Meeting with
Righteous exceeded our expectations. Mr Ryszard turned out to be very likable and talkative. His history which we heard was really fascinating, but also full of pain and suffering. The experiences which accompanied Mr Zieliński were unimaginable for a person who didn’t live during the time of war. Despite the danger, Zieliński’s family decided to carry two Jews - Mrs Paulina and Kazimierz Berek. Heroism of this action is certain, but Mr Zieliński with his natural modesty said:
“It’s not heroic. Each person would do the same in my place”.
After a few years we can’t say that this behavior was habitual for the most Polish Citizens. The best proof of our words is the medal
“Righteous among the Nations” for only couple of Poles. So we can’t agree with Mr Zieliński that his behavior was obvious. His attitude is an exemplar for all youths to follow.
Not just "a couple of Poles." Poles account for about one third of all the Righteous recognized by Yad Vashem, despite being the only occupied country where Germans carried out an automatic death sentence for anyone rendering even the smallest token of help to a Jew.
ReplyDeleteTaking up this FACTUAL point. Yad Vashem currently has 6454 Poles who were recognised as Righteous. (The number will go up slightly in Jan 2015 due to the annual update). This is more than any other country. Also, of all the German occupied lands, ONLY in German OCCUPIED Poland was there a mandatory death sentence for any person (ie. Pole) and their family (sometimes neighbours/village) for sheltering Jews. Due to these executions, the numbers are an inevitable understatement.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/statistics.asp