Polish nationalists protest commemoration of antisemitic pogrom during Holocaust

Poland’s Jewish community, political leaders and ordinary citizens commemorate a massacre of hundreds of Jews killed by their Polish neighbors during the Holocaust 85 years ago, at a ceremony opposed by far-right demonstrators.

AFP journalists on site note a heavy police presence at the site of the 1941 Jedwabne massacre — a former barn in which local Polish farmers locked up around 300 Jews, including women and children, before setting it on fire.

Right next to the ceremony, about 1,000 people attend demonstrations and a Catholic mass organized by far-right parties, who refuse to acknowledge the responsibility of Polish villagers.

An official investigation confirmed in 2003 that the massacre was carried out by Poles from Jedwabne, rather than by Nazi German occupiers.

This stood in contrast to long-held historical narratives in Poland. Ultra-nationalist groups continue to challenge the investigation’s findings.

They argue that exhumations of the victims — halted in 2001 for religious reasons at the request of the Jewish community — must be resumed.

Around 40 other Jews from Jedwabne were killed by the villagers in ways other than in the burning barn, and several other massacres of Jews took place in the region during the Holocaust.

Centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who was not at the ceremonies, said the 85th anniversary of the massacre should serve as “a lesson about [Poland’s] national conscience.”

“I would like all Poles to assume responsibility for what we are proud of… but also that we be capable… of assuming responsibility for what does not do us honor,” he adds.

In Poland, the center of the Nazi genocide of millions of Jews, thousands of Jews were also killed by Poles, particularly in rural areas.

In addition, more than 7,000 Poles — more than any other nationality — have been recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israel for their efforts to save Jews.