Nazi officers at the Belzec death camp in
Poland await a shipment of
Jewish prisoners. In six months
of operation, the camp exterminated
600,000 people, and was the first camp with built-in gas chambers.
In 1942, Polish resistance fighter Jan Karski was the first to report
the
existence of the
camp – and the Warsaw Ghetto - to allied forces.
Every Pole Must Protest
Until Obama Apologizes (Dziennik, Poland)
“The statement made
by President Barack Obama has done tremendous harm to Poles and the Polish Diaspora.
… we need to react individually; after all, we all
have a voice. Many of us have family in the United States. Poles in the
United States should write letters to President Obama, and each of us should
write letters to the U.S. ambassador. I will write such a letter.”
-- Member of the European Parliament
and former Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga
Member of the European Parliament and former Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga: To Polish ears, the magnitude of President Obama's mistake in calling the Belzec extermination camp a 'Polish death camp' could hardly have been bigger.
Member of the European Parliament and former Foreign
Minister Anna Fotyga has commented on U.S. President Barack Obama’s
statement regarding a "Polish death camp," uttered during a ceremony to
award a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dr. Jan Karski.
Law and Justice MP Anna Fotygabelieves that Barack Obama’s words have done great harm to the
Poles.
“On behalf of many Poles, I wanted to express my great, my deepest
regret, at what happened yesterday. The statement made by President Obama has
done tremendous harm to Poles and the Polish Diaspora. Hence my opinion that a statement
by the president himself is required - because to have a White House aide simply
say that it was inaccurate or that the president misspoke is insufficient considering
the harm that has been done.
“[Foreign] Minister Sikorski and
the rest of the government of [Prime Minister] Donald Tusk decided that a
representative of the government would accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom
for great Polish patriot Jan
Karski. I think many of you saw how helplessly former Foreign Minister Rotfeld
stood there. I do not think that was a good decision. Accepted custom in all countries
is to have heirs accept such a prize. I believe that the family of the late Jan
Karski would have known how to react in such a situation.
“Minister Rotfeld should have
reacted immediately during the ceremony - he had no right to behave as he did.
“I think there is a great range of things [President] Komorowski should say. He, rather than Prime Minister Tusk,
should voice his opinion publicly, and have a discussion with President Obama -
as the United States is a presidential country.
“This reflects a weakness of the Polish state. More often
than not, Polish diplomacy reacts either too strongly or not strongly enough.
Yesterday we had a test: how does Polish diplomacy react when such a sentence
is uttered at the highest levels of a global power?
“I am convinced that President Barack Obama did not express
the opinion of most Americans, who after all, took part in World War II, liberated
concentration camps and knew full well who conceived of those camps.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
“Insulting the country when it is weak. ... This is the time when every one of us need to react. After all, we each have a voice. Many of us have
family in the United States. Poles in the United States should write
letters to President Obama, and each of us should write a letter to the U.S.
ambassador. I will write such a letter,” said Fotyga.
