-
A Holocaust museum image of Hilter - Source: Reuters -
Related
A leading Polish Catholic bishop caused a stir when he was
quoted as saying Jews had expropriated the Holocaust as a
propaganda weapon but denied he said it was a Jewish
invention.
The comments by Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, a former head of the
Polish bishops' conference, prompted concern among Jewish leaders
in both Poland and Italy after they were published on a
conservative Italian Catholic website.
Pieronek later went on Polish television to say his comments had
been manipulated and he denied one phrase in which he was quoted as
saying "the Holocaust as such is a Jewish invention".
He said he did not authorise the publication of the interview,
which was still on the website on Monday evening.
"It is undeniable that the greatest number of dead in concentration
camps were Jews but there are also Polish gypsies, Italians and
Catholics on the list," he was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday some countries will mark International Holocaust
Remembrance Day on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the
Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Polish President Lech
Kaczynski and ministers from many European countries are due to
attend commemorative events at Auschwitz on Wednesday.
Shock among Jewish leaders
"It is not right to expropriate that tragedy for propaganda,"
Pieronek was quoted as saying, adding that memorial days should be
held for the victims of communism, for Catholics, for persecuted
Christians and so on.
He continued: "But they, the Jews, enjoy good press because they
have powerful financial means behind them, enormous power and the
unconditional backing of the United States and this favours a
certain arrogance that I find unbearable".
"I am totally shocked by these comments, particularly if they came
from a member of the Church hierarchy," said Leone Passerman,
ex-president of Rome's Jewish community who was among those who
hosted Pope Benedict at Rome's synagogue on January 17.
Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League in the United
States, said: "It is so sad that 65 years after the liberation of
Auschwitz a Polish cleric still engages in anti-Semitic rhetoric
because so much Jewish blood was shed on Polish soil."
Pieronek, asked if the Holocaust had been exploited, said:
"Certainly it has. It is used as a propaganda weapon to get
advantages that are often unjustified."
CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish organisations, called the
comments vile and the US Gathering of Holocaust survivors and their
descendants called them grotesque.
Piotr Kadlcik, head of the Jewish community in Poland, which was
the largest in Europe before World War II, said he hoped the
controversy would not hurt the upcoming Holocaust memorials.
"It really has provoked many harsh comments from both sides so it
just shows how fragile the dialogue between the two religions is
and that's really worrying," he said.
