Oct. 12, 2015
Polish journalist, Anna Bikont, has written a master work (The Crime and the Silence) about the infamous 1941 massacre of Jews in wartime Jedwabne—by their Polish Catholic neighbors, not by Nazi German soldiers. At least forty Catholic residents of Jedwabne beat, herded, and drove anywhere from 200-340 of their Polish Jewish neighbors into a barn, locked the doors, and set the barn on fire.
The Polish killers took over all the Jewish homes and shops, they moved right in—and, righteously, without shame, just helped themselves to all the Jewish furniture, clothing, jewelry, china, market wares, and rich, farming acreage. And, they kept what they had done secret; when challenged, they denied it. Every eyewitness was made to understand that anyone who “talked” would be killed.
…Why do I refer to these events now? Bear with me.