Post by peterd on Oct 2, 2012 11:06:55 GMT -8
When grouped by nationality, Poles represent the largest number of people to have rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Still, Jewish cultural memory of Poland is generally not positive. Part and parcel of the paradox is that Poland lost an estimated three million Jews during World War II—more than any other country. Stories abound of survivors returning home from the camps, only to be killed by their non-Jewish Polish neighbors.
Though his tale is not widely known, one one man, Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki, worked for the Jews against the Nazi occupation of Poland.
Early on in World War II, Pilecki, an officer in the Polish underground, grew suspicious of a newly built German camp in southern Poland that the Nazis had named Auschwitz.
The year before, the Nazis and Soviets split Poland by annexing the West and East. The Soviets snuffed out Polish attempts at defiance, but in the western zone, Pilecki was able to establish resistance networks.
www.jspace.com/news/articles/witold-pilecki-the-man-who-snuck-into-auschwitz/11009
Though his tale is not widely known, one one man, Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki, worked for the Jews against the Nazi occupation of Poland.
Early on in World War II, Pilecki, an officer in the Polish underground, grew suspicious of a newly built German camp in southern Poland that the Nazis had named Auschwitz.
The year before, the Nazis and Soviets split Poland by annexing the West and East. The Soviets snuffed out Polish attempts at defiance, but in the western zone, Pilecki was able to establish resistance networks.
www.jspace.com/news/articles/witold-pilecki-the-man-who-snuck-into-auschwitz/11009