poland. The numbers are growing with each day as many more cases are recognized in the post-communist era in Poland by Israel. During WWII, Poland was the only country in Europe whereby A Pole and his family were executed for trying to help Jews. After the Jews, Poles were targeted for extinction by the Germans. Those that claim that there were "pogroms" in Poland that were carried out by Poles are not honest in reporting the complete truth. Yes, there were a couple of incidences where Jews died at the hands of the Poles, one at Kielce where some 40+ died. The other at a place called Jedwabne where several hundred "purportedly" were killed by Poles. One needs to also bring forth facts about bad Jewish behaviour towards Polish Christians that may not be to one's liking. For example, the fact that Polish patriots were tortured and murdered by the NKVD and the UB during the last days of WWII and the immediate post war era as the communists were taking control of Poland. The vast majority at the top of the NKVD(KGB) and UB(Polish communist brethren of the NKVD) were..... Jews.

  • 3 votes
#1.16 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:11 PM EST

Thank You for an educated explanation. The holocaust, the events that proceeded it and its aftermath, in terms of destruction of millions worldwide, is just one example of mans inhumanity to man.

Whatever we can do as a species to exterminate this kind of institutionalized hatred and disregard for the sanctity of life can only benefit all human beings everywhere. Actions, like living beings tend to multiply after their own kind. Planting seeds of dissention and distrust only serve to nurture the virulent weeds that create geopolitical disasters. Plant seeds of peace and perhaps we will have a chance for something else.

  • 3 votes
#1.17 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:34 PM EST

Michael ... you do realize the only thing name calling accomplishes is lowering YOURSELF???? Well, you probably don't.

It might also help had you actually READ what you responded to. I said the JEWS of Poland ... not all Poles ... were the ones who initially welcomed Germans. Absolutely many Poles fought against the Germans. There were many resistance and partisan groups. However, you are obviously NOT aware that many of those groups were also antisemitic.

And, btw, PJ is also correct. Genrikh Yagoda is also a name that bears remembering ... and most have never heard it. He was actually the founder of the NKVD. Most Jews in the NKVD and other important positions in the USSR were among the first to be "purged". There are also a great number of Poles who individually helped.

However, that doesn't excuse the Poles who not only practiced antisemitism before WWII and during WWII (look up Jedwabne), but also after the war was over.

For more reading, look up the pogroms of 1903-1906. Also look at life in The Pale.

  • 3 votes
#1.18 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 11:00 PM EST

What a beautiful article. G-d bless you and keep up the good work!

    #1.19 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:42 PM EST

    The Nazis killed anybody they didn't like or anybody who might stand in their way especially anybody that might lead an opposition like schoolteachers, the local priest etc. Poland had a long history of being run over by both the russians and the germans everytime they wanted to go at it. Survival consisted of waiting till they left and picking up the pieces. My people in a northern section of Poland were run over so often they spoke a dialect that mixed polish and german. And one of my "polish" ancestors had a german title. My "polish" grandmother was as german as my "german" grandfather was polish it just depended on which last name you ended up with. Generations of surviving invasions meant not becoming a target after the government changed.

      #1.20 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 5:52 PM EST
      Reply

      It is sad to see that the past isn't fading.

      I believe it is time to turn the page and let the dead sleep.

      While many may feel this somehow improves the world, I do not.

      We must find common ground to move forward, and these types of programs, while well intended, seem in my eyes to only exacerbate today's tension.

      If your ancestors died in a concentration camp, a gulag, an Indian reservation, an inner city ghetto or a trench filled with mustard gas they are still none the less dead.

      If we continue to divide ourselves by cultural and religious walls, we are doomed to indulge in the same insanity our past is riddled with.

      The ONLY race we should focus on is the human race, and permit the arbitrary distinctions we have made to fade away.

      • 5 votes
      Reply#2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:25 PM EST

      Except we see the same sorts of hatred, distrust, stereotypes today. We shoudn't dwell excessively on the past but we need to be reminded occasionally of what happens when these emotions get the upper hand in people lest we feel it's "OK" and that it could never happen again.

      • 17 votes
      #2.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:42 PM EST

      Already there are many who deny that the Holocaust ever happened. This needs to be done before the last of those who witnessed it is gone. People who came after this terrible time need to remember that it happened. If you do not remember history, you are doomed to repeat it.

      • 18 votes
      #2.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:46 PM EST

      To prevent such things from happening in the future, we must be reminded of the past.

      • 18 votes
      #2.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:56 PM EST

      Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it- George Satayana.

      And it it's already happening-again

      • 19 votes
      #2.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:58 PM EST

      I couldn't disagree with you more William. These things need to be remembered and taught to our youth. Without it, it could very well happen again. The people who died during this time period need to be mentioned and they need to have a legacy. Having a face and a story helps give it a human touch. I will teach my children about the Holocaust and hope that they do the same!

      • 11 votes
      #2.5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:01 PM EST

      William, you and Luke are about as ignorant as cow turds. Please don't reproduce.

      • 3 votes
      #2.6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:30 PM EST

      Freedom22, If you are interested in history, add this to the education: From Wikipedia

      (also search for rheinwiesenlager) MAYBE upto 750,000 German Prisoners died AFTER the war....what a world...

