From the Liveblog of
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Yad Vashem slams Polish plaques that whitewash Poles’ involvement in WWII massacre of Jews
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial condemns as a “desecration of historical truth” new plaques near a Polish monument to the World War II Jedwabne massacre of Jews by their Polish neighbors.
The plaques question the official findings and claim that “the crime was committed by a German pacification unit” instead of local Poles.
The new installation consists of seven boulders with signs in English and Polish and is located on private property next to the memorial, according to Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Polish journalist Wojciech Sumlinski says on X that he is behind the installation, which was crowd-funded.
Jedwabne, teraz. pic.twitter.com/A2GxdGrkkd
— Leszek Żebrowski_NSZ #BabiesLivesMatter (@Zebrowski_NSZ) July 10, 2025
“Yad Vashem is profoundly shocked and deeply concerned by the desecration of historical truth and memory at the Jedwabne memorial site in Poland, where new plaques were recently installed in an apparent attempt to distort the story of the massacre of Jews,” says the memorial.
“Yad Vashem calls on the relevant Polish authorities to remove this offensive installation and to ensure that the historical meaning of the site is preserved and respected,” it adds.
Yad Vashem is profoundly shocked and deeply concerned by the desecration of historical truth and memory at the Jedwabne memorial site in Poland, where new plaques were recently installed in an apparent attempt to distort the story of the massacre of Jews.
On 10 July 1941, amid…
— Yad Vashem (@yadvashem) July 10, 2025
Today marks the 84th anniversary of the massacre, which saw Polish peasants in the northeastern village of Jedwabne lock hundreds of their Jewish neighbors in a barn and burn them alive.
The victims included women and children.
The Times of Israel Community.