Lublin Broadcast Says London-led Poles Killed Jews; Schwarzbart, Szerer Deny Charges

A charge that underground units attached to the Polish Government-in-Exile in London have persecuted and murdered Jews in Poland and handed many over to the Gestapo was made yesterday in the first Yiddish broadcast over the Lublin radio. The broadcast, which was heard here, quoted a proclamation issued by a metting of the Association of Jewish Partisans, and said that the London-directed groups are “even now murdering Jews emerging from hiding.”

The Lublin charges were disputed today by Emanuel Szerer and Dr. Ignacy Schwarzbart, Jewish members of the Polish National Council, the parliament of the Government-in-Exile. Szerer said that the anti-Semitic activities of the extreme reactionary groups inside Poland had been revealed previously in underground reports received here, but added that “these activities are directed equally against the vast majority of the underground loyal to London.” Dr. Schwarzbart said that while “Jews might have been involved in clashes between the Polish forces and Communist guerrillas it is not true that the Polish forces fought Jews as such. To the contrary,” he continued, “Polish officers organized, trained and commanded Jewish units.”

The meeting of the Association of Jewish Partisans expressed solidarity with the Provisional Government, the Lublin broadcast said, and its proclamation stated that the “best sons of the Jewish people joined the struggle against the Germans and proved their valor in the battles in the ghettos of Warsaw, Bialystok and elsewhere.”