      In 1969, Lieutenant General Leonard D. Heatonprepared and published a report for the United States Army Medical Department, that examined preventive medicine and the problems associated with housing a large number German POWs after World War II. The report found a number of problems, including:

      • The army had lost track of some of the locations where POWs were held.[11]
      • The number of prisoners greatly exceeded expectations.[12]
      • Organization of the camps was left to prisoners.
      • Food and water supplies were insufficient during April and May 1945, though they later improved.[13]
      • The 1200 to 1500 calories ration that the Disarmed Enemy Forces were receiving in August 1945 was inadequate.[14]
      • The lack of food led in some cases to "extensive malnutrition."[14]

      In one chapter in a multi-author book published in 2003, Richard Dominic Wiggers argued that the Allies violated international law regarding the feeding of enemy civilians, they both directly and indirectly caused the unnecessary suffering and death of large numbers of civilians and POWs in occupied Germany, guided partly by a spirit of postwar vengeance when creating the circumstances that contributed to their deaths.[15] and by strict orders to U.S. military personnel and their wives to destroy or otherwise render inedible their own leftover surplus so as to ensure it could not be eaten by German civilians.[16] The Americans also prevented locals from bringing prisoners food under threat of being shot[17]

      The International Red Cross was prevented from visiting prisoners. Only in the autumn of 1945 - a time when most camps had closed or where closing - the Red Cross was granted permission to send delegations to visit camps in the French and UK occupation zones, and to provide - very small - amounts of relief. On February 4, 1946 the Red Cross was allowed to send relief also to those in the U.S. run occupation zone. The International Red Cross reports "The quantities received by the ICRC for these captives remained very small, however. During their visits, the delegates observed that German prisoners of war were often detained in appalling conditions. They drew the attention of the authorities to this fact, and gradually succeeded in getting some improvements made."[18]

      Some of the 740,000 German prisoners transferred by the U.S. for forced labor in France came from these camps, these forced laborers were already very weak, many weighing barely 50 kilos.[19]

      • 2 votes
      #2.7 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:33 PM EST

      All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing

      Burke

      • 4 votes
      #2.8 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:58 PM EST

      When we fail to learn from the past, it tends to repeat itself. Nothing is ever forgotten, only denied and unaddressed. Telling people to "move on" solves nothing. All it does is make people like William Demuth more comfortable.

      • 1 vote
      #2.9 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:40 PM EST

      Well Edmund Burke's whole family culture from the mongol invasion to the second world war wasn't encompassed by the need to survive until the invaders left. In other words wait a generation they'll leave and we'll still be here. Genetically we carry every invader but culturally we are still Poles. It's different when you are the battleground between two large, powerful and and agressive neighbors. Bravely standing up to the invaders means your family ceases to exist. My people in their history have been run over by the russians on their way to Germany, by the germans on their way to Russia, by the scandinavians on their way to Russia and by the french on their way to Russia. None of these countries honored our sovereignity. So why doesn't anybody tell them to remember what they did to us.

      • 1 vote
      #2.10 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:14 PM EST
      Reply

      It is a bit too little, and way too late, but certainly better than nothing.

      • 2 votes
      Reply#3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:31 PM EST

      And to think in this day and age that there are those who insist the Holocaust never even happened. It is still unbelievable that it really did. But undenyably true.

      • 6 votes
      Reply#4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:45 PM EST

      From what I read by the revisionists is that they can't believe in Death Camps. The say that there is no way that an industrial complex for killing people could kill some 6 million people in such a short time. They will admit to mass killings due to executions, disease and starvation, but they can not get their heads (pun intended) into the Gas Chambers. They just say that it is mathematically impossible. To me, they are focusing on the wrong thing. It is not important on how the people were killed, but that they were killed as a mater of State Policy.

      Another sore point is that few people know that about 6 million Germans died AFTER the war due to Allied policies. What the USand French did was not too far from what the NAZIs did.

      VERY little is thought about what the Russians did in the occupation of Eastern Europe. I think everyone knows about the rape of Berlin, but the mass murder of the Eastern Germans didn't stop until about 1950.

      Really, the world is a hell of a place and IF WE DO NOT STUDY HISTORY....

      • 1 vote
      #4.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:50 PM EST

      Monsignore. What was that? What did the US and French do to Germany after WW2, exactly, in term of policies?.

        #4.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 11:58 PM EST

        Well you can start by reading 2.7 above. Don't feel bad, I thought that we came in and helped the Germans from the get go as well. This seems not to be the case. Do search about rheinwiesenlager, and our reduction of food to the German POW that we had in the States.

        The USA is not perfect either and when the orders to reduce food came down, we had all kinds that clicked their heels and "followed orders". Not much different then today. Many people knew that what we were doing at Abu Grahib was WRONG and that was not how we treat people, but none the less, people that knew better went along.

          #4.3 - Sat Jan 7, 2012 5:18 AM EST
          Reply

          Too late for what?

            Reply#5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 3:49 PM EST

            To not teach the history of a people that was almost entirely eradicated through genocide would be a dishonor to those who died, to those who tried to save them, and to their descendants. History will keep repeating itself. Hate, ignorance, bigotry...these will always exist, no matter what. It is an unfortunate fact of human civilization. But it doesn't mean we should disregard the past. There is always a lesson to be learned.

            • 6 votes
            Reply#6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:01 PM EST

            Unfortunately we do not teach about the genocide of the Polish people.

            Neither the German crimes on the Polish people nor the Soviet crimes on the Polish people

            are known or reporesented in the Holocaust Museum. These are Polish people eradicated by the Holocaust that we do not teach about and don't want to remember.

            • 3 votes
            #6.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:34 PM EST
            Reply

            And people have to realize it wasn't just the German nazis that killed and persecuted the jews but their very own neighbors.. local police and anti -semetic groups in every country touched by WWII..

            • 5 votes
            Reply#7 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:12 PM EST

            Oh yea Amunka what about all the non Jew's that were killed by the German Nazi's like 13 million Russians. Cut me a break with the sob stories. People get tired of hearing on the Jewish stories. God you don't see all the other nationalities crying about it. Enough already with the poor jew stories. People know the truth .

            • 5 votes
            #7.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:39 PM EST

            By the way when the Jew's came here during the war they were the ones that got free land, Chicken farms, Buisness opportuniys Ect. from the government. Other non jews got @!$%#.

