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In Defence of Jan Grabowski's Good Name

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In Defence of Jan Grabowski's Good Name Warsaw, June 10, 2017 In defence of Jan Grabowski's good name On 7 June the Polish !eague "gainst #efamation in it's statement attacked our colleague and associate in a manner as bruta as it is absurd$ We cannot lea%e this attack without a res&onse$ 'he !eague clear ( declares the intention to )uestion Prof$ Grabowski's scholar ( com&etence, academic integrity and mora decency, as we as to correct the error of historians from a o%er the world, who * according to the !eague * are mistaken in regarding him as an + inter, nationa (,renowned -olocaust researcher +, which the !eague frankly acknowledges$ 'he !eague's statement "concerning the acti%ities of Jan Grabowski + and the + 'he stand&oint of Polish scholars affiliated with the Polish !eague "gainst #efamation", su&&orted b( 1./ signatures thus discredits at once both Jan Grabowski and a the historians a o%er the wor d that stud( the -olocaust, treating them as blind, deaf and not %er( intelligent. Clear ( a charge of a light brigade$ 'he signatories sa( that "Grabowski fails to adhere to the fundamental rules of re,searcher1s credibility", that he "creates propagandistic constructions+ instead of &ro%iding "an honest &icture, that he "eliminates crucia facts+, that what he does "has nothing to do with science", that he +a carrier for lies in the internationa &ublic and academic life", thus he "runs against the &rinci& es of the academic %ocation+$ The signatories of the letter2 +strong ( op,&ose Jan Grabowski1s dissemination of a fa se and wrongfu image of Poland and Polish &eople during World War II in & acing the blame for the -olocaust u&on the Polish 3ation+$ 'he( "urge Jan Grabowski to stop slandering the Polish 3ation and ado&t an attitude befitting a re,searcher, which is to ser%e the truth$+ 4o man( beautifu words, &articular ( fre)uent is the occurrence of "truth", but the entire argument is hard ( accurate$ It is &ointless to tr( to demonstrate that "one is not a camel", as a Polish sa(ing goes, so we wi not. We are howe%er read( to engage in a scholar ( debate with com&etent historians$ 3one of the 1./ signatories is a -olocaust historian$ " these economists, linguists, oncologists, chemists, nuclear &h(sicists, engineers, constructors of electromechanica a&&liances, en%ironmenta geologists, ethnomusicologists, theatrologists and &riest &rofessors &resent themse %es as -olocaust e5&erts, but cannot e%en )uote sources the( refer to or to gi%e the correct name of the organisation that rescued Jews, which the( mention$ In conclusion, 6ira Ws7elaka, the !eague's &resident writes2 "I hope that the &seudo-facts that Grabowski is tr(ing to &romote wi not re&lace the truth$8 We tota ( agree with the &resident's care for truth and we share her hope that &seudo,facts wi ne%er re& ace the truth$ 'his &recise ( is the message of Professor Grabowski's research and educational acti%ity$ Polish Center for Holocaust Research PO!I4- C93':9 FO: HO!O0"<4' R949":0- Institute of Philosophy and Sociology =&rof$ dr hab$ >arbara 9ngelking= Polish Academy of Sciences =&rof$ dr hab$ Jacek !eociak= Nowy Swiat St. 72; room 120 00-330 Warsaw; POLAND /dr hab$ &rof$ I;i4 Dariusz !ibionka= phone: (48-603) 257 594 /dr Agnieszka -aska= fax: (48-22) 826-78-23 /mgr 6arta Janc7ewska= [email protected] /mgr Jakub Petelewic7= www.holocaustresearch.pl /mgr " ina 4kibi?ska=.
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