THOU SHALT NOT KILL: THE IMPACT OF THE JEDWABNE AFFAIR ON POLISH PERCEPTIONS OF HISTORY AND CONCEPTS OF RESPONSIBILITY AND REDEMPTION by MACIEJ MARK KARPINSKI A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Central/East European and Russian Area Studies Institute for European and Russian Area Studies Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © Maciej Mark Karpinski May 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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Abstract This thesis examines the impact of the Jedwabne Affair on Polish perceptions of mythology, responsibility, and redemption within public opinion. The Jedwabne Affair was a national controversy sparked by the publication ofNeighbours. In it, author Jan Tomasz Gross describes a massacre of Jews in the town of Jedwabne by their Polish compatriots on July 10, 1941. This reality did not conform to Polish perceptions of history or mythology, which largely presented a victimized, honourable, noble, righteous, and innocent Pole incapable of committing such atrocities. The Jedwabne revelation debased Polish identity and precipitated a national debate that strove to reinstate a coherent narrative back into its mythology. The public’s response varied and over time became increasingly polarized. The State and the Church were also involved vying for control of the fallout from the controversy. The result contributed to a stronger division between two ancient forms of Polish identity. 2 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge and thank my supervisor, Dr. Magda Opalska, for her patience and invaluable knowledge, support, and direction. Together, through her guidance and my research, we added some coherence into a controversry that epitomized perplexity. 1 would also like to thank Professor Jeff Sahadeo for his highly critical yet constructive commentary that helped shape much of this work. Furthermore, I would like to express my great appreciation to Professor Jan Grabowski, Patryk Reid, and Lissa Greenspoon for their encouragement, input, and needed corrections. Moreover, I have to acknowledge the patience and support of my mother, Ewa Karpinska, who has been waiting with anticipation to read and hold the final product. Finally, great appreciation is extended to the Institute for European and Russian Area Studies for their financial and moral support. 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Appendices 5 Introduction 6 Chapter 1 - Public Opinion 16 Chapter 2 - The State Response 70 Chapter 3 - The Church Response 117 Conclusion 168 Bibliography 180 Appendix A 186 4 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. List of Appendices Appendix A - The Press 5 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Introduction In the fall of 2000, Poland embarked on a debate that changed its self-perception. What was a taboo subject since the end of the Second World War, the issue of Polish- Jewish relations, had now become the centre of Polish debate and identity. For decades and generations, national history removed practically all mention of the significant Jewish presence, their rich culture, and their contribution to society and politics. A country once home to the largest European Jewish community, Poles had largely forgotten this section of society, its influences, and its rich past remembering only selective images of the Polish-Jewish relationship and their common suffering during the Second World War. This and more came into the fore in November 2000 - an unravelling of a subject that had gone unspoken for fifty-five years. Based on the events in a little town called Jedwabne, the debate became known as the Jedwabne Affair. The Jedwabne Affair was a national controversy over the murder of the Jedwabne Jews by their Polish neighbours in the summer of 1941. The discussion began with two articles published in the largest daily, theGazeta Wyborcza: Jacek Zakowski’s interview with Tomasz Szarota entitled “The devil is in the details,”1 and Zakowski’s subsequent commentary “Every Neighbour Has a Name.”2 Through these articles, Zakowski and Szarota framed the terms of the debate by focusing it on the question of responsibility. Zakowski based his controversial assessment on a gradually evolving discussion that began a few months earlier. 1 Jacek Zakowski. “Diabelskie szczegoty.”Gazeta Wyborcza. 18-19 Nov. 2000. p. 10; “The devil is in the details.” Wiqz. April 2001 <http://wiez.free.ngo.pl/jedwabne/main.html>. 2 Jacek Zakowski. “Kazdy s^siad ma imi§.” Gazeta Wyborcza. 18-19 Nov. 2000. p. 12; “Every neighbour has a name.” Wiqz. April 2001 <http://wiez.free.ngo.pl/jedwabne/main.html>. 6 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In May 2000, Jan Tomasz Gross published a book that became the heart of the controversy. First published in Polish entitledSqsiedzi: Historia zaglady zydowskiego miasteczka ,3 the book recounts a story of mass murder in a small town called Jedwabne in the northeastern region of Poland not far from the major city of Bialystok. The massacre took place on July 10, 1941 during which Poles, motivated by hate and greed, killed off the entire Jewish population of 1600. They did this by burning them alive in a nearby bam. This information shocked the Polish nation, and generated the largest national debate of its kind since the fall of communism. From Zakowski’s article in November 2000 to the 60th anniversary in July 2001 of the Jedwabne massacre, the Jedwabne Affair dominated practically all media outlets with hundreds of printed articles, several books, and hours of television and radio coverage. Gross’s book struck at the heart of Polish self-perceptions, values, and beliefs because it challenged some of the nation’s most fundamental myths. Poland was no longer a victim but a victimizer. The story of Jedwabne introduced a reality that dissolved the coherence of established Polish World War Two mythology, which played a crucial role in shaping Poles’ modern identity. Critics struggled to understand the shock, knowing that Polish history had been falsified and censored during the latter half of the twentieth century under communism. Yet many individuals held onto this history to which they had become closely attached and with which they identified. The debate took on many and various layered tangents, which made the discourse difficult to follow and challenging to comprehend. The fact that it was layered demonstrated the complexity of the role of memory and myth in the formation of identity. 3 Jan Tomasz Gross. Sqsiedzi: Historia zaglady zydowskiego miasteczka. (Pogranicze: Sejny, 2000).; Neighbours: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001). 7 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The debate raised serious questions over the role of history, German participation, Soviet conditioning, and anti-Semitism. Participants considered the implications of world opinion, the possibility of financial restitution, and the