AJC Outraged by Vandalism of Holocaust Memorial in Poland

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Sep 01, 2011, 02:09 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC is outraged by the vandalism of a memorial in Jedwabne, Poland, where hundreds of local Jews were burned alive during the Holocaust. The vandals sprayed a swastika on the monument and the words, in Polish, "They were flammable" and "I don't apologize for Jedwabne."

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100816/AJCLOGO )

Jedwabne represents an immensely tragic chapter in Polish-Jewish relations, captured in the critically acclaimed book "Neighbors" by Jan Gross. On July 10, 1941, in this town in the northeast corner of Nazi-occupied Poland, several dozen Poles hunted down the town's Jews, forced them into a barn and set it on fire. On the 60th anniversary of the massacre, Poland's president Alexander Kwasniewski came to Jedwabne and delivered a powerful speech expressing regret and anguish for what took place there in 1941.

"This vicious attack on the Jedwabne memorial is outrageous, all the more so coming on the anniversary date of Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "We appreciate Poland's efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice, and note Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski's swift reaction that 'there is no room for such behavior in Polish society—even if it is the work of but a small group of extremists.'"

"In recent years under successive governments, Poland has gone to great lengths to encourage a revitalization of Jewish life, to confront painful chapters in its history, and to build close ties with Israel and world Jewry," Harris added. "This incident, tragic as it most assuredly is, should not, however, be allowed to obscure the larger and more encouraging picture that, broadly speaking, characterizes Polish-Jewish relations today."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee