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03.11.02, 03:03
Poles blamed for wartime massacres
As many as 1,600 Jews were killed in Jedwabne
At least 30 organised massacres of Jews in Poland during World War II were
carried out by local people rather than occupying German Nazis, a new report
has revealed.
It [report] brings to light information that was so far buried in the
archives and puts the facts in a broad perspective
Pawel Machcewicz, editor of the report
The investigation by Poland's Institute for National Remembrance (IPN) was
carried out after allegations made two years ago that Poles killed 1,600
Jews in the north-eastern village of Jedwabne in 1941.
The report - due to be published on Monday - says the Jedwabne pogrom was
not an isolated incident, and that hundreds of Jews were murdered in similar
attacks by Poles in more than 20 towns in the same region.
The evidence about the Jedwabne pogrom has shaken many Poles' view that they
were only victims during the war, as all the massacres had previously been
blamed on Nazi troops.
Buried information
The 1,500-page report "Around Jedwabne" lists the names of more than 100
murdered Jews and at least as many of suspected killers, according to
Rzechzpospolita newspaper, which saw a preview of the report.
About three million Polish Jews died in the Holocaust
IPN researchers dug out records from 1946-1958 investigations and trials and
translated written testimonies which survivors had given to a regional
Jewish history commission.
"It brings to light information that was so far buried in the archives and
puts the facts in a broad perspective," Pawel Machcewicz, editor of the
report, told the Associated Press news agency.
But Mr Machcewicz said it was hard to establish figures for the exact number
of Jews killed by Poles because of conflicting testimony and lack of other
evidence.
Cover-up
For decades, Polish communist authorities covered up the role of Poles in
the Jedwabne massacre, blaming Nazi killing squads for the murders.
But a book by Polish emigre historian Jan Gross "The Neighbours", published
in 2000, challenged the official version of events.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski made a historic apology for the
killings at a 60th anniversary ceremony in Jedwabne last year, but insisted
Germans were behind the pogrom.
After World War II, 12 people were convicted by a Polish communist court in
1949 for having helped the Germans carry out the killings.
They received sentences varying from 30 months to life in prison. One person
was executed.