            • 3 votes
            #7.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:50 PM EST

            To..kyaki """

            Yes people know the truth ...apparently you don't

            • 2 votes
            #7.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:01 PM EST

            Kayak, I was in Qatar in a dining facility when on the TV was a CNN report on Auschwitz. My translator asked me what it was all about and I told him it was about the memorial being placed there for the millions of Jews killed in the extermination camps. This well educated Egyptian was floored. He had never heard about this. When I went back to work, I pulled up links to Concentration Camps on the internet. Before long I had about a dozen foreign nationals, all well educated professionals, looking at the horrors of the Camps. They really were stunned. In the Arab countries where they came from, there was non stop anti Jew propaganda, but this information was blocked at the Government level.

            Not everyone knows about the Death Camps or who was in them. It really is NEEDED to keep people informed about what happened to Christians, Jews, Homosexuals, Gypsies, and just about anyone who fell into bad graces of the NAZIs.

            • 8 votes
            #7.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:05 PM EST

            That is my point . It just wasn't jew's it was millions of people from other nationalities that were exterminated .

            • 3 votes
            #7.5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:16 PM EST

            kyak, I get your point, but one the one thing you said about the other people not talking about the atrocities that happened to them it the problem. ALL people need to study history and be allowed to talk about it.

            Right now in Germany, Germans are being called Neo NAZIs because they are talking about what happened to the Germans after the Old NAZIs were defeated. When those Germans write about the slaughter that happened to the Germany people AFTER THE WAR, they get put in Jail. This lack of education and lack of freedom of speach in Democratic Germany is really amazing, and I think it fuels the radicals.

            • 1 vote
            #7.6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:28 PM EST

            kyak123

            Get your facts straight. While agree it is important to remember that approx 9 million human beings were exterminated in the camps, 6 million of those were Jews. This represented 1/3 of the world Jewish population at the time. As far as free land and chickens, you are hallucinating. As a matter of fact, during the war Jewish refugees were turned away by the U.S. and many ended up back in the hands of the Nazi's and their collaborators.

            Statements made by you and others point out the need for education. You obviously are in need of one.

            • 4 votes
            #7.7 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:59 PM EST

            PJ, you are absolutely correct, except I think it was about 13 million human beings, including, but not limited to Jews, Gypsies, the mentally retarded, homosexuals, Poles, Communists and whomever else was viewed as not Aryan.

            The US did indeed turn away Jewish refugees. Only Denmark and Bulgaria refused to turn over their Jewish populations to the Nazi occupiers. The Catholic Church knew full well about the Final Solution and remained mum.

            The whole thing is shameful, wicked, and a blight on mankind. We all should learn as much as we can about what really happened, especially at a local, personal level. The individual people who cooperated with the Nazis were just like us. Without understanding what happened, it can and will happen again.

            • 1 vote
            #7.8 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:39 PM EST

            Suze for your people what happened during the second world war was a new thing. The last time England was invaded was 1066. My great grandparents left Europe because they had been forced to fight 3x's in other peoples wars as they ran over my country which just happened to be in the way. Due to all the invasions my ethnic background is danish, swedish, norwegian, french, russian, german, mongolian and oh yes polish the land of my people. You can feel sorry for what happened my people just survive. Nobody cares about the people of east europe. American congressmen call them those mongoloid east europeans. And oh yes the pope asked the Poles to help kick the turks out of Austria but what about the countries they walked over to get to Austria. Nobody cared about the common people there.

              #7.9 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:48 PM EST
              Reply

              While I agree that this needs to be remembered so that history won't repeat itself, the fact is that history won't repeat itself in Europe anytime soon. It will happen in the Middle East and Africa. And this lesson won't reach down there. So how much can this really accomplish in the end?

              • 1 vote
              Reply#8 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:13 PM EST

              It was only 20 or so years ago that organized genocide was taking place in the former Yugoslavia. There are plenty of Europeans who remember those days like it was yesterday. Today, most civil disturbances in Europe along ethnic or cultural lines tend to be isolated to the Russian Federation, specifically in the Caucasian regions. It's possible that tensions will simply continue to get worse. It would not be surprising to hear, someday, in the next 10 years about massacres verging on genocide being perpetrated on an organized scale by the Russians or the Chechnyans.

              The point is that the Holocaust being remembered in Poland is one way to remember the lives lost and the lessons Europeans---not just Poles---hopefully have learned. Perhaps genocide will never again take place in Germany or Poland until the end of history, but it's important for the descendants of the survivors of that terrible era to learn from the mistakes of the past.

              • 5 votes
              #8.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:29 PM EST

              I understand your point, but it seems like a lesson isn't really taken from this unless you can identify with the people who had to learn it the hard way. It's strange that so much of the current European cultural strife is still centered in Russia considering how bad they had it during WW2. Or is that just a case of history not being taught to the newer generations?

              • 1 vote
              #8.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:19 PM EST

              There have been genocides in Africa. I understand there is one going on in the Sudan.

              • 3 votes
              #8.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:28 PM EST

              There is a big difference between genocide and civil war. Neither are acceptable, please don't misconstrue what I'm saying, but What's happening in Sudan and the Ivory Coast and Nigeria and Chad and I could go on but I won't is vastly different than what happened in Nazi Germany.

                #8.4 - Mon Jan 9, 2012 10:30 AM EST
                Reply

                testing!

                  Reply#9 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:15 PM EST

                  say hello to the microphone

                    #9.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:28 PM EST
                    Reply

                    How about we own up to the slaughter of our own indigenous peoples right here? Where's the gravesights or markers or even the land that Native Americans were forcibly removed from and moved to the Indian Territory, now a part of Oklahoma?

                    And in reply to William Demuth, I'm glad the past isn't fading. If we forget these atrocities ever happened, that's when they'll happen again, because no one will have the past to use as a moral compass as to why it should never happen again. The thing that makes the human race so interesting is the differences in culture, religion, past history-celebrate it, don't try to homogenize it, and don't forget it!

