Leaders of the Polish Peasant Party and of the Socialist Party have joined the two Jewish members of the Polish National Council in demanding that the Polish Government-in-Exile take energetic measures to combat the anti-Jewish propaganda which is being spread among Polish refugees and in the ranks of the Polish army.
Speaking in the Polish National Council, Wladislaw Zaremba, emphasized in behalf of the Polish Peasant Party that the peasants in Poland have never been anti-Semitic. He condemned the reactionary elements who are still engaged in inciting Poles against Jews. “How dare they today poison with anti-Semitism the lives of the Jewish soldiers who are now fighting with us for Poland?” he said.
Adam Ciolkosz, leader of the Polish Socialist Party, expressed solidarity with the Jewish member of the Polish National Council who abstained from voting for the government budget as an expression of protest against the government’s inactivity in combatting anti-Jewish propaganda in the Polish Army. Deputy Bielonsky also told the Polish National Council that he sharply condemned the anti-Jewish propaganda among Polish civilians and military forces. He demanded vigorous action to curb the activities of the Polish anti-Semites among refugees and in the army. He charged that anti-Jewish propaganda is spread “even by certain Polish military leaders.”
Emanuel Szerer, the Jewish Socialist members of the Council, insisted that the Polish military leadership spare no effort to create a brotherly atmosphere among the soldiers of various denominations in the Polish armed forces. He emphasized that “the situation is far from ideal, since the anti-Semitic atmosphere is still maintained – and even fostered – by certain groups in the Army.”
CHIEF OF POLISH ARMY IN MIDDLE-EAST IS CRITICIZED
Dr. Ignacy Schwarzbart, the other Jewish deputy, told the Council that the anti-Semitism which now prevails in the ranks of the Polish Army is harming the interests of both the army and the State. “The spirit of Gen. Anders expressed in his order on anti-Semitism issued on November 30, 1941, is still haunting some detachments,” he said. “The Polish Army is poisoned with anti-Semitism. This spirit must be eliminated through appropriate government orders.” (Gen. Anders, chief of the Polish armed forces in the Middle East, was quoted as stating in his order that while he understood the anti-Jewish feelings of the Polish soldiers, they must realize that anti-Semitism is unpalatable to the Anglo-Saxon world.)
Dr. Schwarzbart asserted that he would have voted against the government budget if it had been submitted in peace time, as an expression of protest against the unhampered anti-Jewish propaganda among Polish soldiers and civilian refugees. “However,” he added, “in view of the hour of danger in the present struggle against the enemy, and also because of the fact that Polish-Jewish destiny has been linked for centuries with the fate of Poland, I shall vote for the budget in the expectation that the Jewish demands will be fulfilled immediately.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
