Communication

Contributions from readers who didn't object to having their email published in Vagabond Pages.

How Many ..., Jedwabne ..., Iceland & Nepal photos ..., IQ Tests ..., Philosophy ..., Modem Junkie ..., Vagabonds ..., Genoa ..., Cinderella Nations ..., "Return to Paris" ...

How Many Jews Did Hitler Kill? (September 95 issue)

Hitler did NOT kill any Jews, he might have ordered them to death but he himself did not kill any, so get off your trip.

BigAssDodge88@aol.com

His argument as well as his email address show that the author is not interested in a serious discussion. But for the benefit of all those who are stuck on literal meanings may I add: A Mafia boss who hires a hitman is considered a murderer by every standard even if he himself doesn't do the killing. So, my title, "How Many Jews Did Hitler Kill?" is appropriate. WM

Jedwabne

Below, there are a few statements how the Poles seem to view the issue of 'Jedwabne Pogrom'. The author agrees with some of the statements, which, however, are not exclusively his own opinions.

1. It appears that non-Jewish inhabitants of Jedwabne town did have some involvement in killing their Jewish neighbours on July 10th, 1941. The question remains AS TO what this involvement truly was.
2. Major testimony comes from Szmul Wasersztajn, that he gave at the Jewish Historical Institute. However, all other testimonies, and records thereof, had been obtained and maintained by the officers of the communist UB Secret Service, a brutal Security Force that pacified Poland after "liberation" in 1944/1945. Wasersztajn claimed to have seen everything in town in various places and gives a very vivid description of Polish cruelty towards their Jewish neighbours. There seems to be a lot of exaggeration in his account which undermines his credibility.
3. Most Poles do not deny Polish involvement in the "Jedwabne Pogrom", but they disagree with the slant of Mr. Gross' book "The Neighbours", which states plainly that the Germans were good, even wanted to spare some Jewish families but the 'blood-thirsty' Poles said "No".
4. The facts, as the Poles see them:
   • Germans must have ordered SOME (not all) Polish dwellers of Jedwabne to help round-up the Jews, which was carried out.
   • Germans must have shot or terrorized the Jews being rounded-up. Poles had no arms and were less numerous than the Jews themselves (800 non-Jewish versus 1,600 Jewish inhabitants in Jedwabne)
   • There were only 200+ bodies burned in the barn, not 1,600 (all Jewish population of Jedwabne).
   • The victims had some jewelry on them, hence they have not been robbed by the executioners.
   • There was a monument to Lenin on the top of the bodies, suggesting that the massacre of the Jews could have had something to do with the collaboration of SOME Jews in Jedwabne with the Soviet occupiers who had left Jedwabne, expelled by the Germans, only weeks before.
   • Other supposed burial sites, indicated in a "detailed and positive way" by the witnesses proved NOT TO CONTAIN ANY CORPSES.
   • It is doubtful that 1,600 Jews could have been killed by 800 Poles in one or two days without the use of guns. Only the Germans had guns and a few German bullets were found in the remnants of the burned barn.
   • Germans, with an assistance of, e.g. Lithuanian Police Units, killed tens of thousands of Jews in Wilno, the city slightly more to the east than Jedwabne.
   • Based on some Jewish accounts, such as Memoirs of Henryk Rudnicki from the Warsaw Ghetto, an image of "good, moderate Germans, trying to spare some Jewish families from the Poles" is highly improbable.
5. Last year, Piotr Kuncewicz published a very interesting book "Goj patrzy na Zyda-dzieje braterstwa i nienawisci od Abrahama po wspolczesnosc"-Warszawa 2000, ISBN 82-86290-38-2 350 p.p. {The Goi is looking at the Jew-history of brotherhood and hatred from Abraham until today}. This book was extremely popular in Poland. It gave detailed account of history of the Chosen Nation including its persecution in virtually all countries of Europe. The author wrote about Germans, who in middle ages burned thousads of Jews in the ghettos, about expulsion of the Jews from England, France, Spain and about the massive immigration of the Jews to Poland and then Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1300-1640's). On this continent, Polish-Canadians and Polish-Americans remember the actions of both the US and Canada re: the ship "St.Louis" and other that carried Jewish refugees from Europe and were then turned back by North American Authorities. They are also very proud of the late Jan Karski, the courier of the Polish Government in Exile, who delivered to President Roosevelt and Mr. Frankfurter the true account of the situation of the Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland. Karski's testimony was included in the film "Shoah" by Claude Lanzmann.
6. Poles believe that the publication of "The Neighbours" was politically motivated. Some say Prof. Jan Tomasz Gross wrote the book for a German contractor. The book improves the image of Germans, worsens that of Poles. This must be seen in the context of pending payments by German firms and government to the victims of forced labour for the Third Reich, which includes half a million Poles still alive. Also, inciting the feeling of guilt amongst the Poles could force the Polish Government to give ex-Jewish real estate or financial compensation to descendents of the Polish-Jewish owners now in America. Some say that Prof. Gross is not so much Jewish as German. Others stress that from being a nobody, he became famous and rich almost overnight by writing "The Neighbours".
7. The Poles would be willing to accept a flaw in the history of Polish-Jewish relations if presented with some balanced and trustworthy account. They do not consider "The Neighbours" to be such an account. They are waiting for the results of the ongoing investigation by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (the IPN).
8. The Poles would not accept the collective guilt for Jedwabne nor will they admit they are more anti-Semitic than any other nation which had Jewish population before and during World War II.
9. The Poles recognize the positive fact that Prof. Gross wrote his book well after Poland was admitted to NATO and thus his book did not damage the vital interests of Poland.
10. The publication of "The Neighbours" is not likely to improve the attitude of Poles toward the Jews, however, it will not spur any anti-Semitic fever in Poland. It will likely jeopardize compensation to the heirs of Polish Jews, something which before the publishing of "The Neighbours" most Poles had considered quite justified.
11. The objective truth about the tragedy in Jedwabne is impossible to be established since there is only testimony of witnesses, some made many years after.
12. There is a saying: "Entrenched ideas cannot be altered by the facts". That's true. Even if the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (the IPN) declared that, indeed, the Polish inhabitants of Jedwabne murdered their Jewish neighbours as a result of their own initiative, there is little guarantee that the majority of Poles would believe it. Conversely, if the said Polish Institute of National Remembrance (the IPN) found out that the murder was carried out by a handful Poles on orders from and under the strict supervision of the Germans, few Jews would believe that Jedwabne was not a bloody Pogrom by the Poles.

Iceland & Nepal Photos

I've just completed upgrading my homepage. I've included our two last trips to Iceland and Nepal. Also there is a new volcanoes page. Very recommended...
www.math.tau.ac.il/~halman

Nir Halman
halman@post.tau.ac.il

"What do IQ Tests Really Show?" (April 96 issue)

Sincerely, Nicolas Walters
Sywolf@aol.com

Philosophy

Dear Mr. Markiewicz,
Forgive me for presuming on your time and attention. I write to invite you to my philosophical Website:
http://www.Back-to-Socrates.com

I am a 73-year-old non-academic student of philosophy, self-educated and very much conscious of my ignorance, yet believe myself not wholly deluded in thinking I have something of positive value to contribute to philosophical thinking.

If you should care to have a look at the site, it is conceivable that you may regret the few minutes that you would have given it, but in any case the loss cannot be insufferable.

Latest addition: On What Is Real: An Answer to Quine’s ‘On What There Is’.

Best regards
Daoud Rofail Khashaba
dkhashaba@hotmail.com

Modem Junkie

Hi,
I noticed your page has links to one of my pages. The ModemJunkie's Portal has moved to
http://www.lgrossman.com

Reflections of a ModemJunkie - The complete archive has moved to www.lgrossman.com/mjnk/

I appreciate the readership your links have provided and I apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you,
Leonard
Len@LGrossman.com

"Vagabonds"

Hello,
My name is Isaac Walker i've be a vagavond for a long time and I must umit I never thought I would inconter unother like me. To find a hole web page that saids what I think is uderly umasing.I am very happy to find that I am not the only one.

I have a few questions,"Vagabond means he who searches for that which he lost."I lost the ability to love.I've recently recoverd the ability for one lady and then lost it.I never had it for any one else.I was wondering what your opinion is.

Second Question, how many people are there like us are there out there?

Question number 3,Is there a pow-wow or a git to gether for all us vagabonds?

I don't get to a computer very often so please put your ancers in your news letter if you would please.

Your Friend,
Isaac Walker
the Alaskan Vagabond
DawsonSC@peoplepc.com

I find his spelling an interesting eccentricity so I've decided to respect it. "Walker" -- a predestined name for a vagabond!

I've never heard of a 'pow wow for vagabonds' but as the Web has widened our view of the world, maybe in a search on 'Vagabond' you will find groups or individuals. The list surely wont be complete as not all vagabonds define themselves in this way. I don't know how you found Vagabond Pages; anyway, I'm glad you did. WM

"Genoa" (Current issue)

Dear William
Your comment about the lack of leadership at Genoa brings to mind a sage comment of George Block, one of the leading lights of American socialism, but now completely unknown. At a conference of the United Labor Party on August 18, 1887 in Syracuse, N.Y., at which socialists were expelled and excluded from participation, George had the following to say: "Every great labor movement had been a failure because all had fallen into the hands of demagogues." This was 1887, long before Stalin, Trotsky and Hitler. It a good sign, that the demonstrators in Genoa lacked a leader. The word "anarchy" comes from "an," without and "archos," ruler. Democracy, republicanism and decentralisation are all forms of anarchism.

Neil Moran
m6045758@hotmail.com

"Return to Paris" (November 95 issue)

Dear William,
This may seem awkward, but I entered a yahoo search for "Paris Districts Explained" and I found your site. I read your interesting excerpt, "Return to Paris" and I saw that you were very well acquainted with Paris. I will be visiting Paris this August and by any chance, could you help me resolve this little dispute I've been having? I'm about to book a place in the Marais district but I've been told that the area in and around the Bastille is quite dangerous/seedy ...is this true ...?

and tourists aren't all that bad! ^_~ I've come to really like them here in Toronto, but I suppose the weight of our tourists is nothing compared to those in Paris. Congrats on getting a hug from Whitman!!! ^_~

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow,

Christine Lee
divinevenus@home.com

As far as my information goes, Paris is a rather safe city and the Marais shouldn't be an exception. Apparently, the more troubled areas are suburban where the poor immigrants reside. As you read in my text, beware of pickpockets, especially in unsupervised metro stations near tourist attractions like the Eiffel tower, etc. I am not aware of night violence but one should take reasonable precautions as in most of the world urban centers. WM

Re: Cinderella Nations (September 95 issue)

In the same way that the wicked step-sisters failed to recognize Cinderella's virtues, so are we guilty of underestimating the significant accomplishment of the Republic of Singapore.

Singapore is a multi-party democracy (founded in 1965) that has a population of 2.8 million. The literacy rate rivals Canada at 91% and this island nation is now considered the financial and commercial capital of Southeast Asia.

A few years ago Singapore was in the headlines for its tough stance on crime when an American teen was arrested (and subsequently deported) for graffiti. A perception of Singapore as intolerant, almost fascist, seemed to overtake the reality of a state shared equally by Buddhists, Christians and Muslims.

Cinderella had a princess heart... Singapore has low crime, high literacy, a democratic government and a strong economy...

Perhaps though, the problem with this fairy-tale analogy is that at the heart of every nation/state/country in the world right now is a hopeful princess bowing before the U.S. patriarch.

hhe and Sam
oneeyeblinking@hotmail.com

(1) I don't remember which important figure told a reporter: Individual freedom is an interesting concept but social order is more important.
(2) One old woman, perhaps homeless, was sentenced to two years in prison for throwing a piece of paper on the street. A journalist wondered what her sentence would have been if she'd committed a real crime. The sentence was 'justice's way' to get rid of useless individuals. What kind of democratic multi-party government allows individuals to be treated in this Orwellian way? WM

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William Markiewicz