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#10 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:15 PM EST

                    @jranders

                    totally agree with you. when i was in school, very little was taught in regards to our slaughter of the indigenous peoples of north america. i am glad to say that much has changed, and our public schools are putting much more emphasis on it these days.

                    • 1 vote
                    #10.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:24 PM EST

                    What I want to point out is that WE did not kill the Indians, those that came before us did. Same for Germany, at some time we have to say that WE are not guilty for what other people did in a different time.

                    That does not mean that this horrible history does not need to be told, but do not hold anyone alive today for what previous generations did.

                    I am only guilty for what I do.

                      #10.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:16 PM EST

                      The previous generations made wealth and passed it on to their offspring.. That is the where much of old family money came from... Why did they kick Indians off certain land? It was desirable land and they sent them to land no one wanted, when someone with wealth did want it they kicked them off again and sent them somewhere else even more undesirable..

                      They were a conquered people and all of Europe was conquered and re-conquered. You don't hear any indigenous people there complaining because they were assimilated into the conquering society..

                      I don't feel bad for the Indians.. The white man is making them rich with his need to gamble at their Casinos..

                      How much Jewish wealth ended up in the pockets of those who persecuted them and where is that wealth today?

                      • 3 votes
                      #10.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:45 PM EST

                      Didn't you ever wonder how a country that financed the Axis powers could possibly have become so rich? Nobody is that good in banking. Hundreds of thousands of murdered Jews had their money and treasures in Swiss banks that was never retrieved.

                        #10.4 - Sat Jan 7, 2012 3:38 PM EST

                        harry the current people don't just want to blame the old money people whose families made money from the killing of the native people or from slavery they blame everybody with white skin even those whose families came here in the 1880's and later and settled in places already states by that time. My greatgrandfather came in 1892 and went to work at a factory owned and operated by german immigrants who hired german immigrants where his son and grandson also worked. The state had entered the union 44 years before he left europe.And the civil war was over for 27 years by that time. Sorry I don't take responsibility for that and we sure never made any money from either.

                          #10.5 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:01 PM EST
                          Reply

                          forget history, and it will repeat itself. never, ever forget.

                          • 4 votes
                          Reply#11 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:16 PM EST

                          I have been unable to understand why God performed countless miracles to save the 40,000 Jews from the Pharaoh of Egypt, yet allowed 6 million to die at the hands of the Nazis.

                          Sounds like the Exodus described in the Bible was a fairytale. Does anyone have an explanation for this ?

                            Reply#12 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:25 PM EST

                            It's in the Bible so, yes, it is a fairy tale.

                            • 1 vote
                            #12.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:41 PM EST

                            Maybe it was not of God's doing? Maybe he took a vacation from this world. Maybe there is no God. Maybe your a bigot. Maybe it was to defeat idiots like you witha shop of horrors. Maybe you are too dumb to realize that there is not a reason why 13 million were killed except for hated alone.

                            • 4 votes
                            #12.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:45 PM EST

                            I know I'll get blasted for this one but......in the bible it says that the Jews will be gathered home (Israel). Now think. Israel didn't have a huge population then (30's & 40") - BUT the Nazi's deported thousands of Jews via train out of Germany - the Jews wound up in the 1 place they felt safe and with their own kind in Israel. If you had 6 milliion of your fellow Jews get murdered - you wouldn't want to go back to that place. You would want to be with those of your own faith where you would feel safe and try to start over. After WWII look at the population explosion in Israel - they have grown into a powerhouse since those days. So you can look upon this as biblical fufillment or just as a horrific situation where innocents were slaughtered. You don't have to look far anywhere these days for that. Perhaps history has not only been forgotten - but being repeated as we type.

                              #12.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:53 PM EST
                              Reply

                              To..stymie''''

                              Sadly no...

                                Reply#13 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:29 PM EST

                                Try as you might, Poland is a place where hatred lives. Not convinced? Talk to some here in America.

                                • 2 votes
                                Reply#14 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:42 PM EST

                                Hatred in a worldwide thing and every nation has it..

                                Ask an Israeli about a Palestinian... Or vice versa..

                                Hatred is more constant and consistent than Love will ever be..

                                • 3 votes
                                #14.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:33 PM EST

                                Harry your comment is stupid. Israel wants peace. It is the Arabs, or as you want to call them the Palestinian's who refuse to recognize Israel. The bottom line is if the Palestinian's really wanted peace then they would have a willing partner in Israel. The problem is that the Palestinian's charter says that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth. You should get the facts.

                                • 2 votes
                                #14.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:14 PM EST

                                Alan- You sure sound like a Jew.

                                An uptight Jew telling everyone how it is? That's not stereotypical at all..

                                Israel wants peace? Hardly and I agree that neither does Palestine. Don't play the Innocent peace loving Jew.. You are full of @!$%#.

                                Let me come take over your land and when you get angry I will just tell you I want Peace...

                                Would you recognize me as a peaceful entity if I took what wasn't mine from you? Don't say it isn't real and don't say it isn't happening... Even the Israeli Government knows it is true.

                                How does a single Jew get to speak for Palestine and the Palestinians? Let alone trying to talk out your ass about what every other Jew wants..

                                • 2 votes
                                #14.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:33 PM EST

                                I am a Russian Jew and proud of it. Your just an ignorant man. You don't have a clue to what Israel is or about. You don't known how it started and you say that Israel stole the land.

                                1. Whom did Israel steal the land from and when?

                                2.What was the name of the country the you said that Israel stole this land from?

                                3.Who was the President or leader of this Country?

                                Lets see if you can answer these 3 simple questions. Considering you accused Jewish people of stealing something! Whom did they steal it from?

                                • 4 votes
                                #14.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:45 PM EST

                                Illegal Jewish settlements that the Israeli government has condemned and has further more ordered the stop to any further settlements on Palestinian contested land... Problem is The Jews aren't listening to their own government and they continue to put settlements where they aren't supposed to.. That is why the government has torn many of them down and the Jews in the settlements have tried to fight their own government over their removal..

