A former leader of the French resistance movement denounced the Polish Government today for conducting an anti-Semitic campaign and for trying to erase from history the role played by Jewish martyrs in the struggle against the Nazis. Prof. Robert Waitz, director of Hemotological Institute at the University of Strassbourg, spoke at a meeting of the Israeli Executive of the World Jewish Congress. Prof, Waitz until recently was president of the International Committee of Auschwitz Survivors.
He accused the Warsaw regime of attempting to rewrite history. He noted that the Jewish memorial hall at the Auschwitz site was opened without any Jewish representatives present and was closed down eight days later, and said the contents of the hall were so selected and arranged that the part played by Polish Jews in the anti-Nazi underground was virtually eliminated. Prof. Waitz said that he had received an invitation to the Auschwitz opening ceremonies just three days before the event, although the authorities knew that it takes at least a month to obtain a Polish visa. He said it was obvious that the organizers of the ceremony intended that no Jews would be present.
Memorial services for the Jews who perished in Nazi death camps in Poland or while fighting in the resistance movements were held at the Treblinka monument outside Tel Aviv. A memorial fire was kindled on the site. The services were attended by Moshe Kol, Israel’s Minister of Tourism and Development, who is chairman of the World Federation of Polish Jewry. Memorial meetings dedicated to the Warsaw Ghetto fighters were held at two kibbutzim. One of them Yad Mordechai, is named after Mordechai Anilewitz, one of the Warsaw Ghetto commanders.
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.
