Jedwabne commemorates pogrom anniversary
Jedwabne in the northeastern Podlaskie province Sunday commemorated the 75th anniversary of a 1941 German-inspired pogrom of the town's Jewish population by their Polish neighbours.
Attending the ceremony were several hundred people, among them Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Israeli Deputy Ambassador Ruth Cohen-Dar, as well as officials from the President's Office, the Prime Minister's Office, the National Remembrance Institute (IPN) and the Polish Council of Christians and Jews.
Addressing the gathering, Warsaw Jewish Religious Community head Anna Chipczynska reminded that the anniversary was an occasion for joint prayer and reflection on the events of 1941. Describing Jedwabne as "a very special place" and "an unhappy, terrible land", she appealed to contemporary generations not to let such incidents occur again and observed that remembrance also served to educate.
"This is a very special site for us. An unhappy, terrible land where suffering, screams and pain still resound and can be heard today. (A place where - PAP) we ask ourselves what we, the living, the generations of today, can do to avoid this happening in future. We can remember and we can educate", Chipczynska said.
Cohen-Dar called the Jedwabne pogrom a "terrible tragedy" and "an example of evil and anti-Semitism", and reminded that it was carried out by Poles who had been inspired to it by the Germans. In this context she also mentioned the recent 70th anniversary of a 1946 pogrom in the town of Kielce
"On German inspiration the Poles murdered their Jewish neighbours. Jedwabne has, unfortunately, become an example of evil and anti-Semitism", Cohen-Dar said.
The Jedwabne pogrom took place on July 10, 1941 in the town Jedwabne in German-occupied Poland. At least 340 local Jews of all ages were locked in a barn which was then set on fire. Involved was a group of Poles summoned to Jedwabne by a German paramilitary group known as the Ordnungspolizei.(PAP)
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