                                • 2 votes
                                #14.5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 9:42 PM EST

                                You still haven't answered the questions harrybutz. And your comment is so stupid it is hard to understand. So I will try to help you.

                                So is that a problem for you Harrybutz? Why is that your problem? So the Israeli government does the right thing? You still can't answer the 3 simple questions that I asked you can you? Here they are again.

                                1. Whom did Israel steal the land from and when?

                                2.What was the name of the country the you said that Israel stole this land from?

                                3.Who was the President or leader of this Country?

                                • 4 votes
                                #14.6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 10:28 PM EST

                                Having some little wimp of a Jew asking me three questions and I should feel the need to answer them? I don't care...

                                I don't care if the Nazi's would have pizza ovened your Grandparents and great Grandparents...

                                I don't care if the Russians would have sent your family to a forced labor camp in Siberia..

                                I don't care if and when every Muslim nation attacks Israel... I don't care.

                                You are a Jew and the majority of the world doesn't like you.. History has proven that. Being a Russian Jew is even worse.. Russia doesn't care about you and it is most likely why your Parents or Grandparents left.

                                No one wants Jews around them.. It is why they set up Israel as a Jewish State.. And even that isn't working out too well because the Muslims don't want the Jews around them either..

                                You are a Jew and not even one of the bright and successful Jews...

                                Don't you get it? People don't care about Jews.. It is why you are so wrapped up in yourself because no one else cares.

                                  #14.7 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 10:56 PM EST

                                  Alan- I think they interviewed you...

                                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbIHsvouXXY&feature=related

                                  I especially like the lisping woman's explanation at the end..

                                  And you wonder why there is turmoil with Palestine.

                                    #14.8 - Sat Jan 7, 2012 3:21 PM EST

                                    I'm not a Jew Alan but i'm smart enough to know I can't say I remember becase I wasn't a year old yet. They didn't steal the land from anybody because they as a people didn't exist yet. The country was the British protectorate of Palestine and consisted of present day Israel and present day Jordan which was divided by the UN in May 1948 into a Jewish state ( Israel) and an Arab state ( Jordan)The Jewish state was promptly attacked by every country in the Arab league and won. As far as the leader of the British empire at the time it was someone in Queen Elizabeths family.

                                      #14.9 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:13 PM EST
                                      Reply

                                      Glad they are doing this, but please do not ignore the deaths of non-Jewish Poles at the hands of the Germans and the Russians. The Holocaust is not strictly a Jewish history.

                                      • 4 votes
                                      Reply#15 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:49 PM EST

                                      Of course not Buckley but 6 million Jewish people were murdered. By far the biggest number.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #15.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:15 PM EST

                                      Buckley- Your friendly neighborhood Jew Alan is here to set you straight.. Oy Vey!!

                                      • 2 votes
                                      #15.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:41 PM EST

                                      Harry, your arm band arrived at the Post Office !

                                        #15.3 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:20 PM EST
                                        Reply

                                        Here is His Truth about Jew and Gentile. Remember Jesus was Jewish, His mother Mary and earthly father were Jewish, so stop the hating of Jews, they did not Kill Jesus Christ like the decievers want you to beleive. Jesus Christ gave His life, no one took it, as a way to "Reconciliation".

                                        Ephesians 2

                                        Made Alive in Christ

                                        1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

                                        Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

                                        11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

                                        14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

                                        19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

                                        • 1 vote
                                        Reply#16 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:53 PM EST

                                        Noneyabusiness, I agree with what you said about not hating jews. Now, how about something about the Moslems. I don't think Jesus would have hated / or codoned hatred of them in his name, either !

                                          #16.1 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:25 PM EST
                                          Reply

                                          These Jews in Europe must have done something to the government to be punished like that!!!

                                          Mention their crime, the punishment, and why didn't their government treat them right????

                                          This whole thing about the torturing and all that MUST have a reason. I want to know what did the Jews do in Europe to get such punishments from their very own people?????

                                          Don't tell me that Hitler, et al, just hated the Jews... as there are so many people who hate each other....

                                          • 2 votes
                                          Reply#17 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:54 PM EST

                                          Hahahahahahaha... wow.

                                          • 1 vote
                                          #17.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 4:57 PM EST

                                          Raaphat, That's just it, when you see those old films of the war they were not all jew's in the camps. There were millions of others from different nationalities, I get tired of hearing it was just the jew's that were killed.

                                          • 3 votes
                                          #17.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:03 PM EST

                                          Jews were prosperous so hitler wanted their wealth which others were envious of, a great minority to hate. he also hated gypsies, communists, black, arabs, ukrainians, rich, poor, short, tall, thin, thick. he hated anyone that helped rally people to his "cause" , ist Kampf.

                                          I shall add that talking too much about Hitler, the Jews holocaust, hatred is not helpful as it 'honors" the means people, their means deeds etc. I think a monument and a museum and recorded would do as well. Endoctrinating young kids into the victimization might make them victims as well, to move forward you got to forgive and forget.

                                          • 1 vote
                                          #17.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:44 PM EST

                                          Raaphat they did the same thing the 7 million non jews did they existed. That was the only crime committed by 13 million people killed by the nazis. When people hate whole groups of people and decide to kill them they kill men. women and children without distinction the nazis killed other nazis who didn't tow the line with the power structure during their rise. To those who hate that much no reason is needed.

                                            #17.4 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:21 PM EST
                                            Reply

                                            I have to give credit to the Poles who don't sweep it under the rug and act like their people didn't have a hand in exterminating the Jews, Gypsies, Gays and any others deemed undesirable.

                                            I love to hear young Germans who act like they are so innocent and just blame a political party who ran all of Germany into the ground and tarnished their good name. What was being a Nazi? It used to mean you were German.. It takes a full country to do what the Nazi's did. German citizens should still be to blame, even to this day. Spawn of a Nazi is still a Nazi.. A Jew might not be a practicing Jew but he or she is still a Jew.

                                            The Japs who act like it wasn't them either who butchered throughout Asia and the Pacific. Poor pity on them because old Uncle Sam dropped some Bombs on them... Both countries started WWII and were responsible for Millions of deaths of innocent civilians.. The Japs never got the War Trials that the Germans did and so many of those monsters got off Scott free.. Emperor Hirohito should have been executed for all of Japan to see.. A Demi-God my ass..

                                            What Pisses Me off more than anything about these Holocaust tributes is the Jews who act like it was only them who were persecuted. Gypsies and Gays along with a host of others were exterminated too... The problem is the Jews were just as against them as well, only to end up in the same Concentration Camp, Gas Chamber, Mass Grave and Pizza Oven... Go into any Holocaust wing in any Museum and you have to search for the tiny plaque or reference they have to commemorate the others.

                                            I believe if the Germans were only searching for Gypsies and Gays, the Jews would have helped turn them in too.

                                            The Holocaust wasn't just about Jews, it just shows the continued detest for Gypsies and Gays, even from Jews.

                                            • 3 votes
                                            Reply#18 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:06 PM EST

                                            The Japs never got the War Trials that the Germans did and so many of those monsters got off Scott free.

                                            Almost all of the commanders committed suicide, and saved everyone the costs of trials. Many soldiers died rather than surrender, which saved the problems of putting them into POW camps.

                                            • 1 vote
                                            #18.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:36 PM EST

                                            I agree many did commit suicide... So did Hitler and many of his top Nazi figures..

                                            How many of Japans top leaders who signed the unconditional surrender papers on the Missouri were held accountable? None. The Japanese were spared as a political move to keep the Japanese from getting angry with our occupation.

                                            Every single one of Japans top leaders were War Criminals.. First and foremost their Emperor.

                                            • 4 votes
                                            #18.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:56 PM EST

                                            excuse me Harrybutz, There are many Gays who live in Israel. You really need to educate yourself! Have you ever been to Israel? Do you even know a Jew?

                                            • 1 vote
                                            #18.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:46 PM EST

                                            My mom married a Jew.. It is when I realized the stereotypes of Jews are real.. You are Jew Alan...

                                            I have no desire to go the Jewish Mother Ship.. Jews are not pro Gay and tell an Orthodox Jew that their son is Gay and you would see a Kid being shunned...

                                            • 2 votes
                                            #18.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:48 PM EST

                                            You know nothing about Jewish people Harrybutz! In fact you know nothing about the world. Your comment about sterotypes of Jews is so ignorant. It shows a lack of upbringing and a lack of class. Any orthodox person, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Buddist, are all extreme right thinking people, but they don't go out and kill people for their beliefs or make ignorant comments like you. I have sterotypes of imbeciles, people who talk and say nothing worthwhile or truthful, but I don't use them. Try using compassion for people for once. When you write, write something truthful and less ignorant so people will not realize how low an IQ you may have! Don't have any more children, please.

                                            • 3 votes
                                            #18.5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 10:40 PM EST

                                            A Russian Jew talking about class.... My dog who licks his own ass has more class than any Russian Jew...

                                            Go back to Russia... Oh that's right they don't want you either.. They have enough stray dogs already..

                                            Good thing there are countries around the globe who let your kind in... They have a love for Dogs.

                                            • 1 vote
                                            #18.6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 11:23 PM EST

                                            People suck, humans suck, I suck too. But sometimes people are wonderful, humans are wonderful, and I'm wonderful too.

                                            People are people everywhere. it might take a generation to re-orient mindsets because what gets into a child's mind is difficult to change, but race, religion, culture etc... are just one-generation influences. We could have taken Hitler's son as an infant( if he had one of course) and raise him in America and he would have turned into a normal average American, except if Hitler was genetically or mentally sick( I think he was personally) and had passed that on to his offspring with traits of grandeur and cruelty.

                                            No, what hurts is the difference, being black, being gay being Jew being this being that... and having someone who manages to grasp that difference combined with a feeling of frustration in the Hatred's recipient and bingo, you made a new believer and follower. If you can do it to masses as a politician your power grows fast. And that is what Hitler did to Germans and Germany (and France, England and America to a lesser degree helped that too, right after WW1, annihilating the economy of Germany, nailing them to the cross, out of pride). He lifted the hatred in those humans because it's within everyone and they had a reason to listen . If Germans are so bad and genetically hateful why don't we kill all of the Germans in America, and all the Polish folks? Let's turn on the ovens?

                                            That economic issue is the reason why you can't destroy and then piss off nations after a war, that is the reason why after obliterating Berlin and Germany , America helped rebuild German industry, and Japanese industries as well. America and other nations had learned between right after WW1 and the end of WW2 why had the hatred ran wild in Germany. Germans and Japanese are great people overall, because they have been shown their fallibilities by force and had to reflect upon it. They were green broke and now they are saddled. They are like a kid who misbehaved and got a serious spankin' and a time out, but they got dinner that time.

                                            Jews are people too, they make mistakes, but nothing that deserved extermination in Nazi germany or anywhere, anytime anyhow. I'm just not sure impregnating young kids minds with abuse and victimization concepts is the right thing to do, maybe wait till they are older. That's good for all people, all over the world.

                                            • 2 votes
                                            #18.7 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 11:52 PM EST

                                            Harry even though I have a germanic name since my family is from Poland and Catholic I think Alan and I have a lot more in common than you and I do. You emberass me.

                                              #18.8 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:27 PM EST
                                              Reply

                                              To..kyatkt"'''

                                              Then why are you on this thread....

                                              To Raaphat ...

                                              Because of people like you ...

                                                Reply#19 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:07 PM EST

                                                Because its stories like yours that shun the real truth on what the Nazis did. They killed everyone who stood against them not just Jew's.

                                                • 3 votes
                                                #19.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:20 PM EST

                                                Hey Kyak123, there is a difference between the Germans and the Japs. The Germans were throwing people into Gas Chambers and were into wholesale murder and didn't surrender until they were overrun. I Japan we dropped 2 A Bombs to stop their military and bring their civilian population to demand an end. Hitler could care less is anyone German could survive.

                                                6 Million Jews lost their lives, it is estimated that 3.5 million Jews were in Poland. By far the largest number of murdered civilians. BY FAR. The largest number of people both Military and Civilian is Russian, 8.7 Million.

                                                It is terrible that so many Russians died in the war. But there is something of a difference between people dying while fighting in a war, and being rounded up and tortured, starved, an exterminated in concentration camps.

                                                It is the peculiarly horrible attempt of Hitler to exterminate an entire race of people (the Jews) that makes the Holocaust seem particularly horrible to many people.

                                                Also, it should not be forgotten that many other people were also the target of Hitler's hatred. Slavs, gypsises, homosexuals, communists, intellectuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many others were also sent to the concentration camps.

                                                Certainly the Communist regime in Russia was considered bad during the Cold War, for many people. why else should there have been so much rejoicing when the Berlin Wall came down?

                                                • 2 votes
                                                #19.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:30 PM EST

                                                Alan the Jew... Focus. I was the one who brought up Japan not Kyak...

                                                • 2 votes
                                                #19.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:43 PM EST

                                                Thats true Harry, but this is a public forum and by far Kyak is the biggest bigot. I think youre just not knowledgable but KYAK is just making stuff up because he is a Palestinan who has grown up with hate in his heart.

                                                • 2 votes
                                                #19.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:50 PM EST

                                                Oh Alan your wrong again and guess what i'm pure Russian you fool.

                                                • 2 votes
                                                #19.5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:01 PM EST

                                                Bigot?? Yeah Alan you are a Jew.. A stereotypical Jew.. Anyone who doesn't fall to their knees and swallow everything that is being fed to them by Jews then they are considered a Bigot by Jews like you. Yep, sounds about right.

                                                He is a Palestinian? You can't be serious. You are a Classic Jew Boy and the fact Kyak isn't pro Jewish makes him a Palestinian? Well @!$%#, then I must be Jesus Christ himself... Because the first thing that comes to mind when I read your words is 'Jesus Christ' another Jew..

                                                • 2 votes
                                                #19.6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:03 PM EST

                                                Kyak, your not Russian, I am, my wife is too. Russian people is so foolish as you. When I click on your picture your history is published. Russian people are good intelligent people who have good values. Your values are questionable at best. So why did you have to lie about your nationality? Are you ashamed of it?

                                                • 3 votes
                                                #19.7 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:54 PM EST

                                                As a matter of fact I'm Cossack. Try again you jewish agitator Pureeeeeeeeeeeeee Cossack.

                                                • 1 vote
                                                #19.8 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 9:09 PM EST

                                                Kyak123, you told me you were a Russian? Now you saying your a Cossack? First of all no Russian would ever call himself a Cossack. I think your from Kazakhstan? You look like a Kazakhs? Am I right? I bet I am, because you know no Russian you know that? Don't you? If you are, I know you must be? Right?

                                                • 2 votes
                                                #19.9 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 10:50 PM EST

                                                This has been an interesting exchange. Some guy hates Jews because his mother married one...wow...you have mommy issues.

                                                Another guy that thinks that being a Cossack is something to be proud of and Alan who is proud to be a Jew.

                                                How much different you all are from the NAZIs that murdered all these millions of people....

                                                • 1 vote
                                                #19.10 - Sat Jan 7, 2012 5:42 AM EST

                                                Manure- I don't hate Jews. I dislike Jews like Alan... He makes all Jews look like sniveling uptight cowards..

                                                Alan may be proud to be a Jew but I doubt most Jews are proud he is one of them.

                                                Some of the best people I have ever met in my life are Jewish.. Awesome people.. Then you have Jews like Alan who are the negative stereotypical Jew who does nothing to help peoples love for them.

                                                How much different are all of us than the Nazi's who murdered millions of people? Manure, don't be a Jew like Alan..

                                                  #19.11 - Sat Jan 7, 2012 2:25 PM EST

                                                  Alan that argument won't wash with the people of Nanking or the rest of China and Korea. To this day everytime someone learns the blue cottage forms of tae kwon do they celebrate the man who assasinated the Japanese governor general. Just because the Japanese just shot and raped their way across asia doesn't make it less of a crime of genocide.

                                                    #19.12 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:33 PM EST
                                                    Reply

                                                    The Poles are the Mexicans of Europe

                                                      Reply#20 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:12 PM EST

                                                      January 6, 3099: OK, we've had our obligatory halocast story from the liberal press.

                                                      Where's the Albanian story? 14,000,000 were eliminated by the Turks?

                                                      • 4 votes
                                                      Reply#21 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:25 PM EST

                                                      And you will never see it because it seems only one nationality matters and we all know who that is. And by the way what happened to the Albanians was horrible. All I'm saying when you look at histories ugly past all you hear is how the jew's were dealt with. People are getting tired of hearing about that. How about all the Palitinians the are being slaughterd for there land?

                                                      • 3 votes
                                                      #21.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:50 PM EST

                                                      Palestenians being slautered for their land? Who is slaughtering them? Where is the concentration camps? Are they being put in ovens? In gas Chambers? You must be another Anti-Semite? Are you? This statement is so dumb.

                                                      Watch this.

                                                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHbCGC6amdk&context=C3133ac2ADOEgsToPDskIZXSbgGwU5OgK4g7QnTa5i

                                                      • 4 votes
                                                      #21.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:41 PM EST

                                                      The jew's dumbass are killing them. And i see your playing the famous anti- Semite card. Typical when someone speaks the truth it is people like you that pull that phrase. P.S and i'm not an anti-Semite. You think for a minute that the world See's crybabies like you in a good way?

                                                      • 2 votes
                                                      #21.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:52 PM EST

                                                      Anti Semite?? First Bigot, now Anti-Semitic..

                                                      Alan.. Alan.. Alan.. My god man, you are using up your Jewish arsenal of phrases to throw on anyone who doesn't agree with you.. Slow down, get some new material. Jews proclaiming Bigotry and Anti-Semitism is nothing new, it makes you sound like a stereotypical Jewish woman and you just make every Jew look weak like yourself...

                                                      • 2 votes
                                                      #21.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:32 PM EST

                                                      Look up farther I already mentioned the turks once.

                                                        #21.5 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:35 PM EST
                                                        Reply

                                                        Why the atrocity committed on the Polish people are not represented in the Holocaust Museum?

                                                        Why with the US taxpayer money the distorted picture of history is presented?

                                                        Why the US taxpayer money brainwash Americans?

                                                        • 2 votes
                                                        Reply#22 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:36 PM EST

                                                        Interesting to see who's going to cry the longest, Jews or Blacks. Why do people have to keep lauding the past. The living need more attention.

                                                        • 3 votes
                                                        Reply#23 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 5:47 PM EST

                                                        *thumbs down*

                                                          #23.1 - Sun Jan 8, 2012 6:17 AM EST
                                                          Reply

                                                          I must thank my grandmother who saw this coming and left Poland in 1930, because of that action I am alive. I wish others were as smart as her.

                                                          • 3 votes
                                                          Reply#24 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:17 PM EST

                                                          Strange-no one talks about Jewish war crimes in Poland or the Soviet Union.Most of the Communist leadership was Jewish and people like Dzerzinsky, Beria killed MILLIONS. In post war Poland Jakub Berman ( a Jew , a Soviet Citizen ) with a group of Jews from the Soviet Union like Swiatlo, Rozanski took charge of the Polish Secret Police and terrorized the Polish population from 1945-1952. Many of their victims died in basements of the U.B. The Jews were just as guilty as the Germans of extermination of Poles , particularly in Eastern Poland. !/3 of Polish families in Eastern Poland were shipped out to Siberia by Jewish Commissars. When the Red Army entered Eastern Poland in 1939 the Jews were in charge in most of the towns and shipped Poles out to Siberia and took over their properties. From Jedwabne , for example, many Jews went to Bialystok to work for the NKWD and terrorized the Polish population. If you are going to teach history, teach what actually happened and stop creating Holocaust Industry to milk the victims of Jewish terror for more money.

                                                          I was bewildered when children of a couple I know send their children to a Synogogue to be tought that only Jews were dying in concentration camps in WWII, that no country wanted to take Jews in between the wars. These children of Jewish parents are taught lies. FYI Poland took in 500,000 Jews as well as Romania from the Soviet Union. Teaching HATRED does not help the Jewish cause.

                                                          • 2 votes
                                                          Reply#25 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:37 PM EST

                                                          Finally someone who has the truth and well written. Well said Sir. Sad thing is the young generation does not have this truth presented to them.

                                                          • 2 votes
                                                          #25.1 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 6:41 PM EST

                                                          Do you make this stuff up? This is so stupid.

                                                          • 3 votes
                                                          #25.2 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:43 PM EST

                                                          Alan the Jew doesn't believe anything that wasn't what he was taught.. Sounds about right.. You know all Jews are just peace loving sensitive souls, anything to the contrary is just not true.

                                                          • 2 votes
                                                          #25.3 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 7:46 PM EST

                                                          Not what we were taught, we lived through it. You sound so stupid by trying to be convincing that your not a bigot. I feel sorry for you. Really, that you have to keep calling me or someone a Jew. Being Jewish is a religion that I believe in. Nothng more. That what guys like you don't understand.

                                                          • 2 votes
                                                          #25.4 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 8:58 PM EST

                                                          What have you lived through Alan? You are acting like you have been personally persecuted... Bull@!$%#.. You are just a little coward..

                                                            #25.5 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 9:47 PM EST

                                                            Harrybutz, many of my family died during the war, so the answer is yes, we lost over 30 members of our family. Again, I feel sorry for guys like you that have to call people names because they can't hold an intelligent conversation. Why do you call me a coward? It is usually the coward who calls someone a coward. Do you know that?

                                                            Do you also know that Jesus Christ was Jewish? Did you go to school? What grade did you finish in school?

                                                            • 1 vote
                                                            #25.6 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 11:00 PM EST

                                                            I am glad they killed your family.. Still you haven't suffered or been persecuted..

                                                            Do I know Jesus was Jew? Tell me it isn't so...

                                                            A Russian Jew acting like he knows everything...

                                                            You're a Russian and Jew... It can't get much better worse than that.. Russia doesn't want you and the World hates Jews..

                                                            No wonder you are so pro Israel.. The only place you can go to feel like you fit in and belong.

                                                            • 2 votes
                                                            #25.7 - Fri Jan 6, 2012 11:15 PM EST

                                                            And for those who say the Catholic church totally ignored it John the xxiii when papal nuncio intimidated the Portuguese ambassador into issuing passports and travel document to any family that could prove they were in Portugal when they forcibly baptized all the Jews there. And really I don't know what you expected I don't think the swiss guard with their spear things were much of a match for Mussolini's army. And since Germany is a mostly Protestant country the Pope doesn't have much power there. Even in a Catholic country he can only excommunicate. Gee you're a bad person killing all those people you can't take communion till I forgive you. Yeah that would have stopped Hitler.

                                                              #25.8 - Tue Jan 10, 2012 8:50 PM EST
                                                              Reply
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