Re: How Could Szpielman Stay in Poland?

[Alex Jacobowitz <alexbjacobowitz...>]

--- Lee Goldberg <leegoldberg2002 (at) yahoo(dot)com> wrote:
> 
> Shirona wrote:
> "I couldn't help wondering though - how could he
> stay in Poland =
Was he such a musical celebrity in Poland
> that being Jewish, =
> in his case, didn't matter?"
> 
> Could it be that your idea of Poland and the Poles
> is in error?

Anything´s possible. Wanna look up the facts
yourself? Jews weren´t considered Poles by the Poles 
- until they were murdered in Auschwitz. How about the
executions of Jews in Poland by Poles during the war?
The Kielce pogroms (and others) AFTER the survivors
returned to Poland in 1946? 

The anti-Jewish political purge and anti-Israel riots
of 1968, orchestrated by the government? 
The Carmelite nun affair? Radio Maria? 
Have you read Artur Rubinstein´s autobiography, and
his letter to the New York Times protesting
the new (at the time) Polish purges? That 
Rubinstein himself was presented in the Polish
press as a Pole, but never as a Jew?
The interviews with Poles in Lansky´s "Shoah"?

Don´t misunderstand - there are some Poles who
were good and saved Jewish lives - just as there
were some good Germans, as in Szpilman´s case.
There are devils and angels everywhere, but in
this case, the Polish analogy with German
savagery is more sound than anyone wants
to hear. The record backs it up. I´m sorry.

Alex Jacobowitz

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+