A string of anti-Semitic abuse was the only explanation the former commander of the Polish resistance forces could offer today for his failure to mention the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in his writings and lectures on the Polish underground campaign against the Nazis.
“Asked at a public meeting here about the role of the Jews in the rebellion, Gen. Bor-Komarowsky said: There is little I can say about the Ghetto Uprising, The Warsaw News tried to save their lives by bribing the Germans with money instead of fighting them with arms.”
In the face of angry protests from the audience, Gen, Bor retracted to the extent of declaring that “certain young Jews fought, however, and for these I have the highest regard.” Most of the “fighting Jews,” he asserted, served with his own forces, some of them on his personal staff. He denied being anti-Semitic, concluding: “I always advised the Jews to fight, but they rarely did so.”
After the war, Gen. Bor and his Polish forces were bitterly attacked by survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto battle for refusing to assist the rebellion with arms and other supplies.